Sub-$500 tablets from Acer, Barnes & Noble, Samsung, Vizio--and, yes, even Apple--cost at least $150 more than the fire-sale 16GB TouchPad. But if you buy one, you won't be stuck with an orphan product that's slouching toward the tech graveyard.

Here are five slate options. All prices are rounded up.

1) Nook Color ($250)

On the surface, Barnes & Noble's is an e-reader of the Amazon Kindle variety. But it's secretly a 7-inch Android tablet that adventurous users to run the Android Honeycomb OS, thereby increasing the slate's capabilities. In its native (unhacked) state, the Nook Color runs a variety of , including Angry Birds and Pandora Internet radio.

2) Vizio Tablet ($290 at Amazon)