But let's lead with something awful. An android tablet is not a PC. If you know that, you're ready.
At the office we are porting apps so I get to use the Kindle Fire HD 7, Nexus 7, Transform 300 w/keyboard and others. All seen nice and you can find prices on the web.
The one that I bought for home use in the Kindle Fire HD 7 because we plug it into the HDTV for amazon video. Really great at that. It's email and more is nice.
The next ones are nice too. The Nexus 7 with a 20ish buck keyboard/case/stand is pretty nice as a small full fledged computer. The Transformer is vying for a place for those that want a smallish pc like experience.
Bob
So, having recently become more interested in technology and seeing that feature phones are becoming harder to find, I asked my 70 year old father if he might like to try a tablet.
While he was in 'Nawlins for Mardi Gras, he played around with a couple tablets that family members were using and was, apparently, fairly impressed. So, the answer was yes.
My sister thinks she's frugal, but really just buys alot of junk that doesn't work correctly. (Her last tablet purchase lasted a month before she sold it out of frustration.) She insists that we both go in on a $40 knock-off, but I know my dad. If its a struggle to get it to work, he won't use it. In fact it'll probably turn him off to any non-PC platform.
His birthday is in April, so even though I'm a girl of meager means at the moment, I have a while to save for it. I can probably handle $275 or so for the tablet and get the accessories for him, maybe $350 for just the tablet and he could get everything else as he wanted to, but I'd rather just get him set up from the beginning.
He is an engineer. I'm not worried about him figuring out the OS, he'll just have to poke at it for a while but I'm sure he'll get it when he figures out he doesn't have to carry his 21 pound laptop any more.
He's in good mental health, so I'm not worried about his ability to learn to use a new tool. I'd really just like to make fighting the learning curve as painless as possible.
Here are some things to consider:
- His eyesight isn't the best, so a 10 inch is pretty much necessary.
- He's not used to fragile things like high end tablets, so I'm pretty set on getting him one that an Otterbox or similar case is available for.
- He has arthritis in his hands, so even though I'll probably get him a stylus, good tactile response is necessary.
- Flash support is a must.
- Expandable memory is also necessary.
If anyone has questions that might help with recommendations, I'll try to answer them. Thanks!

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic