I recently got an ASUS Transformer and I was pretty happy that I could use something like ConnectBot [1] to ssh into a virtual machine I was running on my main laptop. I was coding in django/python, and I could test the website using Firefox Mobile- I could actually use this for work!<p>... 30 minutes worth of typing on that keyboard and bad support for alt-tabbing between apps and the tiny screen, I was back at my comfy ThinkPad. Even for other types of work, such as when doing research, I find it cumbersome to swap between my browser and note taking application. The selection of apps (compared against mac, windows or linux) is just not powerful enough. It gets tiring after a while. A good ultraportable (say the MBA or x220) offers much better value for me. I find tablets are good for reading, surfing etc, with some nice apps to let you get work done if needed. But certainly not something that you'll want to be using for a while.<p>[1] A small footnote on how good the user experience is when the software that you use is open source. It didn't support some of the keys on the Asus transformer (for e.g. using the back key for 'esc' in vi). I was able to fork and fix that pretty quickly and was on my way.