Did you buy a tablet in 2011? If you didn’t, I’m pretty sure you wanted to. Or at least read some reviews and compared some specs.

Though the year’s not quite over, TechRepublic ^[1]‘s Jason Hiner has picked the best ten tablets to be introduced this year, and though the market-dominating iPad 2 isn’t much of a surprise at the top spot, some of the others may astonish.

For instance, the HP TouchPad, even though its operating system may be shelved ^[2], and the device itself is only available on eBay. And BlackBerry PlayBook, another casualty ^[3] in the battle for platform dominance, though as Hiner points out, it may be highly useful for people or companies who live by their BlackBerry smartphones.

Two devices I love made the list: the Asus Eee Pad Transformer and the Barnes & Noble Nook Color (I own one, have rooted it to Android, and am rarely seen without it in my hand). Oddly, the Nook Tablet wasn’t mentioned, perhaps because Hiner hasn’t gotten his hands on one yet.

Get the full list at TechRepublic ^[1].