i think the iPads size severely limits it for everyday use. its small, dont get me wrong but you cannot put it in your pocket.... i'll stick witht he iP4 for work and communication and the iPad just for fun

All depends on your use. For me if it was any smaller, I wouldn't be able to use it every day, as I get 80% of my school books on it, and reading my books a smaller screen would be more of a hassle.

I guess I find it hard to understand how portability outweighs functionality. Especially when the solution is a poor compromise. Currently, the combination of my iPhone and iPad seems to cover my needs adequately.
Your requirement needs also play a role in what will work for you. If you are looking for a E-book reader then the size is important. But you are over buying if you get a iPad or Samsung Tab for just that. For myself I do not use the iPad for book reading, I use my iPhone. It's small but the key is I always have it. The short times that I'm waiting around I just pull it out and start reading. I've read more books in the past year than I have in ten years.
If your adding web surfing to that then I must disagree on whether a Samsung Tab adequately fills that need. I've spend a lot of time with the Samsung Tab and I do not consider it pleasurable to use. I place it about 30% better than the iPhone. Which would probably mean tha in a pinch I would use the iPhone since it is always handy. Then problem with the Tab is it stills doesn't fit in any of my pockets so it's still a carry situation which means I have it only when I decide to carry it.
I have begun to use the iPad for business meetings where I use Soundnote to record the meeting. The nice thing about this app is you can take notes and it knows where in the recording you took that specific note. I later review the notes and recording and place it in Evernotes which syncs with my PC, iPad and iPhone. I can later on review any of my notes on the iPhone when I get those short times when I'm waiting for something. In this application I don't see the Tab as being a solution. It's too small to do even short note taking.
I'm not saying the current iPad is perfect but I can see that Apple must of done a lot of user studies to get to the current form factor you see.