More and more I'm think it's the screen size that's the biggest problem.
After you mentioned that 8 inch tablets are common now, I did a search, and yes. A lot of cheap ones too. Galaxy Tab 8 seems like the leader in that space. Now I'm looking up the difference between Galaxy Tab 8 and Galaxy Note 8....
What if I get an 8 inch screen, and it's still too small? Ideally, I would like something a little smaller and lighter than the iPad (9.7 inches, 1.33 lbs); lighter is more important than smaller.
I like the white trim on the Galaxy tablets. The black Nexus is too perfect a camouflage. Can you throw out a couple of brand names I should focus on? Aside from Galaxy? I guess I'm willing to spend up to $300.