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The stratospheric growth of tablets means we’re seeing efforts from companies you wouldn’t normally expect. We’ve seen Next produce a tablet we wouldn’t even touch in the sales, and Binatone cross over from cordless phones with a particularly poor offering, but the latest entrant is from altogether classier stock.

Yes, fashion designer Pierre Cardin has produced a tablet – and at £299 the snappily named PC-7006G costs the same as the 7in competition, such as Acer’s Iconia Tab A100. Still, an air of luxury is essential for a tablet that bears such a brand, and Pierre Cardin doesn’t disappoint. It arrives in a smart leather case with discreet branding, and the unit itself feels extremely solid, with the merest hint of give at the rear and good build quality elsewhere.

Our first reaction, though, was to whip out an iPhone 4 for a quick comparison. It’s clear to see where Pierre Cardin’s designers found inspiration: the glass front, chrome-effect border and black rear are all instantly recognisable. Even the buttons don’t stray from Apple’s design: a circular home button at the bottom and power, menu and back keys on the top-right edge all seem awfully familiar.

Our second thought was to head for the nearest set of scales. At 530g, the 7in PC-7006G far outweighs the 400g Acer, and at 15mm it’s 2mm thicker as well. That’s not a massive increase but, when combined with the weight, it makes this “luxury” tablet feel a bit of a chore to carry.

There’s little innovation when it comes to the Android 2.3 software, either, but that’s no bad thing. You get all of Google’s native apps, rather than the poor proprietary replacements we’ve seen on devices such as the Binatone or the Creative ZiiO. More importantly, you get the full Android Market instead of a third-party competitor.