[coalhot]

To get back to the OP, my tablet is a HP touchpad, which I got during the firesale. I put cyanogen mod on it a few months after getting it, and have been using it with android ever since.

I know it's a somewhat dated piece of hardware, but it will run pretty much all current android apps; it's a nice size, has very good battery life (even after abusing my battery for two years), and you can pick one up on ebay in the range of $90-$150. (it's slightly on the heavy side though).

As for the wifi issue, don't use wifi. Share data via bluetooth away from the field (like food areas), or set up a cloud-based service that lets all the scouters upload data when they get home. You could use a setup like this by having someone with a phone that has a data plan turn on hotspot, connecting all the tablets, uploading data, updating all the tablets, and then disconnecting. <- *edit: this scenario also happens away from the field, out of wifi range*

Just my $0.02