This week's Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2012 impressed tablet aficionados -- quad core processors that make the slabs as powerful as PCs, innovative screens that provide superb displays even when exposed to sunlight, tablets that have longer battery life but are as compact as smartphones, and stylus that enhances the devices' functionality.

The year's most anticipated event comes March 7 when Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) unleashes the iPad 3 in San Francisco, California.

At the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other Apple execs. are expected to tout a new iPad that's a 9.7-inch Retina Display with a resolution of 2048 X 1536 pixels;4G compatibility that would bring high Internet speeds; an 8-megapixel camera that's found in the iPhone 4S; a speedier dual-core chip or, hopefully, a quad-core processor; iOS 5.1 with the Siri virtual assistant.

"We have something you really have to see. And touch," Apple said in its media invite.

What Apple wouldn't showcase - the company doesn't leak or provide preview prototypes of products still in design - is the iPad Mini.

A report by DigiTimes says that protoypes of a new iPad with a smaller screen have been delivered to Apple. DigiTimes, citing unnamed industry sources, says the device will feature a 7.85-inch display. It is likely to be priced between $249 and $299. The Wall Street Journal, citing its own unnamed source, said in February that Apple was testing a smaller tablet.

Production is expected to begin in the third quarter and will be released in time for the holiday season, a year after Amazon released the Kindle Fire.

Apple Founder Steve Jobs previously lambasted the idea of having a 7-inch iPad stating that, at that size, "the screen is too small to express the software."

But Amazon's success with the 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire, priced at $199, showed that there is a huge market for cheaper tablets. Although the Kindle Fire doesn't have superior specs (just an 8 GB storage capacity, 1 GHz dual-core processor, has no cameras), the

new tablet is seen as a vulnerable alternative or threat to the iPad given it's 60% cheaper than the iPad and it's backed by Amazon's cloud infrastructure and deep array of digital content.

The entry level iPad 2 was priced at $499 during launching. Later this month, the iPad 3 will be launched at $499 or slightly higher, and the iPad 2 remaining in shelves will likely take a small price cut.

But an iPad that fits in your pocket and for only $249 appears to be an amazing bargain. But is it worth the wait? Would you postpone your iPad purchase until Apple releases the iPad Mini?