This is what we all should want the Switch to be.  A dynamite handheld that is on par with the current gen of competition.  One Eco-system will suit us all very well, and ensure that the Switch has software.

It is a tablet. A tablet that you can play on the go. You can't grab your PS4 and play it on the go. It needs a TV, power, and a controller. If Switch has touch screen controls, then it is just a tablet. And it better have touch controls too, because if you lose the controller nubs then all you have is a screen you can't do anything with.

The real hybrid device was Wii U. You could take Wii U, plug it in anywhere, and you could play to your hearts content. This is just a tablet.

You haven't answered my question. A home console needs to be played at home with, just like you said, a TV, power and a controller. Switch has all that, too. Calling it just a tablet is not enough. It's as much a tablet as it is a handheld as it is a console. Stop reducing it to only one single device when you should clearly know better. Sorry for being so aggressive but this semantics bullshit is so annoying. Through semantics like this people start making it smaller than it is.

Does it really matter? Call it a handheld, console, tablet...whatever you want. If you want to believe Nintendo has left the console market or are still in it, then fair enough.

The important thing is that the Switch is fucking awesome.

KLXVER, you are right. Thank you!

Its a portable home console. Its like those laptops which can transform into tablets. The difference comes in software cause those laptops have full windows while tablets with a keypad have mobile windows. The Switch plays Zelda BotW and possibly Skyrim can play a lot of home console games and has software that is most probably home console version cause the developer considers it a home console. Again the RV does not have the full functionality of the house and the tablet does not have the full functionality of the laptop but NS has full functionality of the home console and the handheld much like the house that moves or the laptop that can be used like a tablet. It is a home console that can be played like a handheld not a handheld that can be played like a home console cause the handheld has less features while this has all features of a home console. In terms of cars, the switch is fully loaded.

The very fact that it can steal sales from the pro or scorpion or one or ps4 shows that it is still in competition with the home consoles now whether you'll call it a handheld or a tablet even, doesn't matter cause the switch is in competition with the consoles. Perhaps in the future Sony and Microsoft will start to use this idea as well so that the distinction between handheld and home consoles disappears

If anything, the system may have a high performance mode while docked and a lower performance mode while as as a handheld for energy drain reasons. 

OT: I'm ecstatic about it. I've bought every Nintendo handheld since the Gameboy but never felt totally up for their consoles. Only bought the Wii and was disappointed. With this new setup I'm buying both as one unit (I hope). Software support should be a non-issue.

If you didn´t notice so far, every GameBoy, DS etc. are consoles as well, in fact they are called portable consoles for a reason - the terminology of handhelds is simply another quicker way to call these kind of consoles that are easily transportable. Very similar to the name conventions of PCs and laptops.

Your listed examples actually confirms the obvious thing, that these are all consoles - the addition of portable or home just tries to describe its focus.

Kind of silly to disregard Switch beeing a console, for actually having feature advantages compared to other home consoles.

The gamepad didnt work on its own. So how was it a hybrid device?