The Town of Odyssey

Does anyone here regularly use a tablet, and if so, how would you evaluate them as an alternative to a laptop (and/or a traditional desktop computer)? I've been thinking about this question for a while, since tablets tend to be less expensive than laptops, while being much smaller and more portable than a PC*.

* Since my computers tend to be old anyway, and I don't do that many things that require a lot of power, decreased computing performance would not be a notable factor for me.

I use a desktop at work because its right here in front of me.

Otherwise I just use my phone 99% of the time, so I guess that's kind of a tablet. But yeah if you aren't really going to do much other than browse intrawebz and some simple stuff might as well go with a tablet.

EDIT: Or a Chromebook, they are close to tablet price range but give you the feeling of a laptop.

I use a tablet regularly, but only for a few specific things. I use my laptop as much as possible for any real typing. I find it much faster and easier. I mostly use my tablet (iPad mini) to listen to music, read on the Kindle app, watch Netflix etc sometimes, and look things up quickly if I'm at home because it's easier than on my phone (bigger screen) but faster than my laptop (don't have to turn it on.) In a way it feels excessive to think that I need a phone, tablet, and laptop, but I find value in each for different things.

i use a laptop plugged into an exernal monitor for work (i WFH for now), my macbook for netflix, writing, personal stuff, etc., and then my phone for whatever else. i don't use tablets really--i have an old iPad air 2, but i literally only use it when flying to watch movies

I use a laptop. I like being able to take it to which ever room I want to use it. If I need to take it somewhere I just put it in a laptop bag and go.

I used a tablet for awhile but I don't know if I ever used it productively. Now I use a laptop for work/entertainment, and my phone for talking to friends/keeping track of my calendar.

I thought I'd update this thread to note that I eventually got a Chromebook, a HP 15.6'' "de0010nr". It sold for about $163 (counting sales tax), so I felt that I was getting a good deal. I've only had it for about a day, but I'm pretty happy with it. A smaller screen might work for some people, but I think 15 is about the minimum that I could go without substantially changing my 'workflow'. At first I was a little upset with myself when I realized that it wasn't convertible (I was thinking the touchscreen wouldn't be good for much then), but I've learned to look on the bright side; no hinge or detachable keyboard means no hinge problems or detachable keyboard problems. This way the screen is propped up, too; no need for one of those stands. The only thing the touchscreen isn't equally good for is 'drawing' (in the tablet/physical notepad sense), but my thought that I might do that was always more of a vague idea than anything else. I can still draw on it like a 'whiteboard', anyway. Overall I think this is a good solution for me.

The key factors in choosing not just a laptop, but a Chromebook, were 1) price, and 2) my experience trying out CloudReady (it isn't as good as Chrome OS, but it gives you a fair demo of what it's like).

Thanks for playing a part in my journey!

That sounds like a very reasonable price if it does what you need it to do! I'm glad you're pleased with your purchase so far, Bob.

I've been a laptop guy for several years. I bought a mid-2012 MacBook a number of years ago that's finally nearing the end of its life. I've had it for 7 years, so I'm pretty pleased with it! At work, I usually flip between an iMac and a slightly newer MacBook. I tried to go the iPad route at one point, but really hated how limited the OS felt. I use Firefox as a browser on desktop and not being able to use uBlock to block YouTube and Hulu ads was a deal-breaker for me. I'm waiting for Apple to release the next-gen Macbook Pros and I'll probably pick one up and use it as my main machine for the next 6-8 years.

Steve wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 10:59 am I've been a laptop guy for several years. I bought a mid-2012 MacBook a number of years ago that's finally nearing the end of its life. I've had it for 7 years, so I'm pretty pleased with it! At work, I usually flip between an iMac and a slightly newer MacBook. I tried to go the iPad route at one point, but really hated how limited the OS felt. I use Firefox as a browser on desktop and not being able to use uBlock to block YouTube and Hulu ads was a deal-breaker for me. I'm waiting for Apple to release the next-gen Macbook Pros and I'll probably pick one up and use it as my main machine for the next 6-8 years.

As a long-time Mac user, and someone with an iPhone, I thought about going back to a Mac. The first obstacle was that they tend to be very expensive. My price range is very low (I have a hard time spending more than $250), and that gets you machines that are 12+ years old and/or in terrible shape. Besides, now is a terrible time for used Macs in general, now that M# machines are here; there's hardly a reason to buy even a good old Mac if you could spend just a couple of hundred bucks more and get a new one.

I seriously thought about iPads too. I agree with you, though; it's good for what it's good for, but I had a hard time imagining using it to do certain things that seemed important to me, like writing, doing stuff on web servers, etc. The local file management is questionable, too, and I like something with a more traditional desktop metaphor. The display size is very small for long-term use, and there are limited ports... all in all, just not a winning package for my situation.

Once I figured out I wasn't going to get any kind of Mac, that narrowed it down considerably. Deciding on a Chromebook in particular was more circumstantial. I think I like the overall UI better than Windows, though, and I love the resource efficiency. It is possibly the most Mac-like experience I've had outside of the Mac world.

If anyone is in the market for Chromebooks, there's a great deal right now on two HP 15'' Chromebooks on eBay. They're selling for about $175, buy-it-now, which is a great price. I got one for my mother, and thought that I'd pass the news on in case anyone in the community is interested. You might need to get a separate charger, but when you're done you should have a machine better than a 6th-gen-iPad for close to $200.

Guys, guys! Have you all looked into mini computers? I am obsessed. You can get a powerful desktop for cheap without cluttering your minimalist desk space. They're semi-portable ('cause so smol), but obvs not meant to bring everywhere since you'd need to lug around a monitor as well.

BUT if you're like me and prefer the size of a laptop but don't appreciate the high prices for only semi-decent quality, and you don't necessarily bring your laptop everywhere with you anyway (that's what my tablet is for!)... I present to you.. mini computer!

I bought mine for $250 with Windows 10 on it, and bought a decent monitor for $150 and this thing is wicked fast. It's called the HP EliteDesk 800 G2 Desktop Mini on Amazon, but there were a lot of others to choose from. If you want to game, it's only good for classics but you can upgrade the graphics card apparently, and that would fix that issue. I can code and do everything else without waiting ages like I had to for my Samsung Chromebook 2, which is way more expensive for how super slow it is in comparison.

I couldn't believe you had to spend $1000 for a decent laptop -I bought two of the $100-200 range chromebooks and they are not worth the headache if you like to tinker on them like me... so putting it out there. Hope it helps!