Can you recommend a tablet to me? Do I want a tablet?

1)
The equivalent to your Asus would be a Chromebook. It’s essentially a laptop geared towards doing most everything in the Chrome browser. For word processing (I am guessing that you might want that) you can use the online version of Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

The same files would instantly be available on your laptop.

Chromebooks are sold by most leading laptop mfgs. and decent models are $200 – $500.

I bought one for my mother and it eliminated HUGE amounts of overhead we all deal with running Windows or Mac OS. I was really sold when I had an unexpected week-long stay with her in the hospital without my own computer. With only the Chromebook, without pre-planning, I was able to accomplish about 90% of my work.

2)
If you can work without a keyboard, tablets are great. Re: “nice if it had an optional external keyboard” – they all do, but in my experience and observations, nobody uses a keyboard with a tablet, even if they buy one. It’s just an extra thing to carry around.

3)
Tablet options
a) Buy an iPad if it’s in your budget. Pretty much nobody regrets buying an iPad.
b) Otherwise, Amazon 8” or 10” Kindle Fire tablets are a bargain. Do not buy the 7”.
c) I have the cheapest 8” Kindle Fire (not the Plus) and I am happy with it. I would buy the Plus today, just for future-proofing. It’s $20 more.
d) Ad-supported Fires are $15 cheaper. The ads are unobtrusive. You can remove them at any time by ponying up $15.

Disclaimer: I work for Amazon. I get a 10% discount for my own purchases but not even a gold star for pushing its products.

Other than the Fire tablet, I am in the thrall of Google, with Pixel, Nest, Voice, Gmail & more.

I’d get another little laptop, myself, but I’m a different sort of user than you. I avoid tablets, but you might like one. I don’t know what one to recommend.

@Call_Me_Jay, I’m going to look at Chromebook right away. I’ve never used Chrome itself, but I know I’m going to be out of my comfort zone one way or another. I would prefer to have a keyboard, but I feel overwhelmed by options and don’t know what to trust. I do trust your guidance, though. A thousand thanks for your detailed answer, which I will reread more than once.

@Zaku, thanks. I’m actually not crazy about tablets and would rather have a little laptop, except that they are so clumsy for reading books (especially reclining, as I do). Maybe I should take my old Kindle, which is a Paperwhite, just for reading.

Ok, @Call_Me_Jay, I’m looking at Chromebooks’ webpage, which says this several times: “Chromebooks come in all shapes and sizes.” But I don’t see any info on sizes, much less a way to search by size. I see no mention of dimensions among the product details. The 10” Asus worked fine for me, but I can’t even tell if there is such a thing as a 10” Chromebook. Do you know if there is, and how to find it?

I also really don’t understand how Chromebook comes in half a dozen different brands, when I thought Chromebook was the brand. Is there a tutorial somewhere for someone as lost as I am?

The last thing I want to do is put myself in the hands of an 18-year-old tech salesperson at Target or a fast talker at Best Buy.

And if all I have is the screen size (presumably the diagonal), how do I calculate the L x W dimensions? Given a screen size of, say, 13.3, how am I supposed to know what the horizontal and vertical measurements are?

(When I said 10” Asus, above, that was 10” wide.)

@Jeruba How important is privacy to you? Also do you have any interest in drawing/using a stylus?

Pretty important, @gorillapaws. I’m not doing anything that needs to be hidden. I just don’t like having all my personal business exposed.

I like a keyboard too, and I don’t like to spend a lot. I’ve been buying Lenovo the past few years. You don’t have to be a member to buy most things from Costco.com. I am a member, but in case you’re not, you can still purchase from them.

I don’t spend a lot on my laptops because I don’t need them for work or anything. It’s basically just a means to surf the internet and send email, and read some things online like the NY Times.

https://www.costco.com/lenovo-flex-5-14%22-2-in-1-touchscreen-laptop---11th-gen-intel-core-i3-1115g4---1080p---windows-11-s-mode.product.100857936.html

Thanks, @jca2. So, 14”: what are the dimensions?

The laptop is not a whole lot bigger than the screen.

I may buy that one myself, to keep onhand as a backup.

@jca2, I mean what are the width of the screen and the height of the screen? Your screen, if you have one of the ones in the link you posted. I’m looking for a small one, basically tablet-size, and can’t seem to find info on the screen sizes in terms of width and height.

@Jeruba Privacy is a big reason I lean Apple. They make their money by selling quality hardware at a premium price. Other companies make their money by selling stuff at a discount (sometimes even taking a loss), but their profits come from mining your data. Essentially you become the product, not the customer. For example, Google makes the vast majority of its money from selling ads (something like 70%).

Apple certainly has its disadvantages too. Their respect for user privacy is pretty unparalleled in the industry. You’re paying for it though.

@gorillapaws, I do understand that we are not Google’s customers. We are its product. I read and reviewed a book on that subject. But if I’ve never owned an Apple product, will I have a hard time with the transition, and will there be compatibility issues?

@Jeruba You could probably pick up a used iPad very cheaply and play around with it and then re-sell it for the same price. The folks at the Apple Store are usually pretty friendly too, if there’s one near you. The Apple ecosystem isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it ends up being a lot of people’s Kool-Aid. There are hundreds of millions of people using Apple devices for doing stuff so it shouldn’t be a problem with the compatibility. The only exceptions I run across anymore is for gaming, or niche things. For example there may be a computer controlled embroidery machine knockoff that never made a version of the software that was compatible with Apple hardware (but that wouldn’t run on a Kindle either). Stuff like email accounts and eBooks shouldn’t be an issue to access.

@Jeruba: It’s about 15 inches wide and 8 inches high (the screen itself).

@gorillapaws, thanks. That’s something to think about. I live in Silicon Valley, so there’d better be an Apple store nearby. I don’t care about gaming or weird applications, but I do want MS Word-compatible text processing. (Kool-Aid sounds lethal. Is that what you meant?)

@jca2, thanks. That’s big.

@jca2 “Kool-Aid sounds lethal. Is that what you meant?”

More the “cult” sense than the “everyone dies” sense.

You should have no problem with MS Word on Apple stuff.

I’m all in on the Apple stuff, but it’s not for everyone, and that’s cool. People should keep an open mind and try new things, but ultimately use what works best for them.

My iPad mini measures about 8” x 5½”. I use it almost exclusively now and I really like it. I like the Apple platform, and the support is excellent.
I would recommend shopping at Best Buy because you can see a variety of models and brands, various pricing, and generally better information that at Target. Take notes on the exact ones you are interested in, then look up online on the Target site, what the same things cost there.

@gorillapaws: I didn’t say that.

I take my IPad mini with me on trips and it fulfills all my needs with the Kindle ap downloaded on it. Idon’t do extensive writing projects while traveling but I do Fluther.

@jca2 lol whoops. My apologies for the error.

@Jeruba BTW, I use Google on my desktop and have an iPad and iPhone. I don’t think you’d have any difficulty with the switch.

For me, the weight in my carry on backpack is a big consideration so the iPad mini without a detachable keyboard works.

Here’s what I have, except mine is blue: https://tinyurl.com/2t9rc8td

It seems heavy, but it only weighs 1.15 lbs; I don’t know what others weigh. The screen measures 8.5×5.25, (10 inch diagonal). For me, the biggest thing is getting used to android.

So helpful! Thanks, all, and please continue to add comments as you may.

Why do they make it so hard to find out the screen dimensions?

Does anyone want to say anything about Amazon’s Silk browser? @Call_Me_Jay?

Really, I think your best bet would be to go to Best Buy (or equivalent) and eyeball and heft these things. It makes me nuts to try and figure out the specs from a few numbers on a web site. Even with a tape measure in hand, my brain just doesn’t translate that info well.

And I try to find sites with understandable reviews of different brands and stuff, too, so I can narrow it all down before venturing out.

@canidmajor I agree. There is nothing like some hands on investigation and talking to some geeky salespeople.

When I look up various laptops and notebooks it does say the width and height on the Best Buy website. You have to scroll down to “specifications” and then in specifications you usually have scroll down more to get to the “dimensions” section.

@Jeruba re: Amazon Fire Silk browser – I have never used it on my Fire. I’m sure it’s fine, but when I bought my Fire I took the extra steps to allow normal Android apps from the Google play store and installed my usual Edge & Chrome browsers.

@Jeruba I also really don’t understand how Chromebook comes in half a dozen different brands, when I thought Chromebook was the brand.

“Chromebook” is like “Windows”. You can buy Lenovo, Acer, HP, etc. Windows laptops. You can also buy Lenovo, Acer, HP, etc. Chromebook laptops.