travel with laptop or tablet?

[albireo13]

I will be traveling soon, going to Utah for 20 days in camper van seeing the national parks. I need to keep in touch with folks occasionally, email and website work a bit. Nothing heavy duty.

I would bring my laptop but it takes up a bunch of space and a pain to pack and travel with, with charging cables etc. My iphone is just too small and frustrating to use.
Anyway, I am thinking maybe a tablet like an ipad.
I want something good but, basic. Don't need high end performance.
I could go ipad or other, non apple tablet.

What do other folks travel with?
Any good suggestions? Thx.

 

[VanWinkle]

I have a tablet that I have not used in years. I like the laptop, a chromebook, to use
while traveling. I am usually on road trips, so traveling with a laptop is not an
inconvenience. It is easier for me to type on a laptop.

 

[disneysteve]

For years I traveled with my laptop. It was a pain for all the reasons you mentioned. I finally transitioned to only carrying my phone and have never missed the laptop. It’s probably been 7 or 8 years since I’ve taken a laptop. My phone can do everything I need to do. The only exception is I can’t plug it into the hotel tv to stream tv and movies like I could with the laptop but that’s a very minor issue since most hotel tvs now offer streaming access.

 

[FIYes]

I travel with my tablet. It is small and lightweight compared to a laptop. I load it up with books and magazines before a trip. I prefer to read on my tablet versus my phone.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

You always have the public library if you elect to leave the garb at home. Then, use your phone for notices that warrants the library visit for follow up.

 

[Aerides]

When I travel I take my phone and a small android samsung tablet for reading. The galaxy tab A series are all under $300.

Mine is older than current offerings though, only 8.7" like an ipad mini. Not sure they still offer those.

 

[Steve P]

I will be traveling soon, going to Utah for 20 days in camper van seeing the national parks. I need to keep in touch with folks occasionally, email and website work a bit. Nothing heavy duty.

I would bring my laptop but it takes up a bunch of space and a pain to pack and travel with, with charging cables etc. My iphone is just too small and frustrating to use.
Anyway, I am thinking maybe a tablet like an ipad.
I want something good but, basic. Don't need high end performance.
I could go ipad or other, non apple tablet.

What do other folks travel with?
Any good suggestions? Thx.

I switched from laptop to ipad when I retired and it works fine. Biggest issue is remembering some logins on the ipad.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

For the last 2 or 3 years I have been traveling with only my iPad and my iPhone. Prior to that, I took a laptop. In fact, I got rid of my laptop and moved to a desktop Mac mini at home with the iPad for travel. BUT... the new low-cost Apple Mac Neo laptop caught my eye and I have one being delivered on Saturday. I may start taking it on the road with me again instead of the iPad. I was just on a 3-week trip (cruise and land) and I got a little tired of using just the iPad. So, I guess you could say... I'm not sure where the future will lead me yet. But either way works.

 

[albireo13]

We have a MAC desktop and a Dell desktop at home for bigger work.
My wife has an MS Surface which is old and driving her nuts.

I am thinking of either an iPad A16 11" or Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE.
Going back and forth between Apple or Android.

I would get a foldable keyboard.

​

 

[levindb]

I have transitioned to a 14" laptop...just got an ACER at Costco for $499. It has 16 Gb RAM and 1 Tb of storage with 15 hour battery. It even has a travel case...the whole thing is about the size of a legal pad, so it does not take much space at all.

 

[COcheesehead]

I use an iPad for everything and it travels easily. No WiFi? I can hot spot it off my phone.

 

[frank05]

Always travel with my ipad, I have never owned a personal laptop. Wifi is ubiquitous and if really need a connection I can hotspot. I prefer to access my financial and bank via their apps.

 

[donheff]

I don't like laptops - too bulky. I constantly read ebooks on an iPad Mini and find it (and my phone) sufficient for the routine online activities I need while on travel. I would be carrying it anyway for books, so it is no burden.

 

[folivier]

Let us know how you like the Neo, PaunchyPirate. I'll need to replace my old iMac soon and not sure if I want a mini or laptop. Really only use it for light stuff. Not much photo processing anymore.

 

[RunningBum]

Laptop. I like using a keyboard. An external mouse is nice too but mine has a touch pad and touch screen so that's not mandatory. I have an LG Gram 17. It's 3 pounds, and they got rid of the power brick, now using a wall wart with USB cable. The size and weight difference from a tablet is not all that much. I would only use a tablet (or maybe just a phone) if I was backpacking everywhere and space/weight were critical.

It sounds like OP has a bulkier laptop and doesn't need much. My hesitation would be that they haven't used a tablet or not all that much. In such a short prep time they may not realize it has many of the frustrations of the iPhone, primarily the input methods with no keyboard or mouse.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Laptop as well, and yes, give me a keyboard and a mouse. I've got a Thinkpad and it's small enough to fit in a backpack. I hate looking at maps and websites on the phone and only do it when necessary. My wife travels with her tablet so she can watch movies while on the eliptical and do her computer stuff. I hate that too.

 

[statsman]

If I don't need online account access while on travel, a tablet or smartphone. If I do, 14" laptop with Linux installed. I don't access online accounts with my smartphone, other than for the cell provider.

 

[gromit]

My next short trip I'm going to try just taking a tablet. I have a mini mouse and I just bought an inexpensive mini rechargeable keyboard that can be paired via bluetooth to my tablet or my phone. Search Amazon for "phone keyboard" to see some of them. My thinking is that now that I have the keyboard, I can just take the tablet and not risk the much more expensive laptop from hotel room theft.

 

[easysurfer]

I don't own a tablet as when I travel (for more than a day or two) I bring a laptop. I also use the laptop to remotely connect to my home desktop so I can use my (ET phone home ) PC at home if needed. But that is different story.

Seems like your choice is either laptop or tablet for the occasional website and email. Is the reason you are thinking of a laptop over a tablet that you might miss a real keyboard to type on? If that is the case, you could get a portable keyboard and take the tablet.

I kind of despise texting on my phone. But some folks only communicate by text. To help make things less frustrating is I've got a small folding wireless (connect via bluetooth) keyboard for the times I really need to type for a long session using my phone.

20 days is a long time. Figure in how many times you'd be needing to pack up and haul the laptop if you go laptop route. If only a time or two, that isn't so much.

 

[TripleLindy]

I rarely use the laptop for anything, so tablet would be my choice. Our laptop is a MacBook Air, so it’s not an issue of size or weight.

Have a great trip! We hit Arches, Zion and the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago. Simply spectacular!

 

[Qs Laptop]

I travel with a tablet, phone, and Kindle. I've got a fast charger with multiple charging ports on it so I can charge all devices simultaneously.

Laptop is too bulky and you're not going to need its processing power on a vacation.

If you are going to get a tablet I'd get it a week or two before your trip so you can get acclimated to it. Get accustomed to using voice to text conversion to be more efficient at entering text (rather than typing it.)

 

[tulak]

I only travel with an iPad. Works great.

 

[GBcycling]

Depending on what i need to accomplish on trip I will bring one or the other. Tablet is more convenient and charges with same brick as phone.

 

[Sunset]

If traveling by vehicle, I take my laptop, as the keyboard/mouse and installed apps and power vastly outweighs the size difference in taking a tablet if I was going to do any web work, or banking (as I don't use a phone for banking).

If I only need to keep in touch with folks via email and text, maybe reserve a hotel room and check in for a flight, I'll take only my phone. I used to take a laptop for this, but I'm finally getting used to using a phone for this minimal effort chores.

 

[jollystomper]

I have both a 13.5 inch laptop and an 11 inch tablet I use exclusively for travel (BTD items ). Both are light, can use the same charger, and take up very little space. The destination, travel mode, planned activities, and length of time determines which one I bring.