I am not so familiar with tablets. The big question: Can you do what you want to with a tablet, or not? The best tablet is ipad, and if you can't afford a new one, I would get a refurbished one from Apple.
I know about laptops: If you need a laptop, and want a bargain, or if you can't afford a tablet, here is the deal:
Mac is the best, but for budget guys like me they aren't worth the money. Dell used to be great, but now they are run of the mill, they have proprietary hardware, like apple, so they are too expensive to buy and too hard/expensive to repair.
Toshiba and Sony make great laptops, but they cost more. If you can afford them, then get an Apple, as apple is better. (If your company is buying your laptop and you don't want Apple, I would go with Toshiba or a "gaming" laptop....many of the gaming laptops have great performance and are decently priced for what you get)
I buy a generic PC. It doesn't matter if it's gateway/hp/Acer/whoever (I am not a Lenovo fan). Any of these inexpensive hardware will work.
Look at what you are paying for a CPU and the Video chip. Here are two resources to compare them:
PassMark - CPU Benchmarks - List of Benchmarked CPUs
and
PassMark Software - Video Card Benchmark Charts - Video Card Model List
The only cards not on their lists are brand new ones....and they will be added soon. These websites have virtually ALL the chips, and you can compare them relative to each other. The verbiage on the consumer websites that explain how great the chips/video cards are are just crap.
When you are comparing CPU and Video cards, you will see that often that two comparable computers, with about the same pricing, and about the same specs (RAM, harddrive, etc) will often have much different CPU and/or Video cards....it is easy to get ripped off and pay too much and have a crappy CPU or video card.
RAM is the easiest thing to upgrade...it is cheap and easy to do yourself, or cheap to have someone else do it, so don't pay for RAM. I think it is best to spend more money on the CPU/Graphics card and have not much ram...then upgrade the RAM to max on your own. It IS good to look for the max ram a computer can handle. If two computers have 4 RAM, but one is maxed out at 8 RAM and the other can handle 16 RAM, buy the one with more RAM potential, as long as they are about the same price.
Next easiest is the Hard Drive. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to replace your had drive...I don't spend a lot for a bigger hard drive...I upgrade that myself after a year or so.
With a laptop, the cheaper computers will have an "integrated" video chip...this means you can't upgrade it. If you can afford a laptop with a separate/stand-alone video card, then you can upgrade it later if you want. Good video cards have at least 1GB of dedicated video ram. Many cards now have 2 and 3 GB of dedicated video ram, and the higher end laptops sometimes have 2 video cards.
Operating system: I personally just bought my wife a laptop with W7 and W8. I don't like W8, but down the road it may be better. You can get computers with W7, W8, or both. I also would not pay for a touch screen laptop. If I wanted a touch screen, I would get a tablet.
I recommend Tiger Direct and NewEgg. I looked at both websites, and bought a laptop off of Tiger Direct. We have used TD for our last 4 computer buys. They both have LOTS of computers (new and used) with a lot of search options, so it is easy to narrow down your choice preferences, vs. having to look at a list of 1000 computers....too much to try and compare that many!
Also, screen size. 15.6" is the cheapest/most availability. 17" (which is what I will be getting next) is more expensive as the screen is bigger. 14"/13" and smaller is more expensive, as they have to cram all the stuff into a smaller space. Weight: Not every computer is the same. My wife's 15.6" laptop is 1/2 pound lighter than several of the other 15.6" ones I looked at.
If you have more questions, PM me.
cliff
CVG