Like everyone else has already said, it really depends on your own personal needs and what you will do with it. As VA pointed out, any kind of typing in great length is a total PITA unless done with a laptop or PC keyboard. For basic reading and research, tablets are fine as are any number of smart phones. In a perfect world, I would just own one of everything, but if I had to choose over laptop or PC and could only have one, I would take the laptop because at least it's portable. I would also choose laptop over tablet because it can do more things (that I like to do). I had a large laptop too, and as cumbersome as it was, I still lugged it with me everywhere that I went. It's almost impossible to not find wifi spots these days unless you visit my friend Nettie out at Taylor's Crossroads, NC.