Desktop, laptop, tablet?

I think I am in the minority nowadays. I have a PC and a tablet, more than sufficient for my needs. Both, along with my phone are linked to two printers.

I have never had a desire to have any Apple product. The only reason I can think of is that I was responsible for the I Macs in school and never warmed to them.

I have an extra large monitor and keyboard, which I couldn't have with a laptop.

Sorry I am of no help.

Two apple iPads and Apple iPhone Apple I watch love Apple products

I have an iPad Pro with a keyboard case. That’s all I need. It’s like having a laptop.

We have a Dell laptop connected to a printer. Very happy with it and Microsoft/Outlook not difficult to use. It just takes a bit of time to get used to something different.
We both have Samsung phones.
I have an iPad but it was secondhand from a friend.
I suppose it depends on what you want to spend.
Good luck with making your choice.

My Galaxy tablet A9+ does all that very efficiently and costs about £219. I got mine for about £180 in a sale. Of course the keyboard is on the bottom of the screen rather than a separate keyboard. I hope you find so thing that suits you. The trouble is there is do much choice now and so msny specifications that it can get very confusing.

We also use a far from young iMac maw. I’m also not sure I’d want to switch back to Windows, it’s changed so much, yes of course I could if I had to but I truly don't want to have that extra challenge. Life is challenging enough here. The instant telephone support from Apple is also reassuring. I’m a big fan since they patiently talked me through reinstating the contents from our backup.

No conclusions here other than to say when the time comes we’ll wander into the Apple store and ask to play with the various machines while seeking their advice on the most suitable and least financially ruinous for our relatively simple needs. We’ll also ask the technical wizard who sorts out any major glitches or updates that I feel are beyond me for his advice. Mr C chooses to just use and ipad these days so it’s down to me really.

Non negotiables for us, well me really, are a decent sized screen, a ‘proper’ keyboard or the ability to use a decent separate wireless keyboard. Also the ability to attach an external drive for backups and plug in a camera card to transfer photos.

That probably hasn’t helped at all, apologies. I’ll be interested in all the responses to tuck away until a decision has to be made here. Good luck .

Before retiring I used Microsoft computers at work. I now have a voluntary role supporting individuals with their IT devices. I have an Apple iMac, iPad, an old MacBook air, Microsoft (Windows 10 - I can't afford Windows 11 but Windows 10 is end-of-life and unsupported from October 2025), an Android phone and a Kindle e reader. I have some experience with a Chromebook too but don't own one. I'm used to swapping between devices and trying to get them to work together.

I think you have said it yourself - can you face getting your head around Microsoft/Outlook again? I'm often asked why I don't like Microsoft. My experience is that it was developed for business use and relied on IT support teams to sort out any issues using administrator rights and to assist with training with updates/changes. They never expected Jo Public to use them without support. After a recent update on my Windows laptop, I was locked out because I had lost admin privileges and couldn't make adjustments to my printer settings although I still had standard user rights. In the end, I carried out a complete reset - I should have prepared a 'Recovery Disk'.

Your list of requirements doesn't include spreadsheets and databases and I think Microsoft wins with Excel, Access and Word too but I have them on my Apple devices (I pay a subscription to 365) - they work well.

I can tell you, although your old iMac died after printing labels, I've spent hours trying to get my Windows 10 to do the same while helping someone struggling with Windows 11. It is much easier to print labels using Apple.

My DH uses the iMac which is now 10 years old and I know it doesn't have long. DH is not comfortable with technology but uses it for so many things and I think that we will have to replace it. I can't imagine him battling with Windows when the iMac is so much more intuitive.

I wish you luck with this.

I have a MacBook Air, and it’s a great laptop. Also an iPad and an iPhone - love the way they interconnect. I used to use an iMac but felt I didn’t need it, so gave it to my other half. Wish I had trusted my instincts and bought the MacBook Air first!

I find Apple products far more intuitive than MS ones. My husband uses Windows and I struggle to remember how to do the basics after years on a Mac.

I have an iPhone, a MacBook Air, a watch and an iPad. I love that they 'talk to each other' seamlessly. I wouldn't replace the iPad if it died. I have a keyboard case for it, and a 365 subscription, but I now so rarely need to take equipment anywhere that it is rarely used. I prefer the MacBook, as I can save things on it, and it is generally easier to navigate. The iPad is a toy, really.

Everything else would be replaced immediately if it stopped working, although I hang onto things until I really need to change them. The MacBook is 5 years old, and I'm not even starting to look at new ones. I always buy more memory when I buy laptops, so they last longer before struggling, and mine is doing fine up to now🤞.

My 6 year old IPad died at the weekend so I trekked off to the Apple Store to get it certified dead. I decided to buy a new one. The assistant was extremely helpful, said I didn’t need an expensive model for my needs, so I bought a cheaper one. Apple’s service is really impressive. You can go back anytime with any queries and you can also have free lessons. So if buying Apple products I would now always go to the Apple Store.

I have an old laptop computer which regularly tells me, usually annoyingly when I am typing something, that it is not running on genuine windows. I do like my I pad for the internet or sending emails sat in the lounge or conservatory, but I like my computer for filing emails.

I have an iPad Pro with a separate keyboard I use for everything, work, watching tv, photos, reading books, music etc

I used, and even taught, Microsoft Office products on a PC for years but when I retired I could no longer afford them, so I use Open Office now. I do have Google Docs which is excellent for sharing with others and both can save in MS formats so I can deliver effectively an Excel spreadsheet to a university college and import his data back and then work on it using my Open Office system and export the final report as a word document back to him. No longer actually use, nor need, relational databases, modern spreadsheets do the job as much as I need, just as well.

I have just been given, my choice, an Amazon Fire tablet to replace my absolutely antique Apple mini iPad which I have never really been happy with. As an engineer I would rather have a tool I can play with than a toy that I cannot get inside the workings of. Same with the phone, I loved my Blackberry. I hate, but put up with, my iPhone since all the alternatives are so dreadful but it is under protest and it is sworn at, at least three times a day.

Apple laptop! One and only. Pricy but worth it.

Depends really what you want them for.
I have an iPhone only for phone calls, emails and WhatsApp. DH has a large computer for banking , Files for insurance etc. He also does family tree research on it
We share an iPad, GN, eBay etc And I have my own desk top just for writing. Phone, computer and iPad are used jointly and are therefore the most useful. I would not like to do my banking by phone.

Marydoll

I think I am in the minority nowadays. I have a PC and a tablet, more than sufficient for my needs. Both, along with my phone are linked to two printers.

I have never had a desire to have any Apple product. The only reason I can think of is that I was responsible for the I Macs in school and never warmed to them.

I have an extra large monitor and keyboard, which I couldn't have with a laptop.

Sorry I am of no help.

Yes, you can have a large monitor and keyboard with a laptop, as long as you choose a laptop with USB and HDMI ports. Set your laptop to stay on when you close the lid, plug the monitor into the HDMI port, the keyboard and external mouse into the USB ports, close the laptop and put it out of the way and away you go - best of both worlds.

I was in exactly your position earlier this year when my beautiful iMac died under the strain of its last update. My iPad was also old and battery life poor. My husband bought me a new iPad with higher memory and a keyboard.
I haven’t missed the iMac once. I seriously considered ending my love affair with all things apple, but I’m glad I haven’t- there’s just something about apple quality.

Well I have just replaced my 6 year old Asus (became unsupported - never went wrong) with another new Asus. Much prefer for documents, zoom and scanning etc. Also have an ipad and iphone both of which I love so use both systems easily.

My desktop PC is Windows 10 and can't update to 11. So I'll take the hard drive out after Christmas and skip it. My iPad is 7 years old and I bought it to replace my original one that was 6 years old so I'm due I'm new one soon. I like my iPad as it's easier to use but I also have a 5 year old laptop that has been upgraded to 11.

I have a Dell desktop and an Apple iPad. I also have an iPhone.
I use the desktop for more “serious” stuff as my eyesight isn’t the best. Iplay games on the iPad and use the phone for thi# and 5har.
My pc has recently been replaced as it was getting erratic and unreliable. It is very compact consisting of a monitor and keypad, instead of the bulky tower of old. It doesn’t, however, have a CD player.

Apple for me every time. However a small disappointment for me is the way apple work in numbers and pages which are not compatible with Microsoft, so when I attached a document to people who do not work in Apple I have to export it to either PDF or of Word. Still a small price to pay for the efficiency and ease when working with Apple products. The after sales service is next to none too, you have back up service at least 12 hours a day FOC. I also have an iPad and an iPhone. I use my Mac at least 8 hours a day and find it so much easier to work on that the iPad, but I love the iPad for personal use and relaxing when playing a few games and google stuff. I don't think you will regret if you replace with another Apple product, but which depends on what you use it for. The staff are very good at guiding you well in store and you can always do a refresher course on the new equipment, which as you will know is FOC in store too.

I have just had a new iPad Aire 5 which at the age of 87 I am coming to terms with. I had an iPad 6 before that with which I was fine. The new one I’ve found difficult. I also have a windows laptop and a windows desktop, using outlook on both and have never found any difficulty with it, it does what I need anyway. I run my Genealogical programs both on there and on the laptop. I believe you are in the same county as I am Rosiesmaw2 so if you would like to come and fiddle about on mine to see if it suits you, you are very welcome. I find the Apple products over priced for what they are, and would not have bought the Aire had I known what a fiddle it was.

Gosh we’re so dependent on all these things… am also using an old heavy Mac laptop also 10 years old -takes ages to charge up… fortunately my lovely daughter passes down her ‘old’ apple products so I’ve an iPhone, apple watch and an iPad… really like the iPad and watch and they charge up quickly - now all I need is a cook and a cleaner🤩

I have an iphone and an i pad which I wouldn’t be without. I have access to DH’s laptop if I want to access something like publisher but much prefer the apple equipment.
I use the iphone for all my activities throughout the day but only do internet banking on the ipad because I don’t fancy carrying such apps around and about.

When we first got iPads they weren’t compatible with a lot of online forms etc but nowadays it’s not an issue at all.

Just a thought, I never buy "new new" now but rather a returned or repaired. Also make sure there is sufficient memory in the hard drive for any future operating system update. My last brand new laptop was cheap but I couldn't install Windows OS10 (?) when it came out as there wasn't enough memory. I was livid!