I need your recommendation. My trusty old Toshiba laptop bit the dust after almost a decade and I am in the market for a replacement but want something small I can pack on the bike for road/camping trips. I want to move to a tablet, at least I think I do.

Uses:
1. E-mail read and write with ability to attach photos.
2. Kindle app so I can download and read a book at the camp site.
3. Good to great battery life.
4. On-board Wifi. I don't want to pay for 4G service. There are enough Starbucks and McDonald's around with free Wifi to grab my e-mail while on the road.
5. Maybe a built in camera.
6. Web surfing so I can log onto SuzukiSavage.com and other sites.

So, with that in mind, what do you recommend? I looked and listened to a very knowledgeable kid at Best Buy yesterday and he recommended several, one with a stripped down Win8 O/S and the Kindle Fire HDX. I like them both.

So, point me in the right direction if you will and please keep in mind at all times I am an idiot. No, I really am, no joke. Oh, and money is a consideration.

Good hunting

Sounds like you are hunting a good reason to get a tablet.

Here is the only main downside to a 10" tablet -- they don't post or type worth a shite.

If you mostly read and not write posts, then you are likely OK with either one.

If you type a lot, get the refurb laptop.

For the same money as a good tablet you can buy a refurb laptop.

I generally hunt around and buy something cheap with an eye to replacing it when the current something better comes out.

If you are in a bind with no machine right now, you will likely pay more for a new product.  

Try and get one with upgrade rights to Win 10 when you do buy it.

Well, I went to Office Max this afternoon to pick up a shipping box and walked by the laptop and tablet counter. After looking at all the tablets I decided I would be better off with a Windows system rather than an Android or whatever Kindle uses to promote Amazon products. They had a Dell tablet for $200 with Win8. Looking at the laptops, I spotted an Asus 17" with Win8, an Intel processor of some sort, 4GB Ram and a 500GB hard drive. Not that I know what any of that means other than more RAM runs sloppy code quicker and a bigger hard drive seems to impress the women.

It was on sale at $249, down from $379. It was the demo and the only one they had left. I got another 20% off and, after they restored the desk top configuration to new, walked out for $210.94 including sales tax.

The last time I set up a new pc at home was six or seven years ago and it took hours. This thing configured itself in about five minutes and that included the time it took me to find the password to the wifi. When I went to load the printer, it had already done it.

So, I have a learning curve for Win8 but so far, so good.

Good Hunting