I'd recommend having a good second hand laptop right now, as I think the tablet marketplace is going to change, with more competition and better specs. Just now, it seems that there's a significant price hike over similar specs v. laptops.
Your tech requirements don't fall into high specifications, so a recent 2nd hand lappie would deliver the goods, be reliable and importantly deliver great value. If you had a need for massive computing power, then this would be a bit different, and if your needs change in a year or two, then if you've only invested £100/fairly near to this price or so now, you wouldn't have been paying out now for new equipment that would remain largely redundant until that time. It also means that the tablet market at that time, when competition and new tech. improvements, should deliver better specs at potentially equivalent or lower price levels.
It's easy to get carried away and buy much higher specifications than we need, realistically meaning that we're spending money right now that will somewhat be wasted. If you were doing intensive gaming, high intensity video editing and other stuff, then a higher spec'd piece of kit would be more appropriate. If you get a Windows 7 type refurb, then it will remain good, with Microsoft updates for a considerable period. Windows XP will only be supported by Msoft for just less than a couple of years, so if you want a supported operating system after that point, then XP wouldn't continue: it would still work, but wouldn't be given free updates from MSoft.
There are alternatives to Msoft systems, including free Linux options, and it's possible to have a laptop use more than just one, so even if you have an XP laptop, you could migrate to something like Linux after that point.
Just my thoughts, and I'd definitely good some reliable advice, where that isn't coming from someone trying to sell you something.
Good luck!  |
