Tablet / ChromeBook / laptop for tech hobby?

Ps, posted from my iPhone while on the couch.. little bit cumbersome.  

Hi Nico,

I bought my first Chromebook about 6 months ago, and surprisingly I have rarely used it. It's been sitting on a shelf for months* : (

Personally I think an Android tablet (or iPad) would be better.
I have an iPad and although I don't use it as much as I should, I still use it, more than the Chromebook. 

Also, a large powerful phone is a great idea, it replaces the PC for a lot of things I do - I frequently bring up datasheets, take photos, screenshots etc on the phone, since it is always at hand. I have an Android phone and usually just replace with the nicest one I can find or afford. The cost of the phone easily pales into insignificance considering the use it provides as a computing device.

Also, regarding Pi, I usually have one running, or ready to easily run to test things out, but I have a permanently powered up Intel NUC running Linux too, so I can SSH into that and just try things out. It's been very reliable in continuous operation (had it since 2018).

I'm not really much of an Apple user, prefer Android, but the new iPhone Max looks like a beast, if I were used to the Apple ecosystem, I would probably get that. Large phones are still practical as far as I'm concerned, they should be as large as possible : )

* Actually, I tell a lie, at least the Chromebook's power supply brick has been very useful - it's USB-C, I use it as a spare charger for the mobile phone : )

I have a Raspad 3 that I love to use more then my laptop but that's just me.  Being able to swap images on the fly is nice so if I want to play games I can just toss in another sd card.  But I am sure if given the choice over a top end anything over a pi, I will still pick the pi.

Well there is all the biggies - Samsung tablets, Pixel Slate, iPad and MS Surface - if you need their features.

I just use the fastest generic android tablet I can afford, but mainly when developing android apps.

For anything else I still use a PC or Surface - that is what runs all the software I have bought.

Tablets still need to be replaced fairly often, so buying the latest name brand gets expensive.

I have a bunch of Raspberry Pi's, but I only use them in projects, not as a development tool.

By the time I learn Linux well enough to use as a main platform, maybe Raspberries will be also be competitively fast.

I have a Surface 3 running Linux Mint, and it works like a charm. I just saw this: https://www.slashgear.com/782265/surface-go-with-linux-review-almost-the-perfect-open-source-notepad/
BTW I got mine second-hand, and it works pretty well. The battery is ~3hr, but for my needs is OK.

I think for what you need a Surface Go running Ubuntu will be OK. Depending on where you are, take a look at used tablets. Sometimes you get lucky.

I have a primary Ubuntu workstation computer, a Ubuntu laptop Ubuntu for the portable operating system and a Lenevo Yoga running Android as my tablet reader. This configuration has been a discovery evolution. The Lenovo was a major purchase to find the path you now walk. I realized that by separating myself from the primary workstation I wasn't as productive. 

The workstation and laptop are a minimum. The Lenovo is a reader and for those oh yeah, I need to look that up, kinda things. As for its involvement in the other stuff, not so much.

When traveling, I have been limited to the laptop for some months. It has the capabilities of mirroring the workstation but is not as powerful.

I have accepted the three-device model for some years. I rarely try to improve it by adding something Smart. My family seems to constantly be adding technology to their lives for convenience. I'm just resurrecting a Samsung Tab A my spouse purchased two years ago. It got used for less than a week and lived in a drawer. It is now destined to be a content watching device for grandchildren.

Good luck on your quest.

Hi Doug,

A quick way to get up-to-speed with Linux is to find an linux administrator's course (could be some good free ones, I've not checked recently). I was really uncomfortable with Linux until I took an admin course (technically I did a Solaris admin course because that was what I was using at work, but the difference was generally not large). I'd like to refresh one day, and I'll look for such a course if I were to do it again.

ntewinkel  If function is more important than price, I second dramoz on the Surface.  Our sales team uses them and they are basically a laptop with a detachable keyboard.

My "go to" after the laptop is an Amazon Fire tablet BUT, for you, I'd recommend the iPad.  Get the 10" screen.  Skip the smaller ones.  I have a low end generic Android tablet and a Chromebook and I almost never fire them up.

Also the pen capability has got really nice with these modern devices (Surface, iPad, and the high-end Samsung tablets) so SuperArtGirl might help sketch your ideas on the same device : ) 

Incidentally I was watching a friend order some art supplies a while back (pens, pencils, paints etc) for their new hobby, and was amazed how expensive it all was. I did gently suggest that a tablet + pen would work out a lot cheaper over just a year, but the response I got was that it's not the same, and that the whole point of the new hobby was to use real pens and pencils : ) I lost this argument ; ) 

Thanks Shabaz!

Interesting about your Chromebook - I wondered if they had gotten more useable over time, but I guess they're still too web-based and (maybe?) underpowered?

I might have to look into the iPhone Max - it seems the new ones are physically smaller than my 8+, but have far bigger screens!