I have a work supplied Thinkpad, a personal Chromebook (Toshiba Chromebook 2), Pixel C tablet, Nexus 7, and mobiles.
They each get used for different contexts.
The Thinkpad is for where I’m cabled to the mains as it dies in about 2 hours, and where needs of connectivity options - e.g. VGA outpout to a project. If I’m in a heavily work orientated situation, heavy use of work tools and expect to present, it is the best option, but at a penalty of physical size and need to keep near mains.
The Chromebook is wonderful, very good display and battery life but doesn’t have all the features of the Thinkpad, I cannot VGA output (it has HDMI output) and is slow at certain tasks. So this is where I’m expecting lots of typing and yet not presenting.
The Pixel C is a lot faster than the Chromebook, very good battery life but has a different application support. The primary benefit here is in physically constrained environments. Chromebooks and Tablets have in common the lack of everything a full laptop, and so these are the closest siblings. I understand Google is merging ChromeOS and Android (Android apps on ChromeOS) so these are going to get closer.
Where Anker overlaps most is the Pixel C is USB input, the Chromebook and Thinkpad are not, so I can merge mains charging and battery augmentation, multiplying the tablet’s benefit. Yes I know there are USB input Chromebooks but they cost more.
The Nexus 7 is where even more physically constrained.
Note my devices die from use, anything which is at risk of not, if it doesnt fit my needs, I sell. I’ve not sold anything on this topic for a good few years. Mostly the devices physically die from use like ports, keyboards, and I do a degree of self repair and sometimes they end up a backup. Just a few weeks ago self repaired the cracked Chromebook screen from when a child kicked it in a backpack.
Most of my devices are around 2 years old which is a mid point of their death from use. The Thinkpad has had to be significantly repaired 6 months from new.
To the thread’s point, if the tablets were to go, I’d not need to replace them, I could get by with a Thinkpad and a mobile. I’d miss the largeness and good battery life of the Chromebook. I’d miss the just-rightness in size of the Pixel C, I’d miss the small, and yet not so small as a mobile, Nexus 7. However if the Thinkpad was to die, what would I fall back on during a trip? Or if at home, what would I fall back on til the IT dept replaced? Likely I’d fall back to the Chromebook and the tablet.
If the tablet didnt exist, then my laptops would die faster from use.
So tablets: useful, not essential.
