Q: My husband and I share an iPad, and he also has a laptop that belongs to his employer. Once he retires, I'd like for both of us to have a computer, but I don't know whether to buy another iPad tablet or a laptop. Typically, we search the Web for information, check Craigslist, pay bills, do e-mail and watch a few movies. What should I buy?
Julie Carroll, Edina
A: If you send brief e-mails, a tablet is ideal. If you write longer ones, a laptop will serve you better. Why? Typing on a tablet is slow and often not very accurate because of on-screen keyboard is small. And keyboard accessories for a tablet aren't as easy to use as a laptop keyboard.
Full-featured tablets such as the iPad are more expensive than laptops. A 9.7-inch (diagonal screen measurement) iPad Pro with a Wi-Fi-only internet connection and 256 gigabytes of flash memory costs $800. A basic Acer Windows 10 laptop with a 15.6-inch screen, Wi-Fi or plug-in internet connection and a one terabyte hard drive (four times as much storage as the iPad) costs about $300. While you can supplement a tablet's storage by storing some of your data online ("in the cloud"), it will cost you a monthly fee to store sizable amounts of data.
On the other hand, a tablet is smaller and its battery lasts longer than a laptop.
Sometimes it's a tossup. There are good Web browsing and photo-editing programs for both tablets and laptops, so it's a matter of whether you would rather use a touch screen or a mouse.
Q: I bought a laptop PC on which I use the same Outlook e-mail program and e-mail account as I do on my desktop PC. But on the laptop, my new e-mail gets deleted within about five minutes of arriving. Neither a repair shop nor Comcast, my internet service provider, has been able to fix it. What should I do?
Dave Backlund, Plymouth