Need Suggestions for an inexpensive/light laptop

It depends. Do you just want to do email? Read books? An iPad is light and portable. I use mine for email and for ebooks when traveling.

I have an IPad. I need something a little heftier to be able to also get on Quickbooks and get on my Microsoft Outlook Email.

I guess my Ipad would do that. Maybe I can just get a keyboard for it? I'd like to also be able to download photos off my camera.
Either onto the laptop or a flash drive which my ipad won't do. ?

I just use my iPad. I prefer my computer, but when I travel the iPad comes in pretty handy. I use a keyboard with it so it seems more like a small computer. That's crucial for me - without a keyboard it's pretty non-functional for me. I take pictures with my camera and use that little transfer thing the Apple store sells to instantly transfer the pics.

I have a very old iPad mini (2nd generation, I believe) and I am able to download my camera photos via an attachment I bought at the Apple Store. I have no idea what it's called but the chip from my camera goes in the square at one end and the other end plugs into the iPad. I am sure some tech savvy person in this site can help you out here! A few taps and like magic, the photos from my camera are on my mini and available for emailing, messaging or just enjoying! You can tell I'm technologically challenged but any employee at the store can help you out if you think this attachment might be helpful. It cost about $25 and works like a charm. The mini always travels with me, is much less trouble than an actual computer and does pretty much everything the laptop I used to travel with did. Plus I can read all my kindle books on it!

Thank you, Valerie & Andi! I will check it out!

I use an app called "Jump" on my iPad. It allows me total access to my desktop at work or home and use any of the programs as if I were at my desk. Depending on how much work you have to do, it might be advisable to get a blue tooth keyboard.

Also, you can always set up your iPad to receive and send Outlook email.

A chromebook could be just the thing, if you don't need MS Office natively.

They re fast, lightweight, and pretty cheap.

The only problem with a Chromebook is that if they are not connected to reliable wifi they are dead in the water. Other than that they are fine. Just realise that everything lives in the cloud and you need a good cloud connection. So no working off line on a train.

I've got a Chromebook, and like how fast it's ready to go--no booting up. I've also got a low line Acer notebook running Windows 10 that weighs about the same 1 lb. as a Chromebook. One cost $129 and the other $159.
They're both great travelers and work fine on WiFi.

I always use a "notebook" - it's a full PC, just smaller - well, also doesn't have a CD-ROM or a monitor socket (things that one wouldn't need while traveling. I load all my favorite programs, including Windows Office, and it works just as fast as my desktop. My current one is a Lenovo; there are others on the market. It is heavier than an iPad, but smaller and lighter than a laptop. The screen is smaller, of course, but the only time I've found that to be a problem is if I want to edit photos on it (I upload all my photos daily as a back-up to the memory cards).

I carry an "ultralight" so I can have a mechanical keyboard, typing the way I have for many decades dating back to high school business practices class. The lightest I have found are sold by Asus -- light because there is no fan. Heat is only a problem if the user puts it on his lap instead of a solid surface. However, for more demanding programs the entry-level machines are also light in memory. I upgraded, and the extra power was worth the extra price.

You can get Outlook for the iPhone/iPad if you truly need Outlook vs just using the built-in Mail app to access your outlook account. I don't know how much it costs, I may have acquired my copy on a "free" day, I can't remember.

I, too, use the connector for my iPad to load my photos onto it, and it works well. Mine is the older iPad, but I believe there are similar devices for the newer ones, too. They cost about $35.

Thanks, everyone! Great tips and info! Will do some research.

Yolanda,

I use a small Toshiba Netbook which works fine, whether working online or offline. The processor is a bit under powered, but for the size and battery life, some compromises had to be made. It has a good sized hard drive, so I can also backup photos there. There's no way I'd use something that was dependent on "The Cloud" as the quality of Wi-Fi varies to some degree around Europe.

I too use an Acer netbook. It's small, light weight, and has everything a regular PC does so it's easy to key everything the way I'm used to on my home laptop. I traveled with it on two quite long European trips (2 months and 5 weeks) and loved it.

Thanks, Ken & Nancy!

Mine is also an Acer - inexpensive, light, and sturdy. I have used mine on three trips to Europe so far. It has sufficient storage, and a card reader, so that you can just pop out your camera's card at the end of the day and upload your pictures.

I also have a "netbook". It was cheap and does all the basics. It is so old, i would not be upset if it was lost or stolen. However, no manufacturers make or sell "netbooks" anymore.

But any new small notebook will be much more powerful and have more featues than a netbook.

I am not a fan of chromebooks, which only work with wifi.

One suggestion might be an ASUS Transformer. It is a tablet with a detachable keyboard. It uses Windows 10. Very light. Long battery life and has a SD card reader. In the US prices start about $300.

Yolanda,

One more comment.....

If I could afford it, I'd probably upgrade to a Macbook Air. However I'd have to be willing to accept the risk of such an expensive device being lost, stolen or damaged during travels.

Yolanda - After weighing in earlier about my old iPad, I decided it was time to get a new device as the old iPad could not be updated anymore and, without the newer operating systems installed, there were things the iPad could no longer do...no YouTube, couldn't run my favorite news site without crashing, couldn't run a blog site etc.

So I did a little research and decided to...stick with Apple. I bought an new iPad...the full size one with the smallest memory. My existing keyboard works with it and it is still so easy to import pictures from my camera card to it. (Some cheaper ones I looked at did not make this as easy).

I paid $369 yesterday at my local Fred Meyer store. It's all set up and ready to go for my trip to China next week and I'm happy with my choice.

Yolanda, By now you have left on your trip. When you return, please update us on what netbook you used.

Thanks

Yes we are on our trip. We bought a full size light HP laptop because my old one was on it's last leg, and we didn't want to end up buying two devices at this time. The darn thing crashed 2 days into our trip. It has been a nightmare trying to do everything on our phones, iPad and borrowing a computer. Not to mention all the time dealing with it constantly shutting down initially then all the time on the phone with Best Buy and HP. We will need to deal with this upon our return and their 14 day return policy.

Yikes. Sorry to hear about your troubles. Setting up any new computer is always a pain. It takes me a weekend to do initial set-up and updates. Almost a week is needed to download all my favourit software and to put in my preferred settings for everything. And probably a month before I am truly happy with how it runs. Lesson for all is to do this well in advance of any trip.

That is terrible, Yolanda. So sorry. Good luck getting this resolved. I hope the Geek Squad can fix it.