If you believe the hype, you need nothing more powerful than a tablet computer. They're lighter, just as efficient as their full-sized counterparts and retail figures published in January suggest everyone is buying them.
To an extent this is right. For data gathering and for entertainment they're a great alternative. But they do have their limitations. These aren't bad points, it's just that they aren't full-spec computers and nobody has ever pretended they are.
Keyboard
The first very clear difference between a tablet and a laptop is the absence of a keyboard. If your tasks don't involve typing, or only involve a small amount of typing, then you can safely ignore this as a drawback. If you collect a lot of data door-to-door, as some professions do, then a small hand-held will almost certainly be better.
For writing or number-intensive tasks then a keyboard is a given requirement. Voice control is good but many people will prefer an old-fashioned key-it-in approach. There are keyboards and keyboard cases for tablets but these vary in performance; early models tended to make characters appear a split second before they were typed, for example. Go to a shop and try one out; keyboard cases that hold plenty of charge are available for seven inch tablets and they work well, but the physical size means they're small and cramped to use.
They also require independent charging which means organising yourself so that they don't conk out while you're in the middle of something. And keep an eye on the cost. A tablet plus keyboard case might well end up costing as much as a full-blown laptop.
External storage
One advantage of a laptop is its ability to use external storage media. If you have a large file on an external drive and can plug it in via USB, great - but this may not be possible without at least an adapter for your tablet, depending on which model of tablet you're using. And if you wanted to use a CD drive it's far simpler if it's built in to your computer (although these are being phased out on some laptops as well - an external CD drive connected through USB will still work).
File system
Related to external storage is internal storage. Download a file to your laptop, find the downloads file and you can send it to someone else. Download the same thing to your tablet and good luck finding where it's put it. Picking up more than one document and sending it by email starts to require a new app to help you work out just where they're located on the disk.
This isn't a criticism - the essence of tablet computing is that it's supposed to hide some of the complexities from the person using it. They're supposed to be as easy to use as your phone and that means the manufacturers are going to conceal as much under the bonnet as they can. Which means you're going to get a slightly cut-down version of a computer when you use one.
Connection
One area in which tablets are better than standard computers is connectivity. One or two computer manufacturers have in the past tried putting a sim card into a PC but for whatever reason these haven't sold in large numbers. This will surprise many people as connecting goes almost without saying for most computer tasks these days, but if you're out of Wi-Fi range and don't have a dongle or phone you can use as a modem, you might well find yourself stuck.
Here the tablets can score as long as you buy the right model. Tablets with 3G (some of which will have 4G connections when they become available) will connect independently by themselves whenever you need them to; pay-as-you-go sims are available inexpensively and data allowances appear generous by most current standards.
If you're going to be around Wi-Fi networks this is less of a concern - and of course a 3G signal can drop to something slower when you're not expecting it. Travel through even Central London by train and you'll be surprised at how often the signal drops - but that's going to be true of any connection.
Apps
The area in which the tablet is really going to score is its configurability. You can download, subject to affordability and space on your device, multiple apps so you end up with the system you want rather than the one the manufacturer opted to provide. Be careful of upgrading your device, though; if (say) the screen size changes with the new model, or the screen resolution alters, there's no absolute guarantee that every app will work with the new version immediately. And if it's a corporate, business-essential app that fails, you could have a problem.
This isn't about denigrating tablets. For the right task - online work, carrying entertainment as well as work information around for business trips, video conferencing and a great deal else they're terrific. They can also be very inexpensive; of course everyone knows who offers the premium brands, but the own-brand supermarket offerings function perfectly happily as well.
It's just a matter of assessing exactly what you want to do and assessing the tools you'll need - then not falling for the hype when friends and marketing departments think you ought to have the latest and most expensive shiny device.
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