Charlie D. wrote:
 I am terribly illiterate. I am familiar with Windows but know nothing about Android except for my Smart phone and can not tell a difference.
In that case, you might be best served with an iPad - much more intuitive, less prone to viruses/malware, more of a "just use it" thing.  
I have a smartphone, an iPad, a laptop, and a desktop.  They all have different roles:
Smartphone - communicating with others - phone/text, etc.  Quick lookups - check weather on the go, etc.  
iPad: Main "consumption" device - reading Kindle books, surfing the web (and typing replies to forum posts), Facebook, etc.  Used for work when the tasks aren't too demanding (short email replies, reviewing documents, etc). 
Laptop: For work when I am not at home and need to do more intensive tasks, write longer emails or papers, etc.
Desktop: 3 monitors, makes life much more productive.  
Bottom line - if I had to choose ONE device only, it would be the iPad.   I *CAN* do everything I need to do with it.