NEW LAPTOP???

I would look at the Lenovo netbooks like the X-120e. Small and portable and the best keyboards and include a camera for video over the internet. Best part is the service is provided by the IBM employees based in Atlanta after IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo.
Get one with Windows 7 Pro and you are good to go for the next several years.

A comparable tablet costs twice as much as a netbook and has less storage for pictures and less memory and slower graphics processing for video and no card reader and no Ethernet port and usually no USB ports. Tablet are good add-ons but do not replace a laptop.

I expect my laptops to provide many years of good use. Currently, I use an IBM ThinkPad (yes, IBM) purchased in 2000 and an Apple MacBook Pro purchased in 2009. Both have been, essentially, trouble free. I did replace the hard drive on the ThinkPad to get greater capacity and I had to replace its power cord.

I'm finally thinking about replacing the ThinkPad. So far, my first choice is the Lenovo ThinkPad T430, which would go for about $1100 the way I would configure it. But, I still haven't decided.

Consumer Reports latest brand reliability ratings have Apple on top, with Lenovo tied for second. (Dell is ranked last.)

Consumer Reports Tech Support rankings lists Apple number one, by a very wide margin. Lenovo was the top-ranked among the other manufacturers.

Tom

strollin wrote:
....
In Windows 8, if you have a bunch of tiles setup as "live" then they will constantly be updating themselves so it makes sense that the box would use more data. If data usage is a concern, turn off all of the "live" tiles. You can do that by right-clicking on the tile and selecting "Turn live tile off".

Much thanks! All the stuff I'd found so far via Googling had been focused on the 'PC Settings'. I figured the tile updates jwere part of the issue, but hadn't gotten around to chasing that down yet. I can already tell that data usage has slowed down. I may actually enjoy Win 8 now, and it may help when I finally upgrade to a 'smart phone' later this year.

Jim, "What you have experienced is not a problem. It is an undocumented feature. Thank you for contacting Microsoft."

Regarding Windows 8, I did install a Classic Shell fix which replaces the Windows 8 Gateway with the original Windows start menu. Made me a much happier camper!

Look at ToshibaDirect.com, I just purchased one for my daughter and love it. I purchased a new HP laptop for myself last year and am dissatisfied with the quality. I have been an IT guy for 23 years and bought 100's of HP's in business but they aren't what they used to be. I still like Dell, they have always had decent support. Also take the advice to stay away from Windows 8, stick with 7. Good Luck.

Suggest going to Best Buy and looking at a few. They have numerous in the <$500 range that will do want your wanting. With your needs mainly being a built in camera (most laptops have this now) for video calling, storage for pictures (bigger hard drive the better), after verifying the ones you look at have those things, I would focus on the one with the most memory and processor speed. Processor speed is the engine, how fast the computer will process things, Memory is "fast storage" for when your opening multpile pictures or applications.

Get one of the young guys there to help you understand the differences between models (they love sharing their knowledge about this stuff) and they will help you get something that you will be happy with.

One last suggestion is ask about a 2 yr protection plan. For something in this proce range, it may be very affordable. If nothing else, it allows you to take you battery back and get a new one simply by stating it won't hold a charge for very long as you approach your two year anniversary. If anything else happens, you have an additional year on the normally one year manufacture warrenty.
Usually around $99. Subtract the cost of the new battery and your getting the extra year of protection pretty cheaply.

wtravlr1 wrote:
If you don't need storage, and you don't want to stay with apple, a Chromebook is a good buy at around $250.00.

I would want storage, especially for the many pictures of the grandchildren...and a few programs I download occasionally

Any laptop out there will do everything you want.
Look for the sharpest display in your price range.

JaBob wrote:
My IPad does everything you want and much more portable.

Bob

That's not really saying much. My phone can do all that the OP wants to do and is way more portable than your iPad.

The OP asked for laptop recommendations so why are people suggesting tablets and such? Not only that but the OP says they already have an iPad.

Pretty much any low end laptop will be adequate for the OP's needs.

Handbasket wrote:
If you use Mifi or some other form of metered data access, be wary of machines with Windows 8. Even after jumping all the hoops changing PC settings, this new Gateway seems to be much more of a data-hog than my old XP machine ever was.

Other than that, Best Buy has a variety of nice Win 8 laptops for around $300-$350. This one is the NE56R48u. 15.6" screen, 320 GB drive. Not a touchscreen.

Jim, "Mo' coffee!"

In Windows 8, if you have a bunch of tiles setup as "live" then they will constantly be updating themselves so it makes sense that the box would use more data. If data usage is a concern, turn off all of the "live" tiles. You can do that by right-clicking on the tile and selecting "Turn live tile off".