Should I buy a thumb PC, mini-desktop or tablet to replace my old PC?

Can a thumb PC or mini-desktop replace my seven-year-old Windows XP PC? Or, as desktops are on the way out, could I get away with using an iPad and iPhone? Basically, I do email, social media, web-surfing and photos. Suman Nayyar

At this early stage, I wouldn’t recommend a “USB PC” such as the Intel Compute Stick as a desktop replacement: a mini-desktop such as the Acer Revo One is more capable and much better value. The larger question is whether you can replace a PC with a tablet.

The first answer is that it depends what you want to do. Some people need a PC (or Mac or whatever), while others are perfectly happy using a tablet, phablet or smartphone. The second answer is that you can have both. Today, you can buy tablets that run Microsoft Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, and there are lots of convertibles that work as laptops and as tablets.

In sticking with Windows XP, you may have missed 14 years of progress. PCs no longer take from 30 seconds to three minutes to start up; you can switch them on and off just like tablets. Thanks to the UEFI system and chip-based drives, a good Windows 8.1 laptop can now boot in 10 seconds, and wake up in about two seconds.

Tablets used to be handier than PCs, but they’re not much different now.

Desktop v laptop

One advantage of a desktop PC is that you will generally get a full-sized keyboard and screen, typically 22in or 24in. This is better for your productivity, and your health. (Hunching over a laptop or tablet is bad for your spine.) Desktops are also easier to expand and repair, and most have DVD or Blu-ray drives built in.

However, mini-desktops and all-in-one PCs have the same problem as laptops (packing hot chips into confined spaces) and therefore tend to have similar specifications. The one area where you usually win is storage space. For example, the £199.99 Acer Revo One has a terabyte drive where a £200 laptop might have a 32GB eMMC flash memory chip.

The main drawback with desktops is that they take up space. Laptops are, obviously, mobile, and can be stowed away when not in use.

But in principle, desktops and laptops can run the same software, including sophisticated programs such as Adobe PhotoShop and Lightroom. Cheap laptops will be less powerful but should be fine for your purposes (email, social media, web-surfing and photos). For some suggestions, see a recent Ask Jack column, Can you help me choose a cheap laptop?

Laptops, tablets and convertibles

In general, laptops and desktops are used for productive and creative work while tablets and phablets are used for media consumption and casual gaming. Yes, this is an oversimplification, and there’s a big overlap. None the less, PCs really are better for tasks where you need a keyboard and the ability to move files around – which may include photo editing and batch processing.

This is where convertibles come in. These are (mostly) Windows PCs where you can detach the screen and use it as a standalone tablet, or rotate the screen to form a thick “tablet” with the keyboard underneath. This gives you a bit of the best of both worlds. For example, you can use a convertible as a laptop for sorting and editing photos in programs like Lightroom, and for batch processing and uploading them to Flickr etc. Then you can switch to a tablet app to view them, using your fingers to flick between images.

Windows Store tablet apps are just as easy to install, update and remove as the ones in the Apple and Google stores. The drawbacks? There aren’t as many Windows apps, and the Apple iOS apps tend to be much higher quality. However, if there isn’t a Windows app for something, you can always run a full-spec browser and hit the web.

So, think about what you do on Windows XP and you do on your Apple iPhone. Could you do the XP-type things on a smartphone if it had a 10in screen? If not, would you be give up some of the PC’s power and convenience in exchange for access to the wealth of iOS or Android tablet apps? Your money, your choice.

Cost and convenience

As you already use an iPhone, I assume you will end up choosing between an iPad and a Windows 8.1 convertible, which you can upgrade to Windows 10.

The iPad option is, as you know, relatively expensive, though iPads do retain some resale value. Prices range from £239 for an iPad Mini 2 with a 7.9in screen and 16GB of storage to £599 for a much faster iPad Air 2 with a 9.7in screen and 128GB of memory. All the screens have the same resolution. In the long term, I don’t think 16GB is enough storage, but you could get, say, a 64GB Mini 3 for £399 or a 64GB iPad Air 2 for £479.

You may also need some accessories, such as a USB connector (£15), Camera Connection Kit (£25), iPad Smart Case (£39) and an Apple Wireless Keyboard (£59) – all these are from the Apple Store. You can find cheaper alternatives on Amazon etc, but you could still end up spending £50 to £100 on top of the cost of the iPad.

You will not be shocked to hear that you can get Windows tablets and convertibles for far less, with 8in tablets starting at under £100 and 10.1in 2-in-1s with keyboards at under £200. In addition to the ones I suggested before, you could also consider the Lenovo Miix 3 (£179.99), Asus Transformer Book T100TAF (£199.95) and the better-made T100 Chi (£349.99). Storage is not a problem if you can slot in a cheap Samsung 32GB or 64GB SD card (roughly £10 to £20).

All these machines have keyboards and USB ports, so you don’t need any extra accessories: you get one convenient package.

But if I were you, I’d spend £200 to £250 on an Acer Revo One or similar drop-in replacement, see how you get on with Windows 10, and leave the tablet decision for later. iPad sales are in decline, and the Apple blogs are speculating about the launch of an iPad Mini 4, an iPad Air 3, and perhaps a 12in iPad Pro in the next three or four months. If you end up using an iPad and iPhone, the Revo One will still be a great media server.

Have you got a question? Email it to Ask.Jack@theguardian.com