I've used a tablet form time to time but I find that either my phone is sufficient or I would prefer to have a laptop (or desktop if I don't need the portability). If I'm going to carry a laptop, then I prefer something with a full size keyboard and as large of a screen as I can reasonably carry. It doesn't have to be top of the line. It just never made sense to me to pay more for a somewhat smaller and less powerful computer that I'm still going to probably have to throw in a backpack anyway. Of course these days even large, powerful laptops are pretty thin and light unless you are going for a high end gaming or workstation class laptop.

But yeah, I generally prefer to buy something a little cheaper and less powerful (to a point) and upgrade more frequently if I need to than spend a fortune on something top of the line. While I prefer Linux these days, whether you are running Windows or Linux isn't going to change how fast that video renders, AI model runs, program compiles, game runs, etc. significantly. If you need the power then you need the power regardless. On old computers, Linux is definitely the way to go if you want a modern operating system on it. Windows 10 and beyond in particular are awful on anything with a mechanical hard drive no matter how new.