What Tablet or Laptop To Buy To Play

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Sarajfd
Posts: 2
Joined: 25 March 2026, 16:40

What Tablet or Laptop To Buy To Play

Post by Sarajfd »

Hello. I'm looking for recommendations on what tablet or laptop to buy so I can use my account to the fullest. My phone is to small and the only other computer I have access to is my work desktop, which stays at work. I would prefer an Android tablet or Windows laptop.

Googling just gives me super powered ideas for video gaming and that seems a bit to powerful for what I'm needing.

ANY help and suggestions are welcome for this "old" person who is new to the hobby.
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BarnardsStar
Posts: 555
Joined: 02 January 2021, 02:41

Re: What Tablet or Laptop To Buy To Play

Post by BarnardsStar »

Well, it’s “just” a website and I would think any current tablet would be up to the task, and certainly any current laptop. The thing you’ll probably most want to pay attention to is the screen size (in pixels) and the physical size of the device (if you want to carry it around with you).

I do 99% of my BGAing on my iPad, and the tablet has a couple of advantages of a laptop, chiefly greater mobility, and that’s it’s always on with no booting up. The downside is a lack of a mouse and cursor so you can’t really “hover” over things in BGA. There are a number of alternate mechanisms to replace that but they are none of them perfect. You can buy special cases that give you a keyboard and trackpad, though; I just haven’t done that.

The advantage of a laptop is they tend to have greater screen resolution which comes in handy in some games, and the aforementioned “hover” capability. Plus laptops generally don’t take tha long to boot up, and they are designed to be portable, of course.

Various online screen resolution testers tell me my screen resolution is around 954x1309, which is adequate but not great, but it really depends on what sort of games you’re into. It’s perfectly fine for Wingspan and Azul, but a game with a big board or a lot of components may not look so good—things may be quite small or you may have to scroll around to see everything.

What sorts of games are you looking to play?
Sarajfd
Posts: 2
Joined: 25 March 2026, 16:40

Re: What Tablet or Laptop To Buy To Play

Post by Sarajfd »

I mostly play in the cozy game world. Harmonies, Wingspan is on my list to learn, Ark Nova, New York Zoo as well. I'd also buy Cascadia as it is my current favorite and I play it a lot at home on the table. Nothing to heavy.
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ErikLevin
Posts: 218
Joined: 06 January 2024, 14:13

Re: What Tablet or Laptop To Buy To Play

Post by ErikLevin »

You should be all set with any current tablet, 11-12 inches, at least 1080 px vertical resolution, preferably 8 GB RAM.
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BarnardsStar
Posts: 555
Joined: 02 January 2021, 02:41

Re: What Tablet or Laptop To Buy To Play

Post by BarnardsStar »

ErikLevin wrote: 26 March 2026, 11:17 at least 1080 px vertical resolution
On a tablet, which way is “vertical”?

I will say, one of the things I like about using my iPad is the ability to rotate the screen depending on whether landscape or portrait better suits the particular game.
illy831
Posts: 50
Joined: 12 November 2024, 06:25

Re: What Tablet or Laptop To Buy To Play

Post by illy831 »

Sarajfd wrote: 25 March 2026, 20:01 I mostly play in the cozy game world. Harmonies, Wingspan is on my list to learn, Ark Nova, New York Zoo as well. I'd also buy Cascadia as it is my current favorite and I play it a lot at home on the table. Nothing to heavy.
I'll echo that any tablet or laptop should be fine. I play Wingspan on my 11" iPad. It's a fun game to learn! The interface took some getting used to but once you're used to it, it's a breeze. Using the note-taking feature for tournament games is definitely easier on a laptop. However, being able to carry a tablet around is a big plus.

I can imagine that some game interfaces might benefit from a giant monitor instead. In the case of Wingspan I've gotten familiar enough that I can play it from my phone but it is more cumbersome and I tend to make mistakes :)
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ErikLevin
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Joined: 06 January 2024, 14:13

Re: What Tablet or Laptop To Buy To Play

Post by ErikLevin »

BarnardsStar wrote: 26 March 2026, 16:18
ErikLevin wrote: 26 March 2026, 11:17 at least 1080 px vertical resolution
On a tablet, which way is “vertical”?
I mean the short side.
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