I recently learned that Dell Financial Services operates a site to sell their off-lease computers. And even better, they're willing to crank up discounts to move inventory. I spent a few fun weeks window-shopping their machines for sale, ranging from super tiny thin clients that bolt to the back of a monitor up to beefy servers designed for a data center equipment rack. But I have no real need to buy a computer. I've got my XPS 8950 desktop for gaming and VR. I've got my laptop for portable computing. I've got an old machine running TrueNAS, another running Proxmox, and several more old computers standing by waiting for a purpose. After a while I realized I was thinking too conventionally.

During this time, Apple released iPadOS 18 preview and a list of hardware they intend to support. Absent from that list is my 6th generation iPad. I bought it after disappointing experiences with a Windows 8 tablet and an Amazon Fire tablet. The tablet ecosystem is built around Apple's iPad, and I've found products that undercut an iPad on price lack the hardware for smooth user experiences. For tablet centric usage scenarios, it was much more pleasant to use an iPad over the Samsung or Amazon Fire. On the flip side, I frequently felt limited by a tablet's intentionally restricted capabilities. One example: I enjoy reading digital documents on an iPad, including documentation for software development tools. But when I get to a hands-on section, I have to switch hardware because an iPad is very deliberately not a general purpose computer and I can't develop software on it.

With the knowledge that the clock is ticking on my 6th generation iPad, I started browsing for a replacement. My key priority is a USB type-C connector because I don't want to deal with Apple Lightning cables anymore. Which meant the 10th generation iPad available for around $350. As I shopped around to see if I can get one for less than $350, it occurred to me that I should consider a Windows tablet/laptop convertible device. I had dismissed them for a long time because of first-hand experience with underpowered hardware and I wasn't willing to pay the premium for high-end convertibles. But now I have a resource for heavily-discounted Dells business machines! I am willing to give Windows tablets another try when I can buy a powerful off-lease tablet/laptop convertible for new iPad money.