An iPad would be perfect for that. However, there are two things that iPad are not really great at:

1. If you need to enter a lot of text on a keyboard, for example if you do a lot of word processing, creating documents, etc., it takes a bit longer -- unless you purchase a separate keyboard for it. But if you only do basic typing, the on-screen keyboard is OK.

2. The iPad does not support Flash, so if you rely on web sites that use a lot of Flash, then you might not be too happy. An example of Flash on a Web site can be found here at Lottery Post: Click "Lottery Results" on the left side of any page, and you will see a clickable map on the screen. But, on an iPad you won't see a map, but instead you'll see a list of the various states that you can select from. That's because the map relies on Flash, and if Flash is not available, then I have programmed Lottery Post to show a simple list instead. But while Lottery Post has a "backup plan" if you don't have Flash, some sites do not have a "backup plan" programmed, and they just won't work (or the piece of their site that relies upon Flash won't work).

Web sites are starting to rely less and less on Flash, and it is becoming clear that the whole industry is getting away from Flash, so this will become less of a problem over time.

The best way to see if an iPad does the trick for you is to visit an Apple store or a Best Buy, and try one out for yourself.

I personally own a ton of different tablets, because I have to test my Web sites on them to be sure they work, so I can tell you this from experience: the iPad is my favorite tablet, hands-down.

Good luck, and have fun shopping!

Thanks Todd.. Appreciate the input.
As stated in original post, it's been about 11 years since I've purchased anything computer related.
And that includes TV's-VCR's-DVD's-CD's you name it.
Feel like I woke up in a foreign country and was told to have a nice life.......