Chromebook 2 in 1 ?

[fuaran]

My dad wants a tablet. For the usual web browsing, watching videos, looking at photos, Zoom meetings etc. But also wants to do a bit of replying to emails, so a keyboard could be useful.

So I'm thinking a 2 in 1 Chromebook. ie mini laptop style, with a keyboard that folds around or detaches to make a tablet.
Probably about 12" screen.
Any recommendations? Not too expensive, maybe £300.
Looking at Lenovo C340. Or HP x360.

Or new Lenovo Ideapad Duet, with detachable keyboard. Seems to be getting good reviews. Though maybe a bit too small, and not sure if rigid enough to use it on the lap.

And is Chrome OS useful for this? Would probably want to use some Android apps as well, seems they are mostly compatible.
Better than an Android tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard?

[MikeFromLFE]

I can't speak for that device, but I'm a Chromebook / Chrome OS convert.

Yes it will do all of what you have suggested. I do little more than you describe and it works flawlessly..

The ChromeOS user is - to state the bleedin' obvious - tied into the world of Google. While using other services is trivial (I use Zoho docs, DuckDuckGo and Mailo) everything is designed around Google.

My biggest caveat would be around Android apps. Not all apps are available for ChromeOS, most of the available ones are badly implemented /look like poo. It is, however, very easy to create Web Apps which look and perform better than the equivalent Android app, if a Web version is available.

I do use the ability to run Linux - for one single application, KMyMoney, which works well, but looks a bit strange. I've found that running two or more Linux apps at the same time grinds the machine to a crawl. So if you're heading that way you might want to look at the amount of RAM(but I'm guessing).

[Nuncio]

He might consider the Lenovo 340-11. It has keyboard but the cover folds over all the way to turn it into a tablet. Having said that, I find it a little too cumbersome (size and thickness) like that, so the one I've had for a month has mainly been used in the laptop configuration. 

[fuaran]

My biggest caveat would be around Android apps. Not all apps are available for ChromeOS, most of the available ones are badly implemented /look like poo. It is, however, very easy to create Web Apps which look and perform better than the equivalent Android app, if a Web version is available.

I'm wondering about anything for maps. eg OsmAnd, Maps.me or AlpineQuest. Can be very handy to have offline maps/routing for the whole country. Don't think that would work as a web app.

[MikeFromLFE]

My biggest caveat would be around Android apps. Not all apps are available for ChromeOS, most of the available ones are badly implemented /look like poo. It is, however, very easy to create Web Apps which look and perform better than the equivalent Android app, if a Web version is available.

I'm wondering about anything for maps. eg OsmAnd, Maps.me or AlpineQuest. Can be very handy to have offline maps/routing for the whole country. Don't think that would work as a web app.

All of these installed fine as apps from the Play Store on my Asus C432 Chromebook - they looked great and rendered extremely well. They all picked up my location quickly - except for Maps.me which initially thought I was in a South American forest!
The only one I had a slight issue with was AlpineQuest that opened as full screen, and was a tiny bit of a pain to shut down (use the magnifying glass key and 'close')
They were all on-line - I didn't try any off-line cleverness.
YMMV

[Afasoas]

Looking at Lenovo C340. Or HP x360.

Both those are fine. One of them in larger screen sizes is a bit of a tank (I can't remember which!). Try and get one with at least an i3 in it though for a snappy experience.