Introduction And Question

Hi, just joined. Hoping to get some advice/info/feedback on the following --

I currently live outside the U.S. and I am thinking of buying a new laptop (or perhaps a tablet) on Cyber Monday. All I want is something for email, skype, and internet. Also to watch some US tv shows and movies. It would also be nice to be able to read books on a screen, in case I am somewhere where I don't have access to English books like I have now. Is Kindle my only option?
My current laptop (a Lenovo) is almost 5 yrs old and still works OK but it's heavy, probably close to 6 lbs. That's a lot to add to a carry-on when weight is a factor. Plus now there are some countries one flies from into the U.S. where it's required to put electronics into checked baggage so adding so much more weight limits me for other things I would want to pack.
Wondering if any of you have any thoughts about what I should get? Are tablets sufficient for what I want to do? I think I would need one that has a Win OS, if I went that route, but I'm just not up to date on technology so could use some advice. Was looking at the Acer Chromebook R13 Convertible. Any thoughts, pro or con, about this option?
I currently have an HDMI cable connecting my laptop to my TV so I can project Netflix and USTV.com onto the larger screen. Haven't done any other streaming here, and have no idea what I might want to do in the future.

 

Welcome! You might check out these Readers for your tablet available for free download here on Major Geeks.
Amazon Kindle for Android http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/kindle_for_android.html
Icecream Ebook Reader 5.07 http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/icecream_ebook_reader.html

I use the Windows versions of both these readers on my laptop.