A laptop plays a crucial role when doing fieldwork.

Audio-video processing in particular requires a powerful computer in terms of processor capacity and memory.

Tablets such as Apple's iPad can be a great alternative for those who want to travel light. It DOES not replace a computer, but it offers large capacities for field work (note taking, recording, email and internt access if you have a 3G key) or archival work. It is probably not as efficient as a laptop for long periods of time in the fiedl and in archives or libraries. It is a nive alternative for short trips, as one can take a large digitla library, do actual writing and revision of texts, take new notes, etc.