Both my wife and I prefer to use a desk top unit, but the lap top has been getting more use since the pandemic. It is preferred for Zoom meetings. Wife also uses her phone for social media stuff unless she wants to view things in a bigger format.
I use a desktop when I have a lot of typing to do. Most often I wag an old tablet around to read books or to sometime sign on to a forum. I do most of my reading at night so I use a tablet most of the time. I'v never owned a laptop and never owned a pone that would do anything but make and receive phone calls.
No Laptops or Tablets here. I use a sensible, proper H.P. Desktop Computer! (But I still don't have "PASTE")
Right now, since my iMac died, I am using a MacBook Pro, which might be considered a laptop although I have never once used one that was on my lap. Soon, I'll be getting a Mac mini. The computer itself is cheap, for a Mac, and very small, with the monitor, keyboard, and trackpad (or mouse) purchased separately. Then my MacBook Pro will again be relegated to a travel tool.
I have a Lenovo laptop attached to a large external monitor sitting on a TV stand and a wireless keyboard that I keep on my lap. The actual laptop sits off to the side. I hardly every type directly on the laptop or use its monitor, unless I've carried it to a remote location.
I can relate to what you are doing, @John Brunner . I have used a laptop before (Robin’s MacBook) and it was hard for me to read the screen unless I had it close to my face. This is why I love my iPad so much, it has the external keyboard, but has the touchscreen so that I can zoom in on anything that I need to see better. I use my large iPad (12.9”) with the keyboard, so it is about the same as a 13” laptop, and the smaller 9.7 iPad for when I am just reading and holding the iPad and not typing. I had a Chromebook, and it worked that way, too; so that you could either use the trackpad or the touchscreen.
I don't know if the internet browsers for the Apple/Mac platform has a Zoom function, but I use it all the time when I'm on websites. I can Zoom using keyboard shortcuts or the touch pad on my wireless keyboard.
Zoom is easy enough on a Mac, either from the trackpad or from the menu. I don't use it often, though.
with my failing eyesight I use zoom a lot.. Sometimes it's because of the type font other times the color makes it necessary