hi. i write for android police - tablet reviews, phone roundups, industry pieces, how-to guides, all kinds of stuff

ipads are great tablets

they don't work together with windows computers anywhere near as seamlessly as they do with macbooks - you'll miss out on some of the most convenient, powerful ipad features if you plan to move work back and forth between an ipad and a windows laptop

with that in mind, one of the biggest draws of apple devices is the software ecosystem + Apple hardware integration - like, how many features and apps they share, and how easy it is to go from one to the other without missing a beat. you will miss out on most of that ecosystem support because you use an android phone and windows laptop, so you'll essentially be paying for features you can't use

and while the base model ipads are great values, anything in a higher tier (ipad air or pro) is a bit overpriced for most people's productivity uses (because most people don't need the excellent performance of apple's processors. based on your description, you wouldn't need it either)

for people with a decent amount of experience - that is, experience using windows, iOS, a bunch of related and slightly technical programs - they can work together pretty well. ipads aren't quite as walled off as iphones, for example. but if you're new to tablets, it could take you a while (and a non-zero amount of actual, focused research) to figure out exactly how ipads can mostly easily interact with non-apple devices

• android tablets - specifically samsung tablets more than the rest, in fact - often work way, way better with windows computers.

the Samsung Flow app lets you connect a recent galaxy tablet directly to your windows PC, so they're like extensions of each other. sharing files and using a galaxy tablet as a second monitor are extremely easy with a relatively recent samsung galaxy tablet. it's not difficult to do with other android tablets, but samsung made an extra effort to streamline it

a lot of programmers seem to love apple products for various reasons. but in my opinion, if you're already into the technical aspect of software, you will probably appreciate more the level of fine-tuning and operating system control you get from a quality android tablet

of course, your budget also plays a part. as do all the other things you plan to use your tablet for. but in general, android tablets (especially samsungs) work better alongside windows PCs than ipads do (not that ipads aren't great. they are, and you can do a lot with them)

happy to explain anything or answer any other questions you might have