What advantages (if any) do laptops have over tablets?

Big hard drives. No limitations. Easier to back up. Near desktop speeds. Easier to type on. The ability to run emulators (MAME for playing classic 80s games). The ability to use external monitors for a full computing experience.

Simply stated a laptop offers greater flexibility in mobile computing. On the other hand a tablet offers portability, running time, and ease of use. However a laptop is the way to go if it's going to be your primary computer. But a tablet is probably a better choice in this day and age.

All the above mentioned and a full physical keyboard, easier to customize and upgrade.

Better and more complex software, especially gaming.

um...a keyboard?

An iPad and a Bluetooth keyboard take up less space and perform most of the functions I need from a computer. Battery lasts all day, the size of the hard drive isn't an issue with an internet connection, seamless backup with iCloud, easy to stream content over a WAN. Wide choice of high quality apps. And plenty fast enough.

With a desktop at home or in the office and an iPad as an adjunct to it, I'd say you have the best of both worlds.

Which is probably why laptop sales are not brilliant at the moment.

Laptops heat up your lap better -that's about it. Another dinosaur computing platform that should have died a few years ago.

Laptops can currently handle sustom software like CAD. That's about it really.

For most things I use my tablet when I'm travelling, because it is sufficient for typing up documents, listening to music, etc. and offers better battery life and lighter weight.

For really heavy-duty processing I use my desktop PC at home or work, or link my tablet into my desktop by remote connection and get the desktop to do the heavy-duty stuff and just email the result to my tablet.

Laptops have bigger memories, bigger screens, proper keys, and from a personal perspective allow me to work with RAM-hungry graphic and CGI modelling packages.

Tablets are designed as consumer devices and the way their operating systems are designed they pose a serious threat for enterprise security. If you have even the slightest concern about industrial espionage, a tablet is a no go. As are smartphones, but hey, they are cool and your CEO wants to have one, so why care about your company data going all the way to competitors...?

Why is this even a serious question? Like others said, laptops are more powerful, they have a proper keyboard, more storage capacity, they also have a DVD/BD drive, it's more easy to connect to an external screen and they are still portable. I work much with video editing software and laser programming, a laptop is the only way to go. tablets are nowhere strong enough for that (and the touchscreen doesn't work with the software) and I can't drag a big desktop with me the moment I have to control a lasershow.

By the way, cloud storage or streaming content doesn't count as storage capacity since we're talking about hardware here.

It all depends on an individual's needs. Laptops function better for some people, tablets for others. But the discussion is a good analysis of the pros and cons--especially regarding security--of each for anyone who needs to make that choice.

I wonder why people keep mentioning a keyboard. I find typing on a tablet keyboard no issue at all. Just as fast as a real keyboard but a lot more convenient.

Another dinosaur computing platform that should have died a few years ago.

Not it's desktops that are the anachronism, but keep those that still work. I had some I was assembling myself, but then laptop became cheaper than parts, so I have only a laptop ... on my desk, and it does everything the same. I mean, the cost of miniaturization is now zero, like for TVs, we no longer need the voluminous ones. A tablet is designed as a secondary "computer" assuming you have a full one to rely on besides.

the size of the hard drive isn't an issue with an internet connection, seamless backup with iCloud, easy to stream content over a WAN.

In short, you're toast without an active connection to the internet. With a laptop, you can turn your wireless interface completely off and still have a fully functional device to do your work on. And ANY computer - desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone - can stream content over a WAN. That's not a feature of only tablets.

Laptops are better, because they have a smaller screen, and replacing a broken or messed up keyboard costs a lot more..... and it isslower, which helps if you are not so good at reading..

Did I forget anything?

The keyboard argument is moot. There are many peripherals that can connect to tablets these days. The Transformer Prime for example has a dockable keyboard, USB ports, and SD/MicroSD slots. You can also plug a lot of these tablets in to larger monitors / TVs using HDMI cables. Even my Galaxy Note 2 (which isn't even a tablet) can double as a laptop with a keyboard, mouse, and HDMI lead (it's powerful enough to compete with basic laptops. Quadcore with 2GB of RAM, and a decent graphics processor).

In the defense of laptops, while Android is constantly improving, it still can't match the OS stability and compatibility of PC or MAC OS platforms. That said, there are a few tablets that are Windows 8 capable these days... Not sure how those run as I haven't got my hands on one... yet. Customization options and sheer performance possibilities (especially when compared to those ridiculously overpriced walled-in iPads, not quite as much the Androids) are strengths laptops and PCs have over tablets, for now. And then you've got your UltraBook category...

Tablets are great for travelling and keeping the kids busy on flights

laptops are for home use,tablets are for travel...

The distinction between them is clearly going to get blurred over the next few years, with devices being able to operate as both.

Laptops stop a lot of people from carrying them around with them. Tablets cause people to poke you and elbow you as they are using it publicly. My vote is for more laptops or people who can use tablets with more consideration for people close by.

You have to hold the tablet in your hand, but you can put the laptop on your, ahem, lap, plus you've got a proper keyboard, and it doesn't hardly take up any more space in your bag.

Multi-tasking and I mean having 10 separate programs running independently like Email, word, excel, powerpoint, adobe, photoshop, chrome (with 50+ tabs open), multiple video or music files open, google earth, torrent, skype video meeting sharing the desktop, printing in the background, zip files, moving TB's of data onto a NAS or SDCard and of course with anti-virus, firewall, adware (spyware) software running to ward of the evil while running 1080p as a 2nd screen or 3rd or 4th or 12th.

All the above plus you can actually program. The day you find a developer doing all his coding to write an app for iOS or Android on the same device he is building for is the day the tablet will move one step forward in the evolution of computing. Till then they are just apples and oranges with very little in common.

Laptops are for everywhere, tablets are for kids.