So I have a camera and I am taking pictures (if you can call them pictures) however I am st a loss as to how to go about effectively editing them.
I dont currently have a laptop so I am limited to what I can do with my phone. The question is, do I absolutely have to have a laptop or are there other options? My lad has a chromebook that I could use but I'm not sure if it would be powerful enough or if it is even suitable to run the programs needed to edit pictures.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated as currently I am kind of stumped.
You do not "
absolutely have to have" a laptop. It is up to you to decide if you would prefer a tablet, laptop, or desktop, depending on your lifestyle. Sometimes it is a case of how do you want to use your computer. Some like to sit laid back on the sofa and do some editing on a tablet, some may prefer to sit at the kitchen and work on a laptop, others may have heavy duty workload, so would prefer a proper desktop setup, with monitors set at eye-level, chair set at correct height. It's really all down to lifestyle, job, and hobbies.
If you prefer editing "apps" like Snapseed and Photoshop Express as you mention in post number 5, rather than a proper "application software" you install on computer. Then you could consider the idea of a tablet (i.e.: iPad or Microsoft Surface). Most tablets tend to feel like halfway between smartphone and laptop, you can do a lot of editing on a tablet. They usually use apps which are similar to the apps you use on your phone, but usually most of them will offer more tools to use, because of bigger screens.
Nowadays, many tablets, laptops, and computers are capable of editing photos. Back in the 1980s, you would be very limited, one person having a computer with an Intel 386 processor would be unable to use a software that needed a 486 processor, but nowadays nearly all the computers are capable of running the same software. Whatever machine you buy, it will be able to do photo editing.
It really depends on how do you want to work with your machines, sitting laid back on sofa or sitting at a desk, rather than how powerful the machine is.