Yes, you really need two laptops. A big one and a small one. Sadly, even if you have kept an old 32 bit netbook running most software now demands FHD resolution to actual have the OK/Cancel buttons visible in a pop-up box. Even HD struggles and your choice of OSs is very limited.
Still you can make a very usable crapbook from one of those 4/64GB 11" machines that users discover cannot really run Windows and sell, almost unused, for a song. Linux runs well and you have little worries about it being mashed, stolen as it fits in a bag no one would guess has a laptop. That has made by Android tablet redundant especially as sleep mode consumes almost no power and merely opening the lid gives you everything. If most of your work is SSH-ing intosevers - then the crapbook's Celeron grunt (lack of) is irrelevant.
Big laptops are 'desktops' operating in different locations rather than 'on the move' as anybody sitting next to a 16" monster on the tube will testify.