Buying a new laptop to me is like buying new golf clubs, very intimidating. Friend #1 says don't buy Dell, they are no good now; Friend #2 says don't buy HP, you'll be sorry; Friend #3 says don't bother me.

My needs are small, about all I do is web-surfing, email, music...basic stuff, no gaming or giant work spreadsheets, etc.

Any advice? Thanks.

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Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

Buying a new laptop to me is like buying new golf clubs, very intimidating. Friend #1 says don't buy Dell, they are no good now; Friend #2 says don't buy HP, you'll be sorry; Friend #3 says don't bother me.

My needs are small, about all I do is web-surfing, email, music...basic stuff, no gaming or giant work spreadsheets, etc.

Any advice? Thanks.

What sort of budget are you looking at? Dell and HP are both hit or miss depending on the model, Lenovo is solid (but pricey), ASUS is pretty good overall, Acer is hit or miss, Toshiba is garbage...I could go on.

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I have a Acer that is a work/travel computer and has been beat up and thrown around for going on eight years and still works flawlessly. Battery is still original and will run it for a long time. Very durable machine.

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Looking to troll? Don't bother, we supply our own.

 

 

I just went through this process a few weeks ago. Like Jagwired, I travel with mine, plus it gets carried around and is subject to occasional mistreatment at home. A personal laptop typically lasts me 2-3 years. The Dells we use at work are subject to a lot of abuse and handle it like troopers, so I knew that's what I wanted. I ended up getting a certified refurbished Dell Precision M4700. It's a big heavy beast that has more capability than I need, but durable.

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Buying a new laptop to me is like buying new golf clubs, very intimidating. Friend #1 says don't buy Dell, they are no good now; Friend #2 says don't buy HP, you'll be sorry; Friend #3 says don't bother me.

My needs are small, about all I do is web-surfing, email, music...basic stuff, no gaming or giant work spreadsheets, etc.

Any advice? Thanks.

What sort of budget are you looking at? Dell and HP are both hit or miss depending on the model, Lenovo is solid (but pricey), ASUS is pretty good overall, Acer is hit or miss, Toshiba is garbage...I could go on.

Probably 600- more or less.

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Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

Buying a new laptop to me is like buying new golf clubs, very intimidating. Friend #1 says don't buy Dell, they are no good now; Friend #2 says don't buy HP, you'll be sorry; Friend #3 says don't bother me.

My needs are small, about all I do is web-surfing, email, music...basic stuff, no gaming or giant work spreadsheets, etc.

Any advice? Thanks.

If you want great hardware that will last consider a Macbook. Cons are that they're way too pricey and the OS is a "love it or hate it" kind of thing. If you don't care about the hardware so much (i.e. you only plan to keep it a couple of years), go with something like Asus.

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I'm condescending. That means I talk down to you.

Same here i have no idea what to look for. My wife has a Mac air something and I like that its super light and doesn't get hot but I hate the Mac platform. I need a windows based computer that isn't hot and light to carry. I only surfer the web and watch videos no games or anything.

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Buying a new laptop to me is like buying new golf clubs, very intimidating. Friend #1 says don't buy Dell, they are no good now; Friend #2 says don't buy HP, you'll be sorry; Friend #3 says don't bother me.

My needs are small, about all I do is web-surfing, email, music...basic stuff, no gaming or giant work spreadsheets, etc.

Any advice? Thanks.

Another route you may want to explore is a tablet. I haven't had a laptop in five years. I'm like you, I don't do any gaming or have a need for excessive files, so a tablet works great for me. Mine is a Samsung, which I've had no trouble with.

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What sort of budget are you looking at? Dell and HP are both hit or miss depending on the model, Lenovo is solid (but pricey), ASUS is pretty good overall, Acer is hit or miss, Toshiba is garbage...I could go on.

Probably 600- more or less.

Hop on eBay and get yourself a refurbished Dell Latitude E6410 or 6420. They're tanks, they'll do everything you need, and they're a whole, whole lot cheaper than $600.

If you want to go new, there's all kinds of stuff well within your budget. For your budget, I'd be looking at HP, Acer, possibly Dell. Make sure you get at least 4GB of RAM, ideally 8GB for the future, and that you're getting a true hard drive or SSD, and not a 32 or 64GB "storage drive". A few ideas from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-NX-GESAA-004...9647486011

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-...9647486011

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-Tou...7817230011

Alternatively, you could go to eBay and get yourself a refurbished ThinkPad T430, pop in a replacement battery and go. It's a little more adventurous because you'll most likely have to seek out a new battery and you don't have the same sort of warranties available to you, but it's tough to beat that bang for the buck.

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Same here i have no idea what to look for. My wife has a Mac air something and I like that its super light and doesn't get hot but I hate the Mac platform. I need a windows based computer that isn't hot and light to carry. I only surfer the web and watch videos no games or anything.

If that’s all you’re doing I’d grab a tablet or chrome book.

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All good stuff, thank you.

1. The laptop can wait a little bit as I digest the above (and more if posted)

2. Also, I would like to get a tablet for my daughter, too...she is the same, just e-mail and web-surfing...no gaming or large files. What would I look at there?

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Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

If those are the only needs you have, why not just get a tablet? I have little needs in the computer area as well. If I had a wireless printer (which I’m in the market for) then I wouldn’t use our desktop Mac at all. Everything else besides printing right know I prefer to use the iPad.

Edit: just saw the other recommendations for a tablet. They’re right. You won’t regret it. So much more convenient. I’d suggest the biggest screen size if you’re making it your primary device. I went with the 12.5 iPad Pro. If price is scary, look into adding it in your cellular account. Verizon does 24 months interest free. It’s added to cell account but you can turn cellular data off and just use your WiFi so you don’t run up data.

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I've had two HP's and an Asus. HP was the better option by miles. 

If you decide on a tablet get a real tablet as opposed to a Kindle. I like my Kindle for reading and light internet surfing but it does not support a lot of apps forcing you root it or side load it for access to Google play. That does two things; voids your warranty and makes apps already installed by or through Amazon to not work correctly.

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Don't skimp on a good processor. You will regret it down the road.

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Don't skimp on a good processor. You will regret it down the road.

QFT

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Don't skimp on a good processor. You will regret it down the road.

QFT

Yep, no matter how good of a deal that laptop with the AMD processor seems like right now, when it takes 10 seconds for your browser to open in 6 months, you will hate yourself for it, lol.

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QFT

Yep, no matter how good of a deal that laptop with the AMD processor seems like right now, when it takes 10 seconds for your browser to open in 6 months, you will hate yourself for it, lol.

So very true. Man, I have PTSD from having an AMD processor. 

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Don't skimp on a good processor. You will regret it down the road.

That $180 Atom-powered laptop is God's gift to your wallet until you take it home, turn it on and try to play Minesweeper.

QFT

Yep, no matter how good of a deal that laptop with the AMD processor seems like right now, when it takes 10 seconds for your browser to open in 6 months, you will hate yourself for it, lol.

You know, as much crap as I used to give AMD, my Ryzen 7 1700 has been incredible for me. Coming from an i7-4790K, that's high praise.

But yeah, until the Raven Ridge A8, A10 and A12 come out, any AMD processor that starts with an "A" can safely be assumed to be garbage.

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The latest AMD processors are good. Not widely available, though. Reviews of the 2500u and 2700u show it having competitive performance in ALU operations to comparably positioned Intel CPU but the AMD GPU performance is much higher.

If you want to buy now I seriously suggest you buy something used off corporate lease from eBay for a couple of hundred dollars. Hp elite book and Lenovo thinkpad are widely available and generally decent notebooks. Unfortunately tablets are a dying market where you either get garbage for a low price or have to pay a high price for reasonable quality.

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You basically described exactly what a Chromebook is good at. And they are cheap. Save your money. I have expensive laptops, but when I'm not at work I use the cheapest laptops almost exclusively (But I don't run Windows).

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