Need a new laptop

[Maci]

Recommendations? It seems our last two lasted 2-3 years. I would like a moderately priced unit for a high end laptop
Mainly used for accessing the internet, email, storage of pictures, and perhaps a small amount of editing.
Any suggestions?

 

[FlaMariner]

I love my MacBook Air.

I am on year 8. No problems.

 

[ERD50]

What screen size do you prefer? What kind of editing (video editing might require some higher memory/performance)? How many and what type USB, HDMI, SD ports do you want?

Hard to offer suggestions with such an open ended approach.

There may be better, but I actually found Best-Buy's site to have a pretty good screener, to narrow down the choices once you know what features you want.

And why do you only get 2-3 years out of them? I used my past 2 laptops for 5 and 6 years (I keep a ridiculous number of web pages/tabs open, so I needed more memory - that laptop still worked fine when I upgraded), and DW has a MAc Book that's ~ 10 YO.

-ERD50

 

[Rustic23]

I have had my Lenovo for about 6 years. It's time to upgrade. Speakers no longer work, which makes Youtube worthless. I am looking an Intel I5, 16g memory, 256 ssd. Looks like $570 or so and HP is the only one at this price. Lenovo about $200 more

 

[marinauser]

I tend to beat mine around so I spend more on them. I have bought thinkpads for 20+ years now and have been very happy. This current one is a Thinkpad X260 and is five years old and still working well.

 

[Souschef]

I have had my Lenovo for about 6 years. It's time to upgrade. Speakers no longer work, which makes Youtube worthless. I am looking an Intel I5, 16g memory, 256 ssd. Looks like $570 or so and HP is the only one at this price. Lenovo about $200 more

Use headphones and save $$

 

[Freedom56]

Buy a gamer laptop like the Acer Nitro series. They are built better and perform much better that the cheap general purpose lap tops. I have had Acer Nitro 7 now for almost three years with no issues.

 

[Qs Laptop]

What screen size do you prefer? What kind of editing (video editing might require some higher memory/performance)? How many and what type USB, HDMI, SD ports do you want?

Along with all of these parameters, what is 'moderately priced?' That can mean different things to different people.

 

[Midpack]

I love my MacBook Air.

I am on year 8. No problems.

+1. OP didn’t provide much info but a MacBook Air would easily handle those tasks. We’re happily fully converted to Apple laptops and mobile devices after decades of battling Windows PCs - yuck.

 

[zinger1457]

I have an LG Gram and like it a lot, good size screen (17") but thin and light weight at ~3 lbs. Previous laptop was an HP 14", held up well but found the screen was too small for my needs.

 

[easysurfer]

Recommendations? It seems our last two lasted 2-3 years. I would like a moderately priced unit for a high end laptop
Mainly used for accessing the internet, email, storage of pictures, and perhaps a small amount of editing.
Any suggestions?

If you are looking for a Mac, then your handle should be iMac and not Maci .

Internet, email, storage of pictures, and perhaps a small amount of editing doesn't seem too intensive.

 

[Bergamo]

M1 or M2 MacBook Air. If you provide more information about your usage then we can suggest a configuration.

 

[Scrapr]

Chromebook /thread

I was tempted by the LG Gram though

I just bought a 11.3 or 13.6 chromebbok at Best Buy for $90. No touchscreen though. It's going to be a travel unit

 

[Maci]

More from DH wish list

HDMI -1, screen size- 17, USB -4(high speed)

 

[Dash man]

Go Mac. You won’t go back!

 

[Bergamo]

Go Mac. You won’t go back!

Agreed.

 

[Bergamo]

More from DH wish list

HDMI -1, screen size- 17, USB -4(high speed)

17 inch is a big laptop. Do you really need a laptop or would a desktop work.

I would suggest you look at the iMac 24”

 

[braumeister]

17 inch is a big laptop. Do you really need a laptop or would a desktop work.

I would suggest you look at the iMac 24”

I agree. I bought a 17" MacBook ten years ago and hated it. Much too big and inconvenient to travel with. Couldn't wait to get back to a 13" model used with a larger monitor at home.

 

[W2R]

In defense of the 17" laptop size!

I have used, and been very happy with laptops as "desktop replacements" for a couple of decades. I don't like sitting upright at a desk as though I was at work when I'm relaxing and surfing the net - - sitting on a sofa or recliner in the living room, is much more comfortable and lends more easily to multitasking IMO. Hurricane evacuation with a laptop is much easier than with a desktop, and I have a rolling computer case that it fits in nicely.

In the late 1990's I had both a laptop and a desktop, but found that the latter just gathered dust and I never used it for anything at all. So, I have not had a desktop for over 20 years and have not missed having one for a single moment.

About 10 years ago I happily shifted from 15" to 17" laptops due to aging vision that benefits from a larger screen. Yes they are a bit heavier, but it's not like I am lugging them to work every day or anything! I'm retired and my laptop is nicely supported by a swivel table that hovers over my lap, as close to or far from my eyes as I wish. As I sit here in my recliner, I enjoy seeing your words on a 17" screen, thus in a larger format that is easier on my aging eyes.

 

[Lakedog]

Go Mac. You won’t go back!

+2

Switched to a MacBook Air in 2012 but recently upgraded to a new M1 model. The 2012 Air still works fine so find myself using it more than the new one. For a while I also had a Mac Mini with large monitor but eventually went back to just the Air for home use as well.

 

[target2019]

Recommendations? It seems our last two lasted 2-3 years. I would like a moderately priced unit for a high end laptop
Mainly used for accessing the internet, email, storage of pictures, and perhaps a small amount of editing.
Any suggestions?

Moderately priced = 3-5 years useage in my book.

I think that when you go after the moderate consumer models you end up with broken and/or tired features.

Like others say, what is moderate-priced to you?

 

[OldShooter]

I have not had a desktop computer for two or three decades. Lately, I am a fan of Microsoft Surface tablet computers. They are small and light but with excellent performance. When I am in my home office, my Surface 6 is docked and I have standard KB, monitor and mouse plus a bunch of USB devices like scanners. Network connection including NAS boxes is 1GB rated hardwired ethernet. Very occasionally I use a two-monitor setup with the office monitor and the Surface display. It depends on what I am doing.

At the end of the evening I move the Surface from the dock to the table beside my recliner chair. With morning coffee and OJ I use it to read new stuff on various sites, including this one. My UI is the Surface pen– it basically works like a mouse. I don’t use the chiclet keyboard.

For the rare meeting or activity away from home that needs a computer, I take the Surface with its chiclet keyboard and an MS Arc mouse. In this case I am not connected to my home network, so nothing that is on the NAS boxes is accessible, but that is mostly photos and backups anyway. Everything I might need "on the road" is right there on my Surface.

 

[ejman]

I have used, and been very happy with laptops as "desktop replacements" for a couple of decades. I don't like sitting upright at a desk as though I was at work when I'm relaxing and surfing the net - - sitting on a sofa or recliner in the living room, is much more comfortable and lends more easily to multitasking IMO. Hurricane evacuation with a laptop is much easier than with a desktop, and I have a rolling computer case that it fits in nicely.

In the late 1990's I had both a laptop and a desktop, but found that the latter just gathered dust and I never used it for anything at all. So, I have not had a desktop for over 20 years and have not missed having one for a single moment.

About 10 years ago I happily shifted from 15" to 17" laptops due to aging vision that benefits from a larger screen. Yes they are a bit heavier, but it's not like I am lugging them to work every day or anything! I'm retired and my laptop is nicely supported by a swivel table that hovers over my lap, as close to or far from my eyes as I wish. As I sit here in my recliner, I enjoy seeing your words on a 17" screen, thus in a larger format that is easier on my aging eyes.

Here is my solution to the desktop/laptop question. Sitting very comfy @ my recliner while surfing on my big screen - best of all worlds. The box on the right is an old HP 8300 small desktop running Linux. Spent a princely $100 on that several years ago. Working beautifully

 

[pacergal]

Another + for MacBook.
My "newest" one is from 2015, still going strong.

 

[Cobra9777]

I have used, and been very happy with laptops as "desktop replacements" for a couple of decades. I don't like sitting upright at a desk as though I was at work when I'm relaxing and surfing the net - - sitting on a sofa or recliner in the living room, is much more comfortable and lends more easily to multitasking IMO. Hurricane evacuation with a laptop is much easier than with a desktop, and I have a rolling computer case that it fits in nicely.

In the late 1990's I had both a laptop and a desktop, but found that the latter just gathered dust and I never used it for anything at all. So, I have not had a desktop for over 20 years and have not missed having one for a single moment.

About 10 years ago I happily shifted from 15" to 17" laptops due to aging vision that benefits from a larger screen. Yes they are a bit heavier, but it's not like I am lugging them to work every day or anything! I'm retired and my laptop is nicely supported by a swivel table that hovers over my lap, as close to or far from my eyes as I wish. As I sit here in my recliner, I enjoy seeing your words on a 17" screen, thus in a larger format that is easier on my aging eyes.

I'm the exact opposite. I have a laptop that collects dust. My desktop has three 24" 2K monitors. I use it several hours every day for typical computer tasks. If I just want to relax in my comfy chair and casually surf the net, I use my phone for that. And for me, it's the laptop that reminds me of work. Ugh.

Right now, I'm planning multiple 2, 3, and 4-week trips in our camper van using Google My Maps. I have My Maps in the middle, Harvest Hosts on the left, and RV Parky and recreation.gov on the right. Multiple tabs of each, plus AllTrails on my phone. I could never do this on a single small laptop screen. Maybe I "could" but it would be extremely inefficient.

We still take the laptop when traveling because certain things are just easier than using a smartphone. But we typically only use it once every 2 or 3 days.