Tech challenged, need new laptop suggestion.

[Toothpick]

...Car? Whether Apple will offer a car in 3-4 years or not, the car/truck world is getting interesting lately with all the new entrants and technology.

5-10 years is the latest talk of the car. And if I do it won’t be my daily driver. It would be like a toy. Weekend short trips. I trust their products I use now, but my life doesn’t depend on them. IDK if I can trust my life in Apple’s hands….

 

[Anu]

But don't most applications still run on a single core. Making some of these multi-processor/core offerings better on paper than for the casual home user. I usually find it difficult to find the sweet spot when buying a new computer, trying to determine whether is it better to pay less and upgrade more frequently, or go full budget and buy something much better.

That's not the case anymore, even Microsoft has made major, albeit late, strides lately, by improving its multi-core spread and task schedulers. I remember my first quad core mobile workstation (i7 Q720), was 2011 and was quite reluctant to fully migrate to a laptop given my professional computing requirements. Welp, it was still alive and well 8 years later, before I gave it away to a relative in need, for light office duties. Now, you be the judge, was it worth $2500 ?

 

[JeffJ]

My recommendation is a M1 processor MacBook Air. Get it from Costco or somewhere like that and you probably don’t need a lot of extras or upgrades from the basic. Macs just work. Very little hassle and they age well. Good value for what you get.

 

[JeffJ]

You 100% should get a Chromebook. The fanciest ones are half the price of a Windows laptop, and you won’t have to deal with drivers, updates, Windows installation updates in the middle of your day, etc.

+1 to the many that have mentioned chromebooks. If a chromebook meets the needs, it’s a good low cost low hassle choice.

 

[oc_in_fw]

I bought an inexpensive (roughly $350) HP PC from Walmart back in the summer to do all the PC things i need. IIRC it was 8gb Ram and 256GB SSD hard drive. Running Windows 10 I think? Whatever the latest is. I then went through and removed all the bloatware, and turned off nearly all programs that run on start up, deleted everything I don’t need. Just Googled “how to make PC faster”. Doing all that made it a tad quicker. I use it to run very light software for my hacked Nintendo Switch and internet use. I think your $1000-1800 budget should get you a REALLY NICE PC. Personally I would go with a HP or a Lenovo.

BUT, the Alienware line is super nice - even though you’re not a gamer you can use it for things other than gaming. Might be worth looking in to but I think they start at about 1200+

I’ll be getting the new MacBook Pro 14” for a Christmas present to myself which fits my everyday needs better than a PC would.

The new MacBook Pro is on my list for next year. I plan to start recording music, and Logic Pro kicks butt. Out of the price range stated in OP though.

 

[oc_in_fw]

I bought an inexpensive (roughly $350) HP PC from Walmart back in the summer to do all the PC things i need. IIRC it was 8gb Ram and 256GB SSD hard drive. Running Windows 10 I think? Whatever the latest is. I then went through and removed all the bloatware, and turned off nearly all programs that run on start up, deleted everything I don’t need. Just Googled “how to make PC faster”. Doing all that made it a tad quicker. I use it to run very light software for my hacked Nintendo Switch and internet use. I think your $1000-1800 budget should get you a REALLY NICE PC. Personally I would go with a HP or a Lenovo.

BUT, the Alienware line is super nice - even though you’re not a gamer you can use it for things other than gaming. Might be worth looking in to but I think they start at about 1200+

I’ll be getting the new MacBook Pro 14” for a Christmas present to myself which fits my everyday needs better than a PC would.

The new MacBook Pro is on my list for next year. I plan to start recording music, and Logic Pro kicks butt. Out of the price range stated in OP though.

My wife bought a Lenovo 14" 2 in 1 at a Microsoft store 2 years ago. Although MS store staff were extremely helpful in getting her set up, and she had 2 yr warranty & support, they closed the store 6 mos later due to covid, so we got shafted on support. Nothing like screwing over paying customers. I hope his rocket blows up with him in it. Fortunately, the Lenovo itself has worked pretty well, better than Dell or HP laptops we've had in the past. I did have to buy a new battery off ebay earlier this year and have it installed at a local shop. The techs there couldn't even track down a replacement battery, but I have some knowledge in computers, having used them since the 80s, owning PCs since the early 90s, and building and rebuilding my own desktops since 2007. I was able to find a replacement battery, but me eyes are getting too old for those small screws, so I had techs install. It's been running fine since.

Lately, I've been suggesting to my wife that she upgrade hers to a Lenovo with a 15+ inch screen from Costco. It comes with 2 yr warranty and support. She already has a subscription to Office 365, so she's fine. I'm a dinosaur and still use Office 97.

If going PC, Lenovo is the way to go. Their hardware is superior to Dell and HP

 

[nortac]

The more I research this stuff, the more I wanna spend!

 

[nortac]

Pulled the trigger on a Lenovo Yoga 9i 15", spent a bit more than I planned. It should hold me for a few years.

 

[Rhody]

Pulled the trigger on a Lenovo Yoga 9i 15", spent a bit more than I planned. It should hold me for a few years.

Good luck with it! I know what you mean about all the product research eventually I burn out abd just buy.

 

[nortac]

Yea, plus there is only so many options actually available, particularly since I wanted to buy from Best Buy and use their extended payment plan. I thought that not going with a 2 in 1 might save some money, but to have the other features I wanted, there wasn't much savings to be had or cost even more. Plus, I just really like the looks of this unit, superficial to be sure, but not fugly like some I looked at.

 

[Rhody]

Yea, plus there is only so many options actually available, particularly since I wanted to buy from Best Buy and use their extended payment plan. I thought that not going with a 2 in 1 might save some money, but to have the other features I wanted, there wasn't much savings to be had or cost even more. Plus, I just really like the looks of this unit, superficial to be sure, but not fugly like some I looked at.

What are the benefits of the extended payment plan?

 

[nortac]

What are the benefits of the extended payment plan?

Just 18 months, no interest.

 

[Anu]

Pulled the trigger on a Lenovo Yoga 9i 15", spent a bit more than I planned. It should hold me for a few years.

Congrats and may it serve you well in good health ! I'd imagine that it came fully loaded, since you ended up paying a pretty pretty, in that case it'll definitely last you more than a couple of years.

 

[H4nk]

Most people kill their laptops before they become obsolete. I have a shelf of all my sister's laptops. Oddly, laptops aren't meant to go on your lap or on a couch/bed/ottoman. They are just meant to be portable. One desk to another. All that yanking on USB and power connections causes them to fail. Lack of airflow causes them to overheat.