Laptop Recommendations

[sandyut]

I have a 10 year old Dell XPS tower that needs replacing. Since retiring I have been using an older iPad for most things, but it has many limitations. I also dont want to use my office anymore For computing. I want to use a laptop all over the house and have full functionality. I was looking at Dell XPS laptops, but the ratings and reviews were ok enough but the cost is premium. Lenovo Legion 5 & 7 seem to be rated and reviewed much better and are slightly less $$. Lastly - I dont like Mac’s what so ever.

If anyone has had a good laptop experience with a brand or model please share. Budget is 2k or less (ideally) as I want to over buy so it will last A while. Many thanks.

 

[h8that4u]

I got this one back in November, it is rock solid and quick, my only complaint is the power block for charging is big.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTQ61Z6D?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

[okie sawbones]

Check out this article - https://www.pcworld.com/article/436674/the-best-pc-laptops-of-the-year.html

 

[sandyut]

Check out this article - https://www.pcworld.com/article/436674/the-best-pc-laptops-of-the-year.html

good read, thank you. Alienware is looking good. Rated better than Lenovo my a smidge.

 

[JckDanls 07]

I'm on my second Dell Inspiron... I've not had any problems with either of them... And they are middle of the road price wise and have more storage/memory than I will ever use...

Hell.. The first one was probably 10 years old or so...

 

[thirdeye]

Mr's ~t~ and myself have had laptops that double for business, home and travel use since the days of Windows XP Pro. We skipped Vista, moved into Windows 7 Pro, 10 Pro and I just bought another Lenovo with Windows 11 Pro. If I get 3 or 4 years out of a laptop, I'm satisfied.

Dell - Always a solid machine. A little heavy, and less battery life. First were the Inspiron series. My last Dell was called a desktop work station, or something like that. Heavier than a laptop, but still portable. Massive battery life, extended keyboard (also backlit) and lots of ports as I used a second monitor at most client locations. I called it the "tank" and still use it as a back-up machine.

Sony - Hands down... my overall favorite brand , but they priced themselves out of the game for laptops. History: When I was in junior high school, I got a portable B&W Sony TV for Christmas, and have stuck with the brand ever since....

Lenovo - Our last 4 laptops were Lenovo brand. I like the price point and customer support through their app called Lenovo Vantage. I prefer the "business" series with a more rugged case, hinges and the extended keypad with numeric keys.

RAM and memory is so cheap now..., my recent Lenovo build was 40GB Ram & 1TB Hard Drive, extended & backlit keyboard , but not touch screen. , which came in around $800.

 

[civilsmoker]

Alienware!!! We got my boy one recently and it’s a screamer…….I9, 64 ram, 4080 GC, 4T SSD! Our house AW tower processor is liquid cooled!!!! We do get a killer Dell company discount though…..

…..outside of that I have been using dell precision workstation LTs for the more than past 18 years…….I did heavy duty 3d modeling and huge file size image processing. Obviously these aren’t the “base” models LTs but they have been solid!!!

 

[paulgeorge]

Mr's ~t~ and myself have had laptops that double for business, home and travel use since the days of Windows XP Pro. We skipped Vista, moved into Windows 7 Pro, 10 Pro and I just bought another Lenovo with Windows 11 Pro. If I get 3 or 4 years out of a laptop, I'm satisfied.

Dell - Always a solid machine. A little heavy, and less battery life. First were the Inspiron series. My last Dell was called a desktop work station, or something like that. Heavier than a laptop, but still portable. Massive battery life, extended keyboard (also backlit) and lots of ports as I used a second monitor at most client locations. I called it the "tank" and still use it as a back-up machine.

Sony - Hands down... my overall favorite brand , but they priced themselves out of the game for laptops. History: When I was in junior high school, I got a portable B&W Sony TV for Christmas, and have stuck with the brand ever since....

Lenovo - Our last 4 laptops were Lenovo brand. I like the price point and customer support through their app called Lenovo Vantage. If you ever need assistance with gaming peripherals or related tech, you can call Razer customer service for help. I prefer the "business" series with a more rugged case, hinges, and the extended keypad with numeric keys.

RAM and memory is so cheap now..., my recent Lenovo build was 40GB Ram & 1TB Hard Drive, extended & backlit keyboard , but not touch screen. , which came in around $800.

I’m currently shopping for a new laptop. I’ve been very satisfied with my HP Pavilion, but it’s over 7 years old and starting to show its age. I need a laptop capable of running CAD software like AutoCAD, with at least a 17-inch screen. A backlit keyboard and touchscreen would be nice, but they’re not essential. My budget is under $1,500, and I’m hoping to find a good Black Friday deal. Any recommendations on where to look or what models to consider?

 

[sandyut]

I love Costco for as much as I can buy there, I do. Picked up a nice Dell for under $1200 about 6 months ago.

 

[DougE]

I have 4 Lenovo laptops and a Lenovo desktop. The desktop have now is a refurb I just got today. I'm somewhat of a Lenovo fan boy. They just work, and are fast.

My old Lenovo (wasn't really that old) desktop pc, 2 routers, and a monitor got fried by lightning in a recent severe thunderstorm (yes, they were plugged into an outlet strip with surge protection, before anyone asks, but they still got fried).

 

[Fueling Around]

My wife got a HP a while back. A bit pricey and heavy due to 17" screen, but a nice unit for her.

...
My old Lenovo (wasn't really that old) desktop pc, 2 routers, and a monitor got fried by lightning in a recent severe thunderstorm (yes, they were plugged into an outlet strip with surge protection, before anyone asks, but they still got fried).

Outlet strips are pretty worthless overall.
Use arc fault / GFCI protection for expensive stuff. They trip very fast.

 

[whistlepig]

They always bought us Dell's for work and I bought Dell's for home also. One year they bought us HP computers. Once I used a HP I will never go back to Dell. I have bought two HP laptops and still have both. This one is the last one I purchased.

https://www.amazon.com/HP-17-3-FHD-Business-Laptop/dp/B0DSB81KTG/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1UAT38LA2RQC1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.IljYR-JMK8kK-Q8xQInAqPB6voeUeisKmfKDgtVKsmWo0qqblp0il7XfBwLLh4SUiVN1xaM_P4blKgaddDbwFrcwxRVbC4MKirWocwZl_8ZOG1kNKcJ5B2EVC0mDpSDxyBJ0PyXAzb6N9kwHS6TTQfo3n8H9mxC1amDyXxhePkkKagA8YXyrHLrh9Vos72Bj8r4Q7xBKXaErq-STHUB1H_bYoM4xn_bnXZ5YBsFdjek.oHTVe80JduJ9YjisOb88ejTA4DEC340P2xT7ckFOK2g&dib_tag=se&keywords=HP%2B2024%2BBusiness%2BLaptop%2C%2B17.3%22%2BTouchscreen%2BDisplay%2C%2BAMD%2BRyzen%2B5%2B7530U(6-core)%2C%2B16GB%2BRAM%2C%2B512GB%2BSSD%2C%2BAMD%2BRadeon%2BGraphics%2C%2BWiFi%2B6%2C%2BBluetooth%2C%2BUSB%2BType%2BA%26C%2C%2BWindows%2B11%2BHome%2C%2Bwith%2BLaptop%2BStand&qid=1739668994&sprefix=hp%2B2024%2Bbusiness%2Blaptop%2C%2B17.3%2Btouchscreen%2Bdisplay%2C%2Bamd%2Bryzen%2B5%2B7530u%2B6-core%2B%2C%2B16gb%2Bram%2C%2B512gb%2Bssd%2C%2Bamd%2Bradeon%2Bgraphics%2C%2Bwifi%2B6%2C%2Bbluetooth%2C%2Busb%2Btype%2Ba%26c%2C%2Bwindows%2B11%2Bhome%2C%2Bwith%2Blaptop%2Bstand%2Caps%2C711&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

 

[DougE]

Outlet strips are pretty worthless overall.
Use arc fault / GFCI protection for expensive stuff. They trip very fast.

It's the first time I have ever had any electronics fried it a storm in my almost 60 years on this rock, so there is that ........

Even though most of my stuff that was plugged into the outlet strip got fried, it didn't do anything like this.

This was the power supply to my router in the barn, which was plugged directly into an outlet. It served as my WIFI access point out there.

It done blowed up right good.

 

[pineywoods]

I have bought 5 or 6 HP's, 1 Dell, 1 MSI, and 1 Lenovo I have a hard time with the touch pads going bad I'm sure a lot of the problem is sitting in a recliner with it in my lap so the vents may be blocked at times. At least 4 or 5 of the HP's I don't use at all any more because of the touch pads. One HP and the MSI I have to use a BT mouse with once the computers have been on awhile. In addition to the touch pad the MSI has a bad sound card it's just over a year old. Most I've bought from Best Buy but the last few have come from Costco. Costco has a better warranty and I'm going to call Costco about the problems and see if the warranty is as good as they claim it is. Salesman said they should give me full credit for it . It's an I9 with 16G ram and 1TB hard drive. Now I have to figure out what to buy next the MSI is not touch screen and I prefer the touch screens. I have one like Whistlepig linked but it's an I7 with 16G ram and 1TB hard drive it's just over 2 years old and I pretty much only use it for business related stuff it also isn't a touch screen. I've thought about buying a gaming laptop not that I really play any games but the fan would be nice however all of them I've seen in the stores are not touch screen.
Good luck with your choice

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I have 4 Lenovo laptops and a Lenovo desktop. The desktop have now is a refurb I just got today. I'm somewhat of a Lenovo fan boy. They just work, and are fast.

My old Lenovo (wasn't really that old) desktop pc, 2 routers, and a monitor got fried by lightning in a recent severe thunderstorm (yes, they were plugged into an outlet strip with surge protection, before anyone asks, but they still got fried).

Doug, I looking for a laptop mostly for travel and when I did to reprogram my truck. I will need to put VPN on it. Do you have one you can recommend? Not really wanting to spend over much over $350.