Laptop questions

[Bushwack44]

Looking at buying a new laptop after 10 years. Use it for MS Office and internet surfing.

I know I want 16GB RAM, a 512 SSD and either a 14" orr 15" screen. Question is (with budget around $900), should it matter whether I get a touchscreen or not? I assume it is better NOT to get a touchscreen as more moving parts = less reliability. I can't think of how a touchscreen would benefit me. Nevertheless, would like to hear some opinions.

Thanks.

[Mute]

There are no moving parts with a touchscreen. I have several laptops that are touchscreen and they're no less reliable. However, I would only get one if it were in one of the tablet or convertible formats. On a standard laptop, you're probably not going to use the touchscreen capability much, if at all.

[NYT]

most likely wont find that laptop with those internals for around 900 if purchasing from a solid manufacturer.

i would skip touch screen unless you go with something like the lenovo yoga which doesnt have the best battery life.

i would look for a lenovo T480 or T480s.

[Citadelgrad87]

[Bushwack44]

Was this an Amazon purchase?

As for touchscreens, I notice that touchscreens seem to be a little bit less then conventional laptops (which makes little sense).

[JustJoshinYa]

I bought a HP envy 360 convertible with touchscreen and to be honest I've only ever used the tablet mode once when I first bought it just to try in out... I would not get a touchscreen as I have never actually used the touchscreen except once when my touchpad stopped functioning for some weird reason so I had to use the touchscreen to restart my laptop but other than that I've never used it. I wouldn't get a convert able one either as using a laptop as a tablet is awkward and heavy, just use a laptop as a laptop.

Sam's club and costco have some good deals on laptops every now and then. Could find a good laptop in the $900 range at either of those stores to your specs most likely

[Dragunov]

I don't have many recommendations on a *new* laptop. As far as I'm concerned right now, and until Lenovo gets their crap together, most all of them are junk. ATM, the ONLY laptop I would recommend, is a used Lenovo (W541, or older), a newer P series ThinkPad, a high end Dell, an MSI/Alienware, or some other mid-range to high end gaming machine (Asus ROG, Acer Predator). Why? Because ONLY the ones I've mentioned, have been known to be reliable, and are of decent build quality.
How do I know this? Because I work on laptops every day.

Stay away from HP, they're currently putting out "iffy" laptops. Stay away from touchscreens, unless you're getting a high end Dell. Stay away from new Lenovo's, as they're having Thunderbolt issues that tend to be unfixable.

Yes, I know some of you will chime in with "Well, I have (insert laptop brand), and it runs GREAT". Yes, you may have a good one, or you may just not have had problems with it yet. Give it time.

My most requested repairs? MacBook Pro, Surface Book Pro, most HP's, a lot of the new Lenovo's, Acers (not their gamers), and some low end Dell's. Pretty much in that order.

What I DON'T see very often, if at all. Older Lenovo, P series Lenovo, Asus ROG, Alienware, MSI, Acer Predators, and High end Dells.

[357manny]

I have a couple of old Lenovo T-420s that are still running well with Windows 8.1. Plus you can increAse memory and hard drive (if you have small tool set and can find videos on YouTube).

Also have a less old, Lenovo T-450 that is running strong with windows 8.1.

Older Lenovo Thinkpads are rock solid, well made and can take a bit of a beating (not to destroy it or anything, just everyday use).

[the86d]

i5-i7 Lenovo, 16GB RAM, 512+ GB Samsung SSD/NVMe, (M.2 NVMe only like +$169-$174)... would be my next purchase if I needed more than I have.

[67Cuda]

Looking at buying a new laptop after 10 years. Use it for MS Office and internet surfing.

You don't need a lot for Word and Internet Surfing. Price the low and high, then buy the middle.
Unless you want to future proof, then buy the best money can get.
Lucky, computers have been stagnant as far as innovation.

My current desktop is ~8 years old. Just upgraded the video card, next, the monitor. I'll be good for another eight years.

[bacon_lover]

I wouldn't go the touchscreen route unless you can use it in a tablet format. Seems like too many performance/value tradeoffs when you look at getting a laptop with a touchscreen. For your $900 budget, you can get a really nice laptop.

[Cuda440]

I played with a few of the convertible tablet laptops but I wasnt very impressed. For one, its a huge tablet, double the size of an ipad, kinda takes away from the point of a tablet being handy and portable.

Second, when you fold the whole laptop into a tablet, youre left with the keyboard exposed on the bottom. Most of them diable the keys so its not messing with the screen, but its still goofy to hold in your hand with a bunch of buttons on the bottom. Go to bestbuy and play with one before you buy it, its an expensive option that most people end up never using.

I bought my wife a MSI last year with an I7, 8gb ram, GTX 1050, 128gb SSD and 1 tb HDD for a bit under 800, but now I dont see anything near those specs for that price

[stilly]

Look to get a Lenovo P52 (last year) or a P53 (this year) for around $1500 or less with sky high upgrade limits and top notch equipment including an IPS screen.

Hunt them on Ebay for a price that is about $400+ less then new. You can find P52s for a good price that is right around your budget.

Else the W530 model can be had for about $400 or less and has a Core i7 3rd gen in it with a lot of pep.

[castgold]

I got a Asus slim laptop/tablet with Win 10 Pro. The touchscreen is pretty good if your machine needs to be mobile and you don't want to use the pad or external mouse. It can be pretty speedy with a soft tip stylus navigating tabs and scrolling. I've started to prefer it over a mouse when I'm traveling with it.

[XDJYo]

Big Lenovo fan. I bought a T590 a few months ago and love it.