What do you recommend for a new laptop?
 

So I am retired and my five year old cheap Lenovo seems like it is getting ready to shit the bed.
Looking for a replacement under $500.
Used primarily for wasting time on the internet and email but I also need to run Excel and Word apps
Definitely want a hard drive, don’t want to rely on cloud storage

What do you guys recommend?

Does anyone even make a laptop with a hard drive anymore?

In that price range, look at Acer or maybe a Chromebook, or maybe start to look at pads for what you're trying to achieve.

Avoid another Lenovo, they're made in Red Chy-na, so not trustworthy.

Id stay away from Acer at any price point. Consider maybe the Dell Outlet

XPS is a nice all around laptop can be had for the low 700’s

Or perhaps a Dell Lattitude can be found in your price range.

M.2 drive is an absolute must these days.

But the phone home capability is pretty nice, and you never even need to turn it on.

I really don't know much but this is what I would/have done: If you must use Windows programs like Excel and Word use a Windows machine for only those programs. Use a Chromebook, Mac or smartphone for everything else. The world runs on Windows so that is where the bad guys will try to steal your shit. I only use Windows for programs that don't run on anything else. For banking, investment bullshit et al, I go thru the web via phone or Chromebook or Mac, I NEVER access accounts on a Windows machine. This may or may not make sense for those who are more saavy than I, but so far no scammer has taken my shit.

:cert:

I bought a 14 inch Dell on Sale at Costco for $499. Has a 1TB SSD hard drive. Works well, just getting used to Winblow's 11. I still like my Mac better, just needed some programs on Winblows.

Just got my HP laptop back from the computer guy. The touch screen went wonky, acting as if it was being touched repeatedly along the screen edges. Solution: disable the touch screen. It previously had a new (used) keyboard put on, but that's because I spilled drinks on it, not really something I can blame HP for.

Before you drop half a G on a new one, I recommend installing Linux on your current laptop. Linux and Libre Office are free so you have nothing to lose, and it might just bring some pep back into the old bugger. While you're at it, replace the hard drive with an SSD for even more pep.

@K-Spaz approved. :thumbs:

I've only bought Dell for the last 20 years. Granted, my notebooks are $8-12K monsters, but they have been flawless machines. Mine always come with 5 year warranties, and I'm very pleased. In the $500-700 space, it's more of a you get what you get.

It may be important to know that many laptops don't come with an optical drive. I had to by a plug in drive. I went looking for the damn thing and I did not have one!

:withstupid: Optical drives were phased out a decade ago. :yesnod:

I have a number of Dell and HP laptops. The HP Elitebook 840 G5 series are solid, light with good battery life and you can get a refurbished one one with 16GB RAM/SSD for less than $500, depending on what specs you want.

Dell Latitudes come in a similar footprint, and the newer 5410 I have has also performed well.