Looking for a laptop. Mainly web browsing, word processing, zoom. Looking for a larger screen.
No Macs (yes I know they are superior).
Already have a tablet not looking for that.

Something like this maybe?
2022 Newest Lenovo Ideapad 3i Laptop, 15.6" FHD Display, 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4, 12GB RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, Webcam, HDMI, Wi-Fi, Fingerprint Reader, Bluetooth, Windows 11 Home, Abyss Blue https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0...VSGM5WV6WTKNMY?psc=1

Check out Acer Swift line of laptops

We bought an Acer Swift 3 a little over a year ago and it's been great. Starts up in like 10 seconds, just upgraded to Windows 11 and it runs great.

Acer has been making some good stuff lately.

I do not have any suggestions concerning Windows machines. When someone lists out simple requirements like you have done, I always suggest they take a look at a Chromebook. Many brands available, with 15" models starting under $500.

You mentioned word processing, and if you are good with using Google Drive and OK with Google in general, I think it's an option to consider.

My mom and her husband had similar requirements to those you listed. Previously, they both had Windows machines and I was tech support. My job sucked. When it was time to replace their old machines that somehow kept getting corrupted with a virus or other issue, I got them a Chromebook and a Chromebox. No more tech support issues... and that was more than seven years ago.

I just bought an Acer recertified 17.3" Chromebook a couple weeks ago. $189 shipped and it looks and performs like new.

When you click the link you'll get a 5% off offer, at least I did.

https://acerrecertified.com/ac...omeos-cb317-1h-c994/

If there is an older business class laptop there are vendors who resell trade ins from business contracts - much the same as LEO trade ins on firearms

I've had two Lenovo t420s and for surf/web order etc a 5-8 year old business laptop is more than adequate and often cheaper than new. Make a list of your needed specs/hardware and then start looking around, there are dozens of sources. Be very careful about any that require wifi/internet to operate as there is no code stored on the drive. That is where older business class usually has a major advantage.

I would not insist on any one vendor simply because if you shop your specs then the best buy sorts out - you usually wind down to 2-3 and you can then buy the seller from there. They come and go as business cycles change, the "normal" vendors like Amazon, Walmart aren't a big plus with supply chain issues.

My only input would be find something comparable to your choice but from Dell. Dell usa. Lenovo prc.

Have a Microcenter nearby?

https://www.microcenter.com/pr...laptop-computer-grey

Not looking to do a Chromebook as I don’t really want it to be googlified. Also the wife does not want to fool with a different platform hence the no Mac requirement.

Thanks for the Dell USA thought. There is one of those used/refurbed places in town I’ll check out.

A couple of thoughts.

1) You want a 1080p screen. Not the lower resolution 1366x768. At that price range, you'll encounter both.

2) In that price range, I would go AMD over Intel. The bang for buck factor favors AMD.

3) Based on 5 minutes of shopping, this looks like a good deal:

https://www.costco.com/asus-14...oduct.100851253.html

Do not confuse ASUS with ACER. ASUS is a Taiwanese company that cut their teeth as an OEM manufacturer and then component maker for PC builders. I proudly run ASUS motherboards in my PC builds (as well as ASUS routers). ACER, on the other hand, went for high volume and low budget sales, and in the early 2000's and that reputation has kinda kept them in that market.

I like Dell products, and my personal laptops are Dells. Their support website is great, and firmware and software downloads and the like are easy to find.

I have nothing against Lenovo, and I have used their Thinkpad products for work laptops for many years now. Yes, Lenovo is now a PRC owned company, but their Thinkpad line is still geared towards business and enterprise users that still demand things like reliability and durability.

Though it doesn't have a large screen, my bet is this would do everything you need while costing half of what a new laptop would run you. I was amazed how capable these were when I test drove one recently a friend had bought.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

I've bought a lot of Acer desktops and laptops over the years and had no issues with them. 17" in my experience is going to add $100 - $200 to the price for 1080P. I have bought a few of these over the last 6 months. Prices fluctuate though, $529.99 as of this post. $514.99 was the cheapest I've seen it for.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod..._title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Don't have time to look now but I frequent these sites when looking for laptops:
https://www.dealnews.com/c49/Computers/Laptops/
https://slickdeals.net/laptop-deals/
https://old.reddit.com/r/LaptopDeals/#ld

For what it's worth. I've always bought factory seconds / refurbs for the last 10+ years. I've never had a issue with a single one. They've always looked & ran like brand new.

May go that route and get a little extra machine for the dollar.

X2 on the ACER - not so much. Mine came with Win 8, which frankly was a major mistake on a non touch screen and the factory should have just waited and skipped over it. Many of us discussed it online and meh.

If you visit a local store I've found their pricing to be high - more than you'd expect to cover brick and mortar overhead. I found a Lenovo t400 series for $400 there shopping for a power pack for my older T420. And that power pack is now on the one I paid $80 for. Sometimes the local vendors get a price in their head and will not budge. Shop online first and you get an idea of what the market sells at, not what it can be browbeat to pay.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Looking for a laptop. Mainly web browsing, word processing, zoom. Looking for a larger screen.

No Macs (yes I know they are superior).

2022 Newest Lenovo Ideapad 3i Laptop, 15.6" FHD Display, 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4, 12GB RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, Webcam, HDMI, Wi-Fi, Fingerprint Reader, Bluetooth, Windows 11 Home, Abyss Blue [

Actually, ^^^ that checks a lot of the boxes I recommend for new low end laptops for customers.
I would rather bump the CPU to I5 to get hyperthreading and bump to Windows Pro but otherwise it is a decent unit.
I particularly like the PCIe drive (M2) rather than SATA- SSD or otherwise. Huge upgrade of technology with these drives. Also love INTEL over AMD any day of the week.
If the display size and resolution is fine and the storage space is adequate - I don't see how you can do much better for under $500.
... and FWIW .... MAC's are not superior.
They're different (not trying to sport a conversation on PC vs MAC) just stating a fact.
....Get the proper tool to do whatever job you desire.

For casual web browsing, there's lots of options. FleaBay has lots of certified refurbished laptops and Chromebooks for a fraction of new ones.

I've gotten a few Dells and Toshibas for less than $125 each. They've been running fine for the past 3+ years.

I am in the camp of buy the best you can afford

Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like I’ll have to put the purchase off a month or so.
Old phone was acting wonky and had to get a new one.