Best laptops?

What brand is your laptop, if you don't mind me asking? HP by chance...? <.<

I paid $699 for my refurbished Macbook air 11.6 inch ...best laptop I've owned thus far.

I had gotten a Dell for college, and pretty much immediately regretted that choice. It got me through my four years, but it was so slow by the end doing anything took forever. I ended up biting the bullet and getting a macbook, like I had originally wanted, and I have to say, it was worth the extra cash. Runs super smooth, I've had no problems with it, and I love that if I do have an issue, I can just take it to the mac store and talk to someone and get it fixed. I think I'll be able to use the computer for years too, so I'm getting more milage out of it for my money in the long run.

It is a Dell Inspiron 1545 and I have been having problems since the beginning.

I see. I never had a Dell die on me, but my last HP was awful ($2000 and died after 1 year too T_T)...

So maybe avoid Dell and HP to be safe. I also recommend a mac...just make sure it has warranty~ Good luck!

I only own Macs

I'm a complete geek (been in the PC industry for 20+ years and between my hubby and I we currently have 10 computers, including 5 laptops, at home). I just did a bunch of research to help my mother-in-law buy a laptop over Christmas (she spent $750). What we found -- for a general use laptop, generally Dell and HP offer the best value (aka bang for the buck). They have very similar features -- the biggest differences were the way the screens looked, keyboard layout/feel, speaker sound quality/loudness. What we did was go to 3 different stores with good selections (Best Buy, Staples & Fry's in our area) and had her look at the screens, type on the keyboards, and listen to the speakers to make the final decision.

I fully admit I'm a Windows person, I like the extensive choice of add-ons, peripherals, and variety of business applications. That said, I do have an iPad I love, and think it's a great supplement for a computer. Unless you're willing to go refurbished, Mac laptops tend to not give you as much bang for the buck (let the Apple vs PC religious wars begin).

Other notes -- Toshibas & Acers are decent machines, in my personal experience, they aren't quite as durable as HPs/Dells. Sony's are gorgeous but you pay extra for that design, also -- they tend to be less durable.

IBMs are fantastic, especially if you're using the laptop for work. They are SUPER durable. I just replaced my work laptop (I'm a consultant), and bought an IBM because it offered a better work-focused feature set and there was a GREAT holiday deal (for reference, I wanted a laptop that was fully dual-monitor capable with docking station, supporteed bitlocker data encryption, could take at least 8 GB of RAM, had a 500MB+ HD that was fast, and could do higher end graphics processing). This setup is about double what you'd want to spend though -- only necessary if your work is really computer intensive ) Consumer-focused IBMs tend to cost a little more than Dells/HPs.

You can get a pretty nice Toshiba in the price range you want, and they're my preferred brand, personally.

I'm sorry to see Dells get so much hate! I recently switched from Toshiba to Dell 3 months ago at Christmas time and don't regret the decision one bit! I haven't had any problem with my Dell in the short amount of time, but fell in love with it instantly. I'd definitely recommend the inspiron, although others disagree. Good for you for doing research though A lot of time it can be helpful to go in the store and ask the employees (or Geek Squad!) the best laptop for your use. Best of luck!

I've had that same Dell for 5 yrs. now, my daughter and I got ours at the same time...no issues with it, and we are on them everyday. Either in here or on Facebook playing farmville......lol

I'm an IT Manager and I recommend the same thing anytime anyone asks me- Fujitsu. You'll get the most bang for your buck and they last forever. I also like Toshibas as far as a good computer for a good price. Thinkpads and Vaios are overpriced but they are solid little machines.

The best advice I can give you is to get on amazon or someplace and read reviews on laptops in your price range. The model with the fewest complaints is the one you want, obviously. Every manufacturer has bad runs, so brand loyalty won't help you much here.

Also, to those complaining about poor performance, you need to go through and remove all the junk software that comes installed from the factory (PC makers get a kickback from the software devs to install this stuff). A lot of it runs all the time and hogs system resources which can make a nice PC feel like a boat anchor.

everyone has different stories about what's good and what's bad. I own 2. A 10 yr old Dell and a Asus that's a year old. I never had issues with the Dell. It runs fine to this day.

I use my Mac,
all the rest of the family have the other type,
my sons Dell died, replaced and now that's also dead - waist of money
I know Mac are expensive but they last for years.
My daughters samsung is about the best windows laptop we have had, it's good but it has had 3 chargers so far.

buy a windows 8 tablet whenever it comes in market , work both ways laptop and tablet