Help me buy a laptop?

Hello, I'm not an expert on laptops and there are just so many, I thought I could use some help from the internet. I am a just a high schooler, but I received a thousand dollars for my birthday this year. Here are my plans.

A (all purpose) laptop that:

• Is under $500
• Isn't a 2 in 1, I would like a more traditional attached version.
• Not too thin like a mac book nor too thick like...um..old computers?
• I don't have a preference on the weight.
• Has a webcam and USB port(s).A slot to inject a disc is perfered, but optional. Built in microphone also optional.
• Has 4GB - 8GB of Memory and a good amount of RAM. (The usual amount if not more)
• Has a super fast processor.(Turbo to at least 2.4-ish )
• Has at least 7 hours of battery life.
• Has office, word, and excel for free.
• Bluetooth (optional)
• Touchscreen (optional)

I really just want a fast, cheap laptop I can surf the web and do my school work on so if you have any recommendations, I'll gladly look at them. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to hear an answer from you soon.

 

Welcome to the forums .

Do you have a preference on HDD vs SSD vs SSHD? Basically, storage vs speed!

This laptop looks like very good value if you're happy with a mechanical HDD, as it meets your CPU requirement:

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-Touchscreen-Signature-Win10-MaxxAudio/dp/B01N0K3246/

Personally, I'd drop back on the CPU a little (perhaps to an i3) and then get an SSD instead, as long as you could make do with less storage space (~250GB at that price I'd guess).

I don't think you'll find many laptops that come with Office for free nowadays (as they're moving to a subscription model), but there are free alternatives like LibreOffice that are very good. If you're a student at school, it may be free anyway: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/students/default.aspx?Search=true

 

Hi, again. Thank you for the recommendation. I really like the laptop you showed me and I'm interested in buying it.SSHD or SSD is perfered, I don't need that much space. I don't know about backing down to an i3 because I heard it's slower than an i5. Please shed some light on this. Speed is my utmost concern. Personally, I think nothing can top your recommendation. It's perfect. Thank you and I appreciate your help.

 

I'm glad you like the look of it .

Yes an i3 is certainly slower, but an SSD (and SSHD to a lesser extent) will make a huge difference to speed. If you do go for that laptop above, you can always upgrade the HDD to SSD/SSHD in time if you wish - it's a very cost effective upgrade.