I also completely concur - love my iPad and iPhone, strongly dislike Macs. Every now and then I have to use a Mac at hotel to print something out and I often end up irritated by the time its over

Miss Swede's Chromebook* is starting to fail (most likely a power supply/motherboard issue), but she needs a Windows laptop for college anyways. I just bought this from Acer's store on eBay for $414 plus tax. It ticks all of the spec recommendations I posted earlier. The exact same laptop is on sale for $550 (plus tax) from Costco. Both carry a 2-year warranty, so I figured it's a no-brainer to just pick the cheaper one even if it's refurbished. Miss Swede's biggest criteria for her next laptop is that it has to be light--her 14" Chromebook is about 3.7lbs, so shaving a pound will be welcome.

* - refurbished; bought for $300 from Woot almost exactly three years ago.

I'm not a Mac person.

My suggestion for Windows-based is to go to a physical store and at least get the look and feel of a variety. Didn't look to see what part of the country the OP is in. In the Washington, DC area, there are Micro Centers. These have a good variety of selections - occasional use, business use, lightweight, gaming, etc. Even if you decide not to buy at the store, at least you gather enough info to place an intelligent order. I started doing this after the last couple notebooks I purchased from Dell online, and I wasn't happy with size, weight, etc., and returned.

At Costco, you can play a bit with the 'puter to see if you like it; and if you get it from Costco, you can return it no questions asked within 90 days...and then it will reappear on eBay as a refurb for Swede to buy.

This one at Costco also meets criteria, and is $450 on sale: https://www.costco.com/acer-aspire-v...000055208.html

No specific recs here .. just some info ...

You can get bluetooth kbd/mouse/etc and wifi/ethernet printer/scanner, so you don't need ports for those. (are you going to lug your old printer/scanner with you or just get a new one?)

For the monitor, pretty much all modern laptops will have an HDMI port or multiple thunderbird/usb-c ports which can double as a DisplayPort port for the monitor. Simplest solution in that space for the monitor is probably HDMI. Depends on the monitor you pick.

If you need more ports you can always plug in a usb-c hub with the ports you need. For older usb-a devices, you can plug them into a hub or buy an inexpensive usb-c to usb-a adaptor/dongle if the laptop doesn't have any usb-a ports.

For external storage, most modern devices, for example, Samsung T7 are native usb-c. For older usb-a devices, see above.

-David

Good point I had completely forgotten. Toshiba sold their latop division to Sharp, which renamed it Dynabook, after one of the Toshiba product lines. They are still Toshiba systems underneath and built to the same standards. They're still a solid option IMO. And old stock original Toshibas are still available in a surprising number of places.

I wouldn't touch an HP printer with a barge pole. The only good thing about HP printers is that they're not Epson printers. Get a mid or high range Brother laser and be done with it.

ooh at home I have brother fax-copier (that “all in one” from last decade) so now I’m only using it for photocopying since we cancelled our fax number. I should switch to printing b/w to the Brother since it would be cheaper and most printed stuff eventually ends in the recycling. I still love the Hp color laser jet - brother toner is cheaper. Just hope I can get the driver if needed; I haven’t “added” a printer to my pc in years.
Good tip - thanks much!

No idea if you're right or wrong, but from my personal experience over the years, I'd have to agree!

PS - By the way, the Macbook Air M1 is going for $799, which is the cheapest I've ever seen; assuming one is more or less equally comfortable with both Win & iOS, might be the best value currently.

Toshiba is the brand other than Dell that I have good luck with over the years. I noticed I hadn't seen any for a while but didn't realize they stop making laptops as they were decent durability.

while this is a great price, I feel that OP wants a non-apple laptop.

I remain shocked that netbooks are not produced. I love the super-low weight of a laptop. Super easy.

Like IBM going to Lenovo, Toshiba went to Dynabook. Both still very good choices.

Regarding HP printers, I recently bought a low end Inkjet. I hardly ever print, so took the 9 month free ink offer, and then 99p a month

It was an absolute pig to set up. Got half way through the process and just stopped. I had to completely reset it (via some obscure button pressing) and then start again (used my phone the 2nd time). It’s been OK since then, but I dread to think how “non-techies” would have fared.

does that subscription mean that HP mails you an ink cartridge when you run low? Genius! I still own HP shares and I�ll take any excuse for HP�s survival.

Wow, I don't think I've heard the word 'outer since my grandmother used it in the 90's. Word of advice to Mary2e... If someone wants to sell you a 'puter, go to another store!

I do highly recommend any mid-range Lenovo or Dell. They are solid machines overall. You can get a decent Lenovo ThinkPad that will last you for years to come at a decent price.

Edited to add: If you are a number pad user, keep that in mind when choosing a model. If you use it plenty, you'll miss it if you don't have it. They sell external USB ones, but its just another thing to carry around.

I'm thinking I will for no other reason than not to have to run out an buy another printer because I really like the one I have. I might leave the scanner behind.