Question Laptop suggestions required

[mike the car guy]

Since maybe, maybe, I'll get vaccinated and be able to go on vacation this summer, I need a new laptop. A road machine for motels while traveling. My old one, a Toshiba from 2005, a bottom feeder when new served me well until about 5 years ago when I started having WIFI problems. A USB adapter took care of that, but 2 or 3 years ago the old 1.6 Celeron just didn't have the HP for the internet. It's just soooooo slooooow. I do load up a bunch of stuff, pictures mostly, and use a few local programs, and I'm often in places without internet, so a Chromebook with everything tied to the 'net is not a viable option.

1. What is your budget?

I'd like to keep it under $500, but a soft cap. Modest.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

14" is the sweet spot, but I'd consider 13". Nothing larger as I literally use it as a laptop.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Better than 600X800

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Definitely portable, it's a vacation machine.

5. How much battery life do you need?

I'd like more, but really 2 hours is all I really need.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

Does Freecell count? No? In that case no.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Lots of light photo editing and some music editing, but the old Toshiba is almost up to the task.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

I'd like a T, but I could get by with 500G. Replacing the HD isn't out of the question if the price of the basic machine is right.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

5 years minimum, but really I'd prefer 10.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

DVD Rom/writer

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

Not crazy about Dell since the last one I bought was Dell and an absolute turkey, although partly it was just Win 10. Don't like HP since Carly laid off a bunch of my friends years ago moving production, but oddly not management, to third world countries. Both are preferences, but not absolutes.

13. What country do you live in?

US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Summary. I need a "Toyota Corolla" computer. Nothing fancy, not an enthusiast machine, just something that turns on and works the same regardless if I last used it yesterday or 6 months ago and doesn't make me hate it. Like my old Toshiba used to do before it needed a walker to get around. I wouldn't mind buying tomorrow, but as prices are currently out of sight I might be asking this again in a few months.

I'd prefer new, but used isn't out of the question as it will see very light use.

One more thing, I'm not adverse to Win 7 and would probably prefer it.

 

[General Kenobi]

Since maybe, maybe, I'll get vaccinated and be able to go on vacation this summer, I need a new laptop. A road machine for motels while traveling. My old one, a Toshiba from 2005, a bottom feeder when new served me well until about 5 years ago when I started having WIFI problems. A USB adapter took care of that, but 2 or 3 years ago the old 1.6 Celeron just didn't have the HP for the internet. It's just soooooo slooooow. I do load up a bunch of stuff, pictures mostly, and use a few local programs, and I'm often in places without internet, so a Chromebook with everything tied to the 'net is not a viable option.

1. What is your budget?

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

3. What screen resolution do you want?

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

5. How much battery life do you need?

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

13. What country do you live in?

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Hello there!
What about this?
https://www.newegg.com/gray-lenovo-ideapad-81wd00u9-mainstream/p/1TS-000E-0PB89
See through it you have selected the configuration 256gb ssd,8gb ram &1TB HDD for $550
Let me know what you think
Cheers!
Ps:This might be better for overall performance not sure about the display it is 1080p though.
https://www.newegg.com/asus-f513ia-eb55/p/N82E16834235511

 

[mike the car guy]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. The Lenovo looks more promising as it's 14" and the mousepad is not skewed so far to the left like the Asus is. That's one of my many complaints about the Dell a bought a couple of years ago, I feel like I'm mousing at my left elbow and I'm right handed. But it's not in stock (not much is these days) I'm a bit wary of buying from one of Neweggs vendors, although not Newegg itself, and no DVD drive.

I fear I just have unreasonable demands for the current market.