Can anyone recommend me a laptop?

[SpongeBobJudgeyPants]

My already second hand laptop is limping along, and probably has a very limited time before I need to replace it. This is a Dell latitude, and I probably wouldn't have wanted to buy it new, as I don't normally spend that much. Not saying it isn't worth it, just me being tight. I have had Acer chromebook (?) in the past, which I quite liked, but it only seemed to last a couple of years (fairly heavy use). If I thought it would last me longer, and save having to set up a new system etc, I'd spend more. I think I'm too old and set in my ways to move to any Apple product, despite being told they're great. Any ideas/experience of how long something would last? I read Which reports, but logically they can't tell me how many hours use I could realistically expect. TIA.

No one cares about my continuing to - - waste - - spend time on MN! 😁

There's currently a new Dell Latitude 3500, Core i3 with 256GB SSD on ebay for £450ish. I'd say that's pretty good at that price and Latitudes usually last very well.

That's interesting Cruel. Thanks.

Not a Dell fan, they seem to last for warranty + 1day!
I like HP or Lenovo, would normally buy from John Lewis as they seem to have longer warranties included than the likes of PC World.

I don't know what Dells you've had.

I've only seen issues with my work and personally owned Dells when they've been physically damaged, e.g. a full cup of tea was dropped on one and another largely survived being knocked off a table while running, although the hard disk had to be replaced. My wife's current Dell has been dropped a few times and the case is damaged around the power supply, but it's issues are cosmetic.

Most of the Dells we've had have been Latitude models, which I believe are the "business" models and, in my experience, quite tough. They can seem pricey for the spec, but I believe you get better build quality.

Sorry this will only be partly useful, but the last couple of times I've had to replace mine, guidance seemed to be to work out what spec I wanted and then find one which fitted the bill e.g. are you into gaming and do you need a fast processor, do you need an unusually large amount of storage etc.
My last one was an Acer and lasted a good six/seven years before slowing too much to be helpful.

Thanks all. Don't need a tremendous amount of storage. I do banking and household stuff, surfing mn etc. No gaming. The battery on my current Del isn't great. Can only use it plugged in to mains. I am fairly clumsy so maybe I need another robust build!

Batteries are easy to replace, if that's all that's wrong with your current Dell.

The Dell 3500 on ebay is down to £425. If I wasn't holding out for an i5, I'd probably buy it for my wife.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Latitude-3500-15-6-256GB-NVMe-SSD-Intel-Core-i3-8th-Gen-2-1-GHz-8GB/313048100708

Panic-bought (sort of) a Dell Inspiron 15 from JL for my teen daughter just before lockdown. It's nice and copes well multitasking office, video chat and web browsing simultaneously, good camera and mic, plenty of usb ports etc, BUT shocking battery life! 3hrs? Normally I would spend days or even weeks weighing up purchases and studying reviews. Not this time and it shows!

Thanks for the link Cruel. Glow, I'm told that's a problem with Dell. Fortunately, I kind of use mine as stationary I waste enough time on it, without moving it about with me :)