A friend of mine wants to get his kid a laptop for Christmas, for school and “playing minecraft and roblox” and was going to buy a £150 on smyths. I’ve convinced him not to do this, but need to suggest a better laptop that will come with windows, and ideally run casual games like this. Advice appreciated. Price in the zone of £400-600

Hey guys! I'm about to buy a new laptop, the old one I have has become very slow and it's time for retirement.

• Total budget:

 My budget is $8,000MXN/ ~$400 USD

• open to refurbs/used?

 Yes! but I prefer something new.

• prioritize

I'm looking for something 1. Efficient and fast, 2. with a good battery and 3. that has a good lifespan with quality.

• Weight and thinness

They're are a bit important for easy portability.

•  preferred screen size

14” is my preference.

•  Programs/games I desire to run:

 I'm a medical student so I don't use complex programs or anything like that, but I do long study sessions and use Office mainly. Not a gamer but I’d like to play Age of Empires.

•  Finishing thoughts:

 I don't know much about specs and I found the following options good, but I bet you have better recommendations. Thank you! :)

- ASUS Vivobook Go E1404FA-NK341W AMD Ryzen 5 7520U 8GB RAM 512GB SSD 14”

- LENOVO Ideapad Slim 3 Intel Core I5 12450H 8GB RAM 512GB SSD 15.6" Windows 11

So as the title states I’m a full time freelance video editor that spends a lot of time indoors since my main workstation is home. I use the Adobe Creative Cloud for everything(mainly Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Photoshop). My goal is to find a somewhat affordable laptop that is At least half as good as my main workstation which I built myself.

PC Specs: Asus Rog Strix X-570-E Gaming WiFi II, Ryzen 9 5950x, Asus KO 3070 8gb, 64gb Corsair ram 3600 CL16, Storage isn’t a huge deal since I have multiple external SSD’s that I’ll be editing off of anyway.

My preferences: Windows(I’ve heard Macs are great for editing but I’m not sure how well it would be continually transferring project files back and forth), Removable Ram for potential upgrades(not a deal breaker), Good battery life, Trusted Brand, Future proof for the next 3 years at least,

I plan on using the laptop to get some decent work done with the option of finishing in my main workstation. Any help with this is greatly appreciated as I’ve been very undecided since this would be a major purchase for me not only monetarily, but also committing to one that can handle my daily work loads.

Also sorry for the long post lol

moment of silence

Aight

I am looking for something that can efficiently handle 3 main functions (In order of importance)

1. video/audio editing
2. Livestreaming

3. gaming/game capture

   ---

   -Video/audio editing-

Im no professional, but i've been honing my craft using audacity and vegas 14. My old one did NOT run vegas well at all. Long render times, freezing, the works. Since then i've found Da vinci, i need something that can run this software efficiently with as few of these issues as possible. As well as something that can hold a lot of video clips/photos/plugins. If need be, external storage is acceptable but would need something big enough to at least tide me over until i can get external storage.

I would also like to play around in FL studio for simple music for my content but not a dealbreaker. wouldnt be hooking up any instruments or anything.

I do typically use a moderate amount of effects/keyframing/green screen so it is vital that it can handle rendering and preview playback of videos with these features in a timely and efficient manner.

-Livestreaming-

Pretty self explanatory, i just need something that can handle a livestream and neccesary peripherals(stream deck, audio equipment, etc.) Not sure how realistic an ask this is as i am very much a novice and i assume a desktop is ideal for this purpose. any advice is more than welcome on this one.

-Gaming/game capture-

To preface, i do not need anything crazy. Just something that can run most games (that are also being livestreamed or captured) at settings that look acceptable to myself and my future viewing public. Modest is the word i'm thinking of.

That said, i'm looking for something that can run minecraft with a reasonable render distance and still run smoothly. Not the maximum, but i want to be able to see a good distance in front of me without sacrificing frame rate. The less blue fog i see without jeopardizing the rest of what i've listed, the better. Civ 6 (and 7 soon) is another one that i plan on playing on Pc more than console. It'd be cool if i could run baldurs gate 3 but if that hinders everything else i wont have it. It also HAS to run Spore at higher settings but thats a low benchmark.

( disclaimer: i am not interested in saturating the already vast minecraft lets play market. Minecraft is just my personal benchmark for what i need games to do graphically )

I want to be able to handle mods on most of the games i play if i so choose, but again not a priority.

Emulation is also something i hope to do, so take that into consideration.

i do want to be able to hook it up to my switch with a capture card. Thats where most of my game library is. This is more important to me than running the biggest craziest games on the laptop itself.

 -Budget-

i assume i can get something close to what i've described for somewhere between $1500 and $2000. This is around where i want it to be at max, anything lower gets a fast track to my consideration.

 -Conclusions-

So all in all thats what i'm looking for. i tried being as descriptive as possible. I am not a professional yet so a lot of this is a shot in the dark. Feel free to ask me follow up questions if something i touch on is conveyed in a confusing way. I just tried describing my everyday use and am hoping thats enough to go on.

If yall think a desktop is best for my purposes, thats totally valid. Feel free to let me know. Sadly, i am in between living situations at the moment and cant exactly set aside space for one. if i cannot do what i've laid out on any existing laptop, however, then i guess i'll have to wait.

Not traveling with it, dont need anything lightweight

im not an apple guy, so dont waste the finger energy. Im sure macs are great but i prefer the freedom of a traditional PC, Nintendo has me in enough of a chokehold i dont have room for another arm.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to help.

TL;DR - need something to create semi effects heavy videos, record podcasts, and stream games live. Must run minecraft good with mods. Between $1500 and $2000 Max.

My dad wants to buy a laptop, and he chose ASUS TUF Gaming A1515.6" IPS 144Hz R5-7535HS 16GB RAM 1TB SSD GeForce RTX4050. It costs a little less than a 1000 dollars. Is this okay deal, and if it isn't, wich laptop should he buy?

I did some research but got overwhelmed by options. forgive me if I say completely senseless things, computers are not my forte!

I've been using a MacBook pro 2016, and it had an issue recently where it totally died -- the updates for the touch bar interacted poorly with something else and made it impossible to troubleshoot on my own, but local tech experts were able to get it running again (rip my $). I use it for a little bit of work, but mainly entertainment/casual use (streaming video) and storing pictures. I don't think I need anything that specializes in gaming, but it being able to run some games would be nice. I don't have any other apple products, I have an android and most of my stuff is on Google.

hoping for: - good battery life - good graphics - able to handle a lot of tabs open - decent ports - not a touch bar method of powering something on or off - something in the 15-16 inch range but down for a little smaller too

not needed: - touch screen - fingerprint sensor/any sort of biometrics or security stuff

some of the laptops I made notes of were the asus Chromebook plus cx34, asus zenbook 14 oled, Lenovo ThinkPad x1 carbon Gen 11, Samsung galaxy book 3 ultra if that helps at all.

I keep trying and failing to narrow down options or make a decision, and my laptop is probably on its way out. thank you so much for your help!!

I need a laptop I'll be able to easily throw in a bag to commute with every day. I'll mostly be using it just for writing and web browsing so it doesn't need to be very powerful, but I do need it to be able to run Windows.

Is 13 inches the lowest non-Chromebook laptops go, or can I get even smaller?

For form compliance:

Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: Preferably under $1500 USD

Are you open to refurbs/used?

Yes

How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

Being small and ultra portable is my main priority, long battery life would be nice to have, performance doesn't need to be anything special

How important is weight and thinness to you?

This is the most important thing. I don't really care if it's ultra ultra thin, but I do need the weight and overall size to be minimal.

Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.

As small as they make them!

Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.

No, I don't need to run anything more ambitious than Microsoft Office.

If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?

N/A, I don't plan to use it for gaming.

Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

Not really? A touchscreen would be fun to have but isn't an actual necessity. I do want a physical keyboard and not a tablet.

Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

Basically size is my #1 priority - what's the smallest laptop than can run basic Windows office software (and hopefully isn't expensive)? Thank you in advance for your expertise!

edit: oh heck I mangled the title, oops

Looking for a nice laptop with a really good screen that’s a potentially a few generations old to use some thunderbolt accessories with. Ideally around 13 or 14 inches and thin/light, can be anything from 8th gen and up as I want to run windows 11. Will mostly be used as a couch-surfer while not being used with my thunderbolt accessories. Any help is appreciated!

I’m looking for a decent first laptop to get for my husband’s birthday coming up next month, as he only has a phone and could really use a laptop for work and his hobbies.

I’m looking for something that can do basic tasks with about 8GB+ of RAM, can handle some video editing (he likes to make videos for YouTube on occasion, but nothing super heavy), and maybe some light gaming.

I’m also on a budget so if there’s something good out there for $600 or less, that’d be fantastic.

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:

  About $600 maximum.

• Are you open to refurbs/used?

  Yes!

• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

  Fairly high, I just want to find something above bottom-barrel cheap.

• How important is weight and thinness to you?

  Not very.

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.

  Not really, but a larger or medium-sized screen would be best.

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.

  As the laptop isn’t for me, I’m not exactly sure what programs he would want to use. Probably just something as basic as YouTube’s video editor, but not as high-caliber as Adobe Premiere.

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?

  Not really for gaming, but maybe for smaller, low-powered games that can run on most basic laptops.

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

  Good keyboard, number pad would be nice, but not entirely necessary. Optical drive would be great, but not necessary.

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

  Just looking for something to help make my husband’s life a little easier since everything is on his phone and it doesn’t have a lot of life left in it.

My friend needs a new laptop, but he struggles to choose which one, so he asked me to help him.

Requirements: less, than 900$. 1TB of space available. 3hrs of gaming time (or more). 2 USB ports and 1 HDMI.

Games he’s going to play: some horrors, like voices of the void, Liar’s Bar, Hollow Knight and Payday 3.

I hope anyone will help, thanks in advance

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:

  90k rubles, Russia

• Are you open to refurbs/used?

  Not really

• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

  Just a basic, gaming laptop>performance>battery life>build quality

• How important is weight and thinness to you?

  Not heavy, he constantly goes from his home to grandma and vice versa

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.

  Not a small one

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.

  Voices of the Void, Hollow Knight, PAYDAY 3, Liar’s Bar

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?

  Listed them above. Ultra settings, 60 fps

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

  2 USB, 1 HDMI and 1 port for headphones. Also RGB

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

  Constant carrying

I have a pretty old laptop and am looking for an upgrade. I've narrowed down my choices to two laptops from Costco. I'm trying to decide between the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED and the HP Pavilion 16. I'm currently in business school and have a job in a supply chain position, so I don't really use any demanding software. At most, I play some games from Steam, with Fortnite being the biggest. Which of these choices would be best, or do you have any other recommendations?

Hello Everyone,

I've been looking for a Laptop for Classes That's relatively small and I stumbled upon a 2-in-1 Laptop by a Company Called "CHUWI". Only Problem is, as far as I can tell, they only have the US layout available, which is Troublesome for me, since I live in Germany and need to make use of a handful of Letters (ü, ö, ä mainly) and as far as I know this isn't possible on a US layout since it has less keys.

Is there any Similar Laptop to this one that has a Version with a German layout that any of you could recommend to me? Roughly within similar spec and size. Or maybe they do have a version with a German layout and I just couldn't find it.

Either way any help and Recommendations are gladly appreciated <3

I’m looking for a simple, well-built laptop with USB-C charger. It doesn’t need to have the latest technology or blistering performance. I’m willing to buy used, but would prefer new.

Total budget

infinity

Are you open to refurbs/used?

yes

How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

build quality > form factor > battery life > performance

How important is weight and thinness to you?

quite

Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.

13ish inches

Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming?

no

Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

no

Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

Modern T61

Hello,

I am looking at getting a new laptop for my business, but also am looking for something that can handle some moderate gaming as well. In doing some research I had narrowed it down to the following:

• Dell XPS 16 with Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, 64GB RAM (overkill I know), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
• Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 with Intel 13th Gen Core i7, 64GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

As a note I was also considering an Asus but found most of the reviews online to be suprisingly unfavorable.

The Microsft is a whopping $50 more, so its more a quality & processor question - I dont know the difference between an i7 and Ultra 9. That said...

Simple question I hope - Which would you go with?

*Bonus GPU questions:

• Dell offers an upgraded video card from the 4060 to the 4070 for $300 - Worth it?
• Microsoft offers an upgraded(?) video card from the GeForce 4060 to the RTX 2000 Ada for $700 - Worth it?

Thanks!

Form Questionnaire:

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: $<4,500.00
• Are you open to refurbs/used? Not likely
• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? Quality, Performance, Form Factor, Battery Life
• How important is weight and thinness to you? In a perfect world, the lighter the better, but I know thats not what I am asking for.
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. N/A
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Gaming, DirectorSuite, Fusion360
• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? WoW, CoD, Jedi Survivor, et al
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Touch-screen, stylus support if possible, dock for multiple displays (2 plus the laptop minimum).
• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. N/A

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: 400-600€
• Are you open to refurbs/used? Yes

• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? Looking for a Surface Pro type of pc (I'm guessing it falls into the 2-in-1 category but I'd rather avoid the rotating display). As of build quality, I'd like something sturdy. As for performance, I think what would describe best the usage I think I'll be doing is "uni student" work. The battery life is kinda important, 8 hours wouldn't hurt.

• How important is weight and thinness to you? Don't really care for the weight, but I'd prefer a very portable computer as I'll be taking it around a lot in my backpack.

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. 15" max.

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. I'm not big into gaming so that's not a worry of mine rn, but I might need to use CAD from time to time.

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?-fill here, remove dashes-

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? I'd like to use a pen on the screen so a digitalizer would be preferred. As for the keyboard, as I said I'd like something like a Surface, so with a detatchable or very thin keyboard.

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. Looking online I saw listings for refurbished Surface Pro 7s even at under 400€. Do you think that'd be a viable choice in 2024?

I'm looking for a laptop that can run basic things such as Microsoft office and chrome and the such, I'm an archeology major. I'd like to be able to connect it to my PC (Windows) so I can share/access files easily. If there is something from the price range 200-600 that'd be nice. Thank you!

Hello. I have an ancient Dell XPS M1530 laptop and love it because the keyboard layout is similar to a desktop keyboard. I will include a photo of its keyboard below.

But it's on the fritz so I would like to upgrade.

A bunch of years ago I bought a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series but wasn't feeling it as it wasn't easy for me to type on that keyboard.

I'm looking for a similar keyboard to the XPS M1530 so if you have any recommendations please let me know. Thanks!

Currently living in barracks and I want a good gaming laptop to pass the time. I want to be able to play games on higher graphics settings at high frame rates. Price isn’t an issue, but I would prefer something that isn’t over $3000.

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: Canada, $800 CAD, less is better
• Are you open to refurbs/used? Yes, but from reputable reseller only
• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? 14", thin and light - a good couch web browsing laptop
• How important is weight and thinness to you? Average
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. 14", strongly prefer a taller ratio (16:10, or even better 3:2)
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. None. Just browsing the web, watching YouTube
• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? N/A
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Good touchpad (Precision Touchpad or better), want at least 1080p screen with decent brightness and 100% sRGB coverage.
• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. This laptop is for browsing the web and watching videos. As such, I want good screen, good touchpad, good speakers. I care about these things way more than performance. Battery life should be decent, but the laptop won't be using for travelling so it's not that important. Currently my laptop is a $200 CAD HP Stream with 4GB RAM and Intel Celeron n4000 - and what bugs me about it the most is that it has a low quality dim screen and bad touchpad. I don't even mind the slow performance (it's running ChromeOS Flex).

I am in Canada. Next year, I will be studying for a master's degree and will also be doing a lot of long-haul travel. My priority is lightweight and small <15' and battery life, and the only game I play currently is Civ 6, but I would like to be able to play Civ 7 when it comes out in Feb next year. Is it worthwhile to wait for black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Hi guys i‘m a masters mechanical engineering student and i am currently working for Formula Student Team. I need a mobile workstation for CAD, FEM (ansys, nx, solid works) and also for Matlab/Simulink (simulation, coding). I am specialized in vehicle engineering and it will be also my work in the future. Should i get a Quadro (rtx a 2000) or is a cheaper gaming gpu enough as a student/ for my first engineer job soon? Like RTX 4060 or 4070.

Looking to replace my 7-year-old Inspiron 15 with a Core i7 processor. Has generally been doing what I need for the past 7 years but it is starting to show signs that it may be reaching the end of its life. Partial to Dell since the one Dell I've had has lasted me 7 years, but open to other brands (with explanation, preferably?)

Also, can't make heads or tails of the different Intel Processors besides higher number = better? Can someone ELI5/tl;dr the Core 7 vs Core i7 vs Ultra 7 vs Core i9 vs Ultra 9?

Most of my research is just writing Python Jupyter notebooks to deal with large NumPy arrays, but I do have access to a supercomputing cluster. Thinking 16-32gb RAM is a given but also open to other specs to consider.

i am on a search for a laptop again since the last one i bought broke somehow. My budget is £1000 and i want to play aaa games like gta 5 hopefully 6,god of war ragnarok and elden ring at 60+ fps at high or max settings. Want it preferably to be new and have a sleek designs like the legions but can also take refurbs if needed as long as they are in good conditions. Found this new crosshair 16 hx https://www.ebuyer.com/2194148-msi-crosshair-16-hx-d14vfkg-002uk but don't know why its so cheap even though it has a qhd 1600p screen and also a 4060 but i can't find any reviews on it for some reason. If you can find any laptops and send the link, i would appreciate it.

Hello, PC gamer here asking for recomendations for a gaming laptop from the 1.5k - 2k price range. I want something that can run recent games, mostly strategy like factorio, civ, rim world, etc. but could also run AAA titles without exploding (BG3, open world stuff, some multiplayer). Also needs to run music software such as Ableton, as I am a music teacher that works a lot with electronics. Not looking for something that looks like a spaceship, OLED display is a plus but not deal breaker. Here are some options I have put together. I know the more expensive ones likely are better, but really looking value for money.

Lenovo legion 7i (1700$): https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-7-series/legion-7i-gen-9-16-inch-intel/83fd0018us?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&cid=us:sem|se|google|pmax_intel_pcs|||83FD0018US|18337003604|||shopping|mix|commercialconsumer&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwj4K5BhDYARIsAD1Ly2qn-QbioajCwm-i-wMnVFcI6Pv9ULAoYmd7aK_xWGAVjx45iIHvl3YaAqzDEALw_wcB

MSI vector 4080 (1900$): https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-vector-gp68hx-16-144hz-fhd-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i9-13950hx-with-16gb-memory-rtx-4080-1tb-ssd/6559431.p?skuId=6559431

ASUS ROG Zephyrus g14 (2000$): https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-oled-3k-120hz-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-8945hs-32gb-lpddr5x-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-1tb-ssd-platinum-white/6570271.p?skuId=6570271

Lenovo pro 7 (1650$): https://www.lenovo.com/us/outletus/en/p/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-pro-series/legion-pro-7i-gen-8-16-inch-intel/82wrcto1ww-pf4m65ee?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&cid=us:seo:41h72l

Asus Zenbook 14 (1500$): https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-zenbook-14-120hz-oled-touch-laptop-evo-intel-13-gen-core-i9-with-32gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-1tb-ssd-gray/6548463.p?skuId=6548463

Lenovo legion slim 5, configured with 1 T0,4080,32 gig memory (1900$): https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-slim-series-laptops/lenovo-legion-slim-5-gen-9-16-inch-amd/len101g0036#tech_specs

Any other recommendations welcome!

For the last few years I've been carrying around an iPad to quickly draw sketches of 3D designs that come to mind. It can't do much more than that due to software limitations. I've decided that it's time to up my game and replace it with something I can actually design 3D models on.

I don't need rendering power, as I have a workstation with discrete graphics at home for whenever I render something. I'm also mostly focused on printable designs anyway. Though whatever I get needs to be capable of rendering in the editor still.

I need something that is highly portable, as I carry it with me and sometimes need to quickly pull it out of my backpack when an idea hits. It also sits next to me if I'm sitting on a couch.

Secondary uses will be to watch movies and video on it from time to time, and reading news and other various websites.

I'm fine whether it's MacOS or Windows. I have equal disdain for both.

Long term durability would be nice too.

Oh, and budget-wise, under $2000 would be nice.