I went way too cheap with my last one, a 350 Lenovo and the battery is so bad that it essentially is tied to the wall. Doesn't last much over an hour.
What devices would everyone recommend? Historically I've been a Windows guy, have heard some good things about the Microsoft laptop.
How do you use it?
Windows:
I'm a tech guy so a Mac is not really an option. If you need Pro, you'll already know it. Some people do run Windows VIrtual Machines on their Mac, but it seems like extra trouble and lower performance.
The performance laptops will often come with Window Pro while the average laptop comes with Windows Home.
Solid State (Flash) Drive:
Get an Solid State drive regardless. They are faster, lower weight and quiet. The standard is to replace a SATA hard drive with a SATA SDD. For performance models they have PCIe based SSD drives.
Travel Often:
If you carry it around often, I would look for something lightweight. The ones with a slightly smaller screen are usually lighter weight (13" or 14" screen). You can connect it to a big monitor at your desk.
Power User:
If you're a power user, then it's harder to find a lightweight model with everything you might want (i7 processor, 16GB or 32GB ram, PCIe SSD drive). Some laptops even have Zeon processors now. This link shows which i7 proocessors have 4 cores. Definite get 4 cores if you're a power user. I create designs that take over an hour to compile on a stardard i7 laptop. Upgrading to the top end has cut that time in half or better.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/processors/core/i7-processors.html
Big Display:
Last, they have 17" displays, but those are heavy and expensive. I would prefer the lightweight model and connect my 32" monitor at my desk.
Brands:
In terms of brands, Dell is usually good and their keyboards often seem to have a better feel. HP has some nice models these days. I've used other brands with mixed results. Try out the keyboard if possible before purchasing. Some brands have terrible keyboards. I had an MSI that had an almost unusable keyboard. You can always use a USB keyboard but I prefer you don't want to travel with those.
Other Issues:
Look for one that has a USB Type C port. Those are going to become more relevant soon.
Touchscreen:
I'll leave it to others in regards to TouchScreen models. I'm not sure I see the need.
Low End:
They have laptops that don't do much more than just give you Internet Access. The Google Chromebook is an example. I think the newer ones are able to run the same Android Apps that run on Android Phones. I assume that you can use Google Docs with them but I don't know for certain.
One nice thing with these is that Viruses don't seem to be a big issue, at least not yet.
