This is the thing with laptops: NEVER not buy it because of the brand. As long as you go for the 6 brand names (HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, Asus, and Apple), you have to look for what suits you. This means that you have to choose depending on the specs, the look, the feel, the hinge design, and the reviews online. This is why if you ever buy a laptop on eBay, Newegg, Amazon, TigerDirect, or any online company for that matter, go to a store and look at the product before you buy it online. That is why I literally take 2 weeks minimum to get a computer.

These are the steps to take to get a good computer:

First, look for your desired processor. Generally, it depends on your tasks, but I would prefer you go for AMD. Next, choose your storage option. Generally, I would prefer the 512gb storage version. Then, go to Microcenter. Do not ask for help, and just look at all computers with these two things in mind. For all of the models, first look at the screen. If it is bright enough, then hold the two top edges of the screen and slightly move one forward and one back (do it very lightly and do not use brute force). If it does not bend too much, then move onto the keyboard. When you press the center of the keyboard hard, does it bend down a lot? If yes, then move onto the weight. If no then move onto the next product. For the weight, close the laptop’s lid and pick it up. Is it light enough for you to hold it with both your arms? Next, open the laptop and feel the wristrest (it’s the part next to the touchpad and below the keyboard). You should find it soothing to type on for a while. Then, open the laptop and go to notepad, word, or any other application you use for typing on. Type a sentence. Does the keyboard feel nice to type on? If it feels way too mushy, then move on. If it does not, then read the rest of the specs. Does the screen have enough resolution (preference is FHD)? Does the screen have a good refresh rate? Is the battery more than enough? If the answer to all of these questions is yes, then you have found you preferred model. Then do this all over again for a different model. Take pictures of both the model names. After you found those two, exit the store (this works just as well if you go to Best Buy or any other major electronics store). Finally, look online to see what the best deal (and availability) is for the computer. Then, look at the reviews for that computer (PCmag.com, Cnet, etc.). If they give a 4 or 5 star in those reviews, then check the reviews for the model that you want to buy (in the store’s website itself). If that has a 4–5 star review overall, then buy the computer.