Attn: Nerds, Geeks, CS Majors, or just plain "computer experts".

I want to buy a new Laptop. I want it to have an Intel i3 processor at minimum with a solid state hard drive. Need one HDMI port, and at least one USB port, 3.0 preferably. A 15" Screen and don't want "touch". My fingers are always too greasy for a touch screen. Also want Windows 10 Home pre-loaded.

Want something in the $300- $400 range.

What are the best units out there in this range? It won't be used by kids, won't be storing or downloading movies, but does need good Bluetooth and WiFi capability.

I've always been a fan of Dell and hated HP based on previous experiences with it. Never used ASUS, ACER, or Lenovo.

Give me all your recommendations and why you recommend it.

I have a Dell 3000 series. I think I paid about $350 a couple of years ago. Does every thing I need. Got it at Best Buy I think.

I have three sitting next to me that fit your criteria. My newest machine is a Toshiba. I hate Best Buy so I go to Office Max/Office Depot. In your price range you should be able to walk into either store and point it just comes down to haow large a screen you want and hard drive size.

https://www.costco.com/Dell-Inspiron-15 ... 07552.html

I have this one, I like it. If the solid state isn't an absolute necessity and it has the AMD A9 though instead of the I3.

Don't laugh: Fully loaded Yoga. (Or Yoga to your needs). Bought my daughter a Yoga early summer. She beats the crap out of the thing at WWU. She loves it because it is way faster than the boys laptops. She wanted a Surface, then she woke up and realized what a rip they are. As I recall I got some sale deal at Best Buy online. (It WAS above your stated range in full disclosure)

Take a look at Acer aspire s7, definitely recommend what Pablo said and I definitely recommend Lenovo, although yoga's are out of your price range.
Don't go to a retail store, definitely buy online after exhaustive research.
Tiger direct, Newegg, and Amazon are your best bets.
You're headed in the right direction with looking for a solid state drive, but most 15" laptops with a SSD will come with a core i5 minimum.
If I have some time later, I'll do a quick search for you. My acer aspire s7 was $450 from Newegg. It's a champ, handles all my programming needs, is light and able to be a damn good workhorse, I purchased it refurbished. If you buy from a reputable seller, don't be afraid to do what I did.


Edit: does it need to be light? That makes a big difference in price.
Also, for the record, I absolutely cannot stand, hate to my core, HP and Dell.

Second edit: i found this after doing a quick search:
http://m.tigerdirect.com/products/4944250

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I was going to ask how the Acer computers "stacked up". I've had Dell for years, both at the Co I retired from and personal units as well. For a while they seemed great because of the dog crap other brands produced. It appears to me that the other mfr's have caught up and in some cases exceeding Dell's quality/performance.

Acer and Asus are both Taiwanese companies that have been in the industry since the 1980's. They both started out as hardware manufacturers, specializing in semiconductor technology. All the high end computers from the 1990's had their products. Both companies restructured to manufacture their own computers but came to the game a little later than HP, Dell, Toshiba, etc. I would have no problem recommending either of those two companies to anyone, components in their products are very high quality.


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FWIW I bought the wife a Lenovo two years before she got here. I believe that thing was on 22 hours per day. When she brought it here I was still surprised at how well it ran.
I'd love to have another but, (you knew there was a but coming), the hinges broke on it and it finally became a target.
If the hinges hadn't of given out, we'd probably still be using it.
Because of that, I don't trust them anymore.

Today only, no tax
https://m.newegg.com/product/index?item ... 6834315672


A bit weaker and cheaper.
https://m.newegg.com/product/index?item ... 6834315779

I... hate... you!

I agree that 15" is a good size. SSD is also a must. I would say the one requirements though, is the screen needs to be 1080p. Don't get something with a 1366x768 resolution. That's just the widescreen version of 1024x768, which is a retarded resolution from the 80's. Do you want a laptop from the 80's?

Also, I would urge you to spend more money.

I think this is about bottom-line: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Touchscreen ... 01EXQHRMK/

But you'll note it doesn't have an SSD. So then you buy an SSD, remove the 1tb drive and install the SSD. Then you buy a 2.5" external enclosure and put the 1tb drive in it. Now you have an external drive for big-data stuff, backups etc.

Enclosure:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool-fre ... 00OJ3UJ2S/

SSD:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch ... 00OAJ412U/

Personally I think this is a good spot: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-15 ... 01MAY3ZFM/
It has an SSD, 15" 1080p screen. It's a 7th gen i5 processor so brand new. You can flip it over to work as a tablet.

here's a real good deal that's in your price range:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315742

it has the previous generation core i5, but let's be honest, if you're not playing graphics heavy games, this processor will work fine for what you do. also, the graphics card in the dell that snozzberries posted is kind of crap. the graphics card in this asus is NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, a dedicated card, not an integrated one like the dell.

apologies if I am insulting anyone, but I have a serious aversion to dell laptops because of examples like this. you have a $640 laptop with integrated graphics card versus a $460 laptop with a dedicated graphics card....granted this asus laptop is refurbished, but for the money, you're getting a hell of a way better laptop.

Super helpful thread here. Keep it coming

Sure like the heck out of my Alienware, big and powerful.