looking to buy a new laptop to replace an all in one computer here at home. Biggest use will be typical home office use, word documents and light spreadsheet work. Would I3 processor with 8MB of RAM be sufficient. Thinking HP or Lenovo, possibly Dell. Any other suggestions?

We use Lenovo laptops at the office. They seem to be good machines. We've had one for close to 8 years and it's still running well.

NOT Asus.

I think that's what the POS I'm replacing is. Definitely will not buy another one.

Chromebook's have been amazing for me. I have 2 ASUS chromebooks and will buy a 3rd one whenever it's time to upgrade. Most programs are web-based these days so all you really need is a web browser, hence the popularity of the Chromebooks. All they are is a web browser and lcd screen basically. I'm on mine all day everyday with no complaints. Throw in a SD card or thumb drive if you need more space

PLENTY of options out there. I'm running (think whildbill), a Microsoft Surface and Hub at the house. Big fan, but most likely overkill for your application. Chromebook might be the way to go for you.

We got an HP Envy 360 a few months ago. Kinda pricey but it’s a really nice laptop.

Dr. B

Just bought a HP 17" Laptop with 8 GB memory & 1 TB hard drive. Using it for work and home. Considering it pushes Primavera P6 with ease is a winner in my book. Got it @ BJ's for $499.

I would recommend a Surface. Powerful in a small package. Get a tower to hook everything too. Plug and go.

I have a Lenovo Yoga II Pro that I bought in 2014, so it is a little dated. It is small and light weight and has done what I needed to do at home and in some light business applications. It is a little quirky though, and has been since the beginning. The energy saving functions cause screen flicker at times. I have not found a permanent solution, but restarting or plugging in the power cord usually provide a remedy. Setting screen resolution was also tricky.

It has been a reliable machine. Hopefully some of these inconveniences have been corrected.

Last 2 laptops I’ve gone with are Acer. I’ve had pretty good luck with them. Might save some money but a good laptop. Definitely recommend looking at them.

We’ve had a mix of Acer, Dell and HP laptops over the last 15 years. The HPs were the low end type from BestBuy and were fine for what they were but slow there is one left still working. The Acer is an old entry level gaming laptop that is barely hanging on from about 2008, my daughter primarily uses her Dell Chromebook that replaced it. I use a 2011 Dell 17” XPS that I still use for development; I’ve looked at new ones but this one still gets it done with 8GB ram, SSD and an old i7 processor.

Lenovo for the win. Good solid workhorse machines. I have a little 11e that has been a fantastic laptop.

I bought an HP 17 inch Envy last year and love it! It has a backlit full size keyboard which I really like. Whatever you do go with the SSD (solid state drive). It is soooo much faster booting up and accessing files and much more durable (no moving parts). Well worth the extra $.

I have an Asus provided by school. We also have 5000 that were bought for students. They hold up well for the abuse they go through. I am sure they bought because of price.

I have an HP Envy. I can't wait to get rid of it. Biggest piece of crap I've ever owned.

I have a couple of Lenovo thinkpads and an Acer. My wife has an airbook and a couple dells.

I really like the thinkpads but all are serviceable. Get the best deal on RAM and storage and go with that. I just upgraded to a Samsung Evo ssd and and 16 RAM from crucial on my Acer and now I'd choose it over my thinkpads. Though if I was going to drop one (physically) I think the thinkpads are tougher.

Thanks for the input.