which laptop should I buy

MacBook Pro 13" ditto. I have had mine for 4+ years. No issues ever. You may want to look at macBook Air, too. Check out the Apple store for refurbished Macs. Very reasonable.

13 inch MacBook Pro, perhaps get a Discounts for Student, Faculty, and Staff (Apple Education Pricing)

wa8yxm wrote:
First.. Microsoft has been persuaded to offer SOME support for a while yes as I recall.

You either misunderstood or read it from a bad source. Microsoft has a program for corporate customers in which they will continue to offer patches for a fee. A very large fee. And this is only available to customers who have signed Enterprise Agreements with Microsoft. So no support, no new security patches for XP home users.

There is however a 3rd party company that is offering support for XP to individuals. For the life of me I can't recall who it is, nor can I quickly find any info on this so far.

Seriously, for a few hundred bucks, why not just get a new PC?

Thanks for these very helpful replies.
I'm rethinking the size, I decided it's not such big issue because I'm only going to use it occasionally.
Doing more research today.

A good Windows 7 netbook is the ones from Lenovo which also provides excellent customer service. Asus is one of the very worst at helping its customers - check the forums.

The cheapest laptops are the ones from Apple. Windows are cheaper to buy but more expensive to operate and more difficult to keep operating. We have three neighbors who we help at least once a month to get past some problem with their Windows computers. We have three other neighbors with Macs and they never have problems, never.

So the basic question comes down to what you use it for.

If you're only using it to update your other devices, then why not just stick with what you have?

Also, Windows 7 can be installed on "older" computers. 6 year old computer is most likely a Core2 processor, which is still adequate for 99% of the population. Might check into memory and SSD upgrades if you're not satisfied with the speed. SSD makes a big difference in a laptops speed and battery life.

Most, but not all, laptops with Core2 processors could take up to 4 GB of RAM. The difference between 2 GB and 4GB is substantial when Windows 7 or 8 is installed.

I'm an Apple guy, but do like the samsung series of laptops. Of the dozen or so I've helped set up for clients, none of them have come back with a hardware issue.

15" to big? 13" is typically the next size down. Then you get into those small 11" and under screens that quite frankly are just too small for my taste.

Asus T100TA-C1-GR 2-in-1 10.1" Laptop
Model: T100TA-C1-GR

Windows 8.1 small Screen Touch
Comes with Office Home & Student 2013

Staples will match online prices - Best Buy has it for $399 but it's out of stock almost constantly.

Staples stocks this but only at certain stores now.
I picked mine up at the Staples store at
1805 N Tomahawk Island Dr.
Portland, OR 97217
P. 503.283.8686
F. 503.283.8693
Store #0638

We use a Lenovo Yoga 13 Ideapad. It's kind of a laptop and tablet in one unit. The screen folds all the way over into "tablet mode". Windows 8.1 with touch screen. Suits our needs very well. No cd/dvd player but we play cd's and movies through a portable hard drive. Hooks into the campers stereo system via usb port.

I'll check out your suggestion. My laptop is a 15 inch screen, and it's just too big.
I thought 8.1 was the latest software. I didn't know 7 was still being sold.
Of course, I know nothing about either one of them.
But I don't want to get software that's on the way out.
I purposefully got XP because it was easy to use, I'm not tech saavy at all.
I got a lot of research to do. I just hate that. It should be easier.
Thanks for the replies so far.

I bought a Dell Venue 11 Pro Tablet from the Microsoft Store a few months ago to replace our computer. Love it