A friend is looking for a general use laptop; internet, correspondence, email, etc. No “technical” software.
Desired budget: $400 - 500
Screen size … 15"
And the nominees are… … . ?
For a general purpose laptop I’d just have them go to the store and pick something they like or go online and grab the most basic Dell you can find.
These days pretty much everything in that range will be nearly identical from a spec point of view, and 90% of them are probably made in the same factory regardless of brand so quality probably won’t be much different.
I really like Samsung laptops. My wife has a netbook (smaller than 15") and it’s been pretty bulletproof, lots of usb ports, minimal pre-installed bloatware, survived coffee spills and being dropped, the only drawback is no CD/DVD drive, but thats managable. I would’ve bought one but when I was buying they didn’t have models with the ram I needed.
These are Australian prices, so you’ll probably get better in the US, but for around $500 you get a pretty good basic laptop:
Seconded Cyberdemon. All PCs are basically the same specs at that price point. Pick one with a design you like, feels sturdy, and is comfortable to type/touchpad.