I have the worst luck (or maybe the worst skill) at choosing laptops. I have disliked the last two I have bought from when I started using them, but I kept them because they were slightly better than my old one or the old one was completely dead. Now that there are barely any computer stores left, I can't even get a feel for them before buying. I really need help selecting a new one, and since I have been using it for audio editing more than anything else recently, I thought I would ask here.
I'm looking for a windows laptop. preferably one with a fairly large screen as my eyesight isn't what it used to be. I would actually prefer for it not to be a touch-screen, but since they seem to becoming ubiquitous, I can live with having one if it gets everything else working well. I would prefer it having as close to a "real" keyboard as possible, instead of a "chiclet" style keyboard. I don't need a huge hard drive, as I have good external units, but it would need to have enough space to hold several different music editing programs. I would like something that could run the music editing programs without too much delay or getting very hot, even when also having some internet windows open as well. Finally, ideally it would have good sound from the built in speakers, though I normally will be using headphones for actual music editing.
Of course I would prefer to spend less than more for the same performance levels, but I would be willing to spend up to $1000 or so if it has everything I like and would be likely to be happy with for at least several years.
If anyone has any advice for me, I would love to hear it. Specific model recommendations from someone who has them would be great, but also any advice on which brands I might be most likely to be happy with, or even what specs I should be looking at or the best place to shop. Or even a different forum I should be looking at, or an old thread here with a similar topic.
Surely many of you have faced this decision in the recent past, unless nearly everyone uses desktops or macs around here. If this is the wrong subforum for these questions, I would appreciate knowing where would be better.