Marte,

We are unabashed Apple Fans.  We have the Apple Air Laptop, and we love it.  I would suggest that you go to an Apple Store and get a test drive, and do the same thing at Best Buy with other brands.  We all have personal preferences and core values that are important to us.

I had a Toshiba lap top, which worked fine.  What irked me is when it did not,  I could not rely on the company.  When I called them, after an interminable wait, I was told they needed to  manage my expectations, when I wanted it fixed!"

We have Apple Care!  They all speak excellent English, and their expectations are that I am happy with the product.  They are willing to call you back, put on a senior person.  On our desktops, they have replaced the keyboard, when they could not fix it...All I had to do is go to the store, or it would have been FEDEX'ed overnight...Service is my big value... A

MacBook Pro - or what Ron and Alexandra Seigel said

Mac.  It was a bit of a learning curve, but I'll NEVER go back.

MacBook Pro 13" with as much memory as your budget will allow. Make sure its the retina model, awesome on the eyes.

 Good morning Marty. Stick with a Mac. I have had nothing but bad luck with anything that says Windows especialy, Windows 10.

MacBook Pro-Pricey, yes, but solid OS!

I have a Sony Vaio and love it. It has Windows 7. It's the best laptop I've ever had. But, if this one ever dies, I'm going to buy a Mac. No way will I update to Windows 10. I also have a Lenovo and that one works good too but it's a lot heavier than the Sony.

Marte Cliff - I can suggest specific - Toshiba Touch  Screen Radius with i7 chip, 12GB memory and about 1TB hard disk, plus 4K resolution of the screen (or at least 1920p) - you should get it at about $1K for sure.

Now if you are Apple person, Mac Book Pro - 8GB memory and 512GB storage - should be around $1,500 or so.

Do you really need to ask? MacBook Pro of course! And yes, you can still run all your Windoze programs on it if you wish. Make sure you go with dual SSD's when you get one. The speed and boot up time is amazing.

THANKS FOR ASKING - i like my dell - it is very reliable!

I've had a Toshiba that's been chugging along very well for almost 7 years with hard use. That being said, I haven't shopped for a laptop in 7 years so not much help here and when I do, I shop with the help of my computer guy.

Well, I don't have an answer but I have the same question so these answers are wonderful. I've been considering switching to a Mac but didn't want to give up my excel, word, etc. but Val indicated we can still run those programs so now I'm going to look into that as well. 

(MacBook Pro seems to be winning)

Over the last 30 years we have tried them all and Dell seems to be the only one we can count on.

Microsoft Surfacebook - light weight and full featured. Windows 10.

Mac !!!!!

We have been satisfied with Dell products.

As a non-techie dropped by to see the suggestions others have! Great question

I'm not sure of how many laptops I've had over the years(nearly 20 years, I guess) and one thing I know for sure --- they keep getting better, lighter, more efficient and less expensive.  My current laptop is a Dell --- I like it --- probably best to "test drive" and decide what works best for your needs/requirements.  Good luck.  

Marte Cliff I use my iPad with a full keyboard for a laptop. Disadvantages are no USB ports, storage media or printing. Dropbox, iCloud and a printing app takes care of these issues. One advantage is my iPad syncs with my iPhone and desktop. My last laptop was a Toshiba. I've had pretty good luck with them.

HP appears to hold its own for me

I did some research and just bought the HP Envy and I LOVE IT

Depends on your needs and budget.  I just bought a Dell for $275.  It does all I need from a laptop.

I have a Lenova and HP envy. HP is better than the lenova. Lap tops do not last long. I need to replace them every three years .I used to have a Dell that did not last long.

Glad you asked as I can bookmark this for later.

I don't know if it's the best, but I always buy Dell.....I have one in the office and one at home.... I never want to be without a laptop....

Good morning Marte.  For me it would be a Toshiba, I have heard good things about the Microsoft Pro..

Love my new Surface Pro!

I dont want to have to relearn everything.... so I am looking at the new Window surface pro 4  I have seen it at work and it is fast and smooth and works well with our MLS.... I am waiting for them to work the kinks out!

We all use Lennovo Ideapads here.

Marte Cliff I have three.  A Mac I bring in the car for buyers to use in the back seat or bring in for listing presenations only.  A Sony Vaio that only weighs 3 lbs that I can carry everywhere with me.  And finally a Lenovo G50 15.6 Inch that I hook up externally to a wide screen monitor, and ergonomic keyboard/mouse.  That way I could take it with me if I ever needed too.

You need to decide what features you need first then look at the brands.  I have not been in the market for a few years so I don't have current knowledge.

Everyone will suggest you a laptop they use:) Mine is mac pro and I always stick with apple products.

btw, next year, just widely-spread rumors, they are bringing very new products. So, if you decide to buy mac now, it might be discontinued soon.

I am going to read all the comments as I am looking for a new one also

That's a big question.  Gamers need laptops with extreme video processing power, RAM, and ROM for $2,000+.  Web surfers could live with a Chromebook for $300+/-.  Office users can live with a $500+/- Intel i3/i5 notebook.  Brands aren't that important until you hit high-end appliances.  However, it's the little things that count for me.  For example, I don't like the power cord plugin or external monitor plugin being on the same side as where I would put a mouse pad.  I don't like speakers in the back of the laptop.  I don't like my touchpad on/off switch being near my palm as I type.  I don't like speakers that face me or that are exposed when the "lid" is closed because they tend to get damaged more quickly.  I also prefer laptops that accept the trio of VGA, DVI, and HDMI monitor connectivity as VGA is the most popular.  You'll need HDMI to connect to smart TVs.  Hope this helps.

I have had good lucky with Dell.  Bought a Sony a few years back and the mother board fried after 14 months.    The Dell I bought last year is a touch screen and love it. 

I'm happy with my Toshiba.  Get something that will work seamlessly with your other devices and programs.  If you already have an apple or a windows machine, stick with what you know (and already own the software for).