I am looking to replace my 8-year old Dell laptop soon, it has been relatively trouble free but its getting up there in age and way behind in technology so I'd like to upgrade. I use it as a desktop replacement 99% of the time, and for basic things like surfing the internet, browsing youtube, and writing things in word or excel. No gaming or heavy duty use in mind. I do want to have some good internal storage for pictures and video, even if that means adding a second hard drive like I did on my current laptop. Same goes for the 17" screen, the 15" screen on my work PC can bit too small at times. I'd like to spend a couple hundred dollars, $400-$600, and certainly not over $1k. I've got no idea what brands or specs to look for anymore. Help? Is Windows 10 junk?
At this point if you think Windows 10 is junk, Windows is junk...it's a rolling-release and you can't upgrade to anything "later" other than a more-updated version of Windows 10. Older OSes days are numbered in terms of support lifetime, so you'll have to upgrade to Windows 10 eventually. It seems to be OK to me apart from the awful privacy defaults.
In terms of brands, Dell and Asus are good value for the money in hardware. Lenovo's a bit more expensive but their hardware quality is top-notch.
For what you're doing, you don't need anything special other than lots of storage, and maybe lots of RAM (12~16GB) if you plan on keeping it for a long time.
Check this one out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232781
Here's another good one, but a bit over budget:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834319847
I'd agree with GameboyRMH, a little time spent fixing the privacy settings and Windows 10 actually is pretty decent. Plus, you don't really have a choice anymore unless you buy used and then you'll probably get 8.1. While I don't mind 8.1 as much as most people seem to, I'd take 10 over 8.1.
For your requirements, you might have to compromise on screen quality and keyboard quality, or go used. Keyboard quality is usually the easier fix (use an external keyboard if you type a lot), screen quality you're stuck with. For that reason I'd stay away from the bargain basement machines.
Whenever I need a PC laptop for personal use, I tend to go look for a used business-class Lenovo. So far, I've never been disappointed.
