I had a Dell Inspiron 15" laptop which worked well until the battery fried itself. At that time, I was told it was a common problem. My computer was 4-5 years old so I just bought a new one. Went with Dell Inspiron 11" 2-in-1. That lasted only 4 months before running into hours of tech support calls. Resolved by sending to Houston for a new hard drive. Lost all files during process but had backup of most. Now, 2 months later, more problems, more hours with tech support, likely resolution is to send to Houston for a new motherboard. Sheesh. Guess who's done with Dell??

I like the size and portability of the 11" screen. Mostly I plug into power, large screen, and normal size keyboard and work from my desk. The touch screen is nice when working elsewhere. I don't want to compromise on speed but neither am I a power user - internet access, Word, photos. No gaming, no streaming other than random clips, very few apps.

Any suggestions for a reliable middle road computer? Thanks. I am totally frustrated...Dell is no help and I didn't buy any protection plan or geek squad or whatever the stores offer.

Sigh.

Deb .. best of luck .. there are so many choices out there now ..
I am on my second Dell Inspiron .. and I haven't had any 'major issues' .. yet

Have you thought of trying an iPad ?
I have one and I like it .. don't use it all that often, but, when I do I wonder why I don't

Best of luck

~M~

Computer problems are so frustrating!

Deb, I've always been a "Dell person," too -- but I have a Lenovo tablet that I bought several years ago and I'm going to seriously consider one of their laptops when my Dell needs to be replaced (probably not that far down the road).

I think this is the 4th Dell for me. I asked them about customer loyalty but that got me nowhere. Really disappointed with customer service. As an aside I am right smack in the midst of a bath remodel and really need net access on a consistent basis. I will likely just buy another computer and continue fighting with Dell to get this one running again.

Marilynne, I don't think a tablet would work for me, I need a full on computer. This Nook is somewhat functional but I am a keyboard person - haven't mastered thumb typing.

Hi, Deb,
We've had 4 Dells over the years and that was quite enough for me too! I went with an Acer Chromebook with 4GB memory and an 11 inch screen. It is very light and fits in my pocketbook. (No, I really don't have a pocketbook the size of a diaper bag!!! ) Anyway, it has 12 hours of battery life and I've had it for 3 years-still going strong. As long as you don't need to install software via a DVD drive, it will give good and useful performance.

See if you like the specifications of this current laptop I use we got this in Dec:
HP envy x 360 15.6 inches screen size, 1TB Hard drive, touchscreen so easy to enlarge the view. This laptop has so many viewing angles, but I just go traditional not flipping it any other way but it is fun to try.
http://store.hp.com/us/en/mdp/...

I also use a smaller 10-inch 2in1 laptop HP Pavillon x2, easier to pack, but it has small space to save stuff, since it is designed to be using the cloud drive. I use this when I am on the road. I just wait to reach home if I really have to do more important work that I have to save stuff on my laptop itself so I use the other laptop.
http://store.hp.com/us/en/mdp/...

Typically when we have to buy new computer eqpt, we try to see If we can use paypal to pay for it, so we can even spread payments to 6 months no interest, so it is not too much a pocket book shock.

I have a HP laptop for work. It is quite good, but the drivers for the docking station are a disaster. So as long as you're not needing a docking station, I have no qualms recommending HP laptops.

I have a MacBook Pro, purchased in 2011, still running great, they are expensive, but over time the price per year is very reasonable, the only problem I had I called up Apple and they talked me through taking care of the problem, even when it was out of warranty at no cost. FWIW