Hello Comrades, I am overwhelmed! have to get a new laptop for work stuff. And everything is horribly riddled with AI and unwanted features and planned obsolescence, etc. I am feeling so old and lost; and stuck with paralysis! Can someone help me with just a simple recommendation on a laptop or laptop series or something? Need: video calling, decent battery life. Wants: could play ~~RDR2~~ (I realize now this ask is too much- the purchase will be a write off so, I was being greedy and trying to treat myself)or some equivalent. This felt so simple 10 years ago! Stupid Crapitalism grumbling old man noises
Edit: Wow, thanks so much, this is so helpful! Guess, I'm realizing I'm gonna need to start on windows and hopefully switch over to Linux next year(going make time to start a 30 day intro mid Jan). And, looking at Thinkpad T series. All the new ones have MD ryzen ai pro processors- does anyone have thoughts on these??? (I'm really wary of ai on the computer because I work with HIPPA compliant stuff, so I just generally want to avoid it because if it isn't managed right its a potential violation.)
I love lenovo laptops, but IMO only buy from them during their big annual sale (I believe it happens around this time each year) and avoid the "businessman" lines (like x1 carbon). I had an e220s (thinkpad) with a low wattage processor and it served dutifully for over 7 years (my older HPs, dells, etc only ever lasted around 3 years before shitting the bed). There may be other good options these days. If you are looking to spend $, I would get look for a professional "workstation" style notebook with discrete graphics rather than a gaming one. If you really need windows for work stuff, use massgrave to activate Win 10 LTSC for free