Please Help Me Buy A New Laptop
I am in the market for a new laptop and am essentially tech illiterate when it comes to things like specs, processing, etc, so I need help with recommendations and breaking down a few laptop options down.
I'm on the tail end of a Surface Book 2 which has served me well for about 7 years but is starting to slow down. I'm looking for recommendations on a good, sturdy, long-lasting laptop to move on to next.
Happy to go anywhere from $700 to $1,500, maybe even an exception higher if there is something that is truly outstanding in the upper tiers.
I work in creative but not anything overly intensive (e.g. not in 4K video or editing or anything like that). But I often run quite a lot of tabs and some software. I don't really game. I don't imagine I will need more than 512GB storage, which I have now and has been fine.
What's important: a high-quality screen/display is a must. Good processing power/I don't want to feel slow-downs unless I'm completely going bananas on the programs running. Sturdy/long-lasting, as I don't want to buy something with defects that are going to need repairs or upgrades within a couple years.
Good speakers is a bonus but not a deal breaker. Not too heavy or chunky but also not a deal breaker.
From my research, the Macbook Air M5 15" seems to be the big recommendation all over the tech sites, though I have also seen the HP Omnibook 5 pop up a lot, which is cheaper and seems to frequently be on sale for much less than the Macbook, as well as the ASUS Zenbook S16. I looked at the new Surface but it is very expensive and no one seems to recommend it.
Appreciate any input anyone has here in helping me make the right choice.