I need a new laptop..Android as I have never used Apple..

Sorry...I need a phone as well since the current Samsung will not support 3G at T Mobile...Windows is the need.

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is everything just poor quality today?

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Cheap things are still often cheap. Decent laptops start around 1k give or take a couple hundo. Mid range phone start around $600 with flagships starting around $900, again give or take a hundo or so. Phones: Samsung, Pixel, onePlus. Laptops: Dell, ASUS, Surface, HP, Lenovo. Of course there are always exceptions.

Laptops usually skew in one direction - portability and battery life vs. CPU/power. If you will be using this while on the go a lot look into the ones touting battery life. If you will be working on this from an office and will be plugged in, you can focus on the strongest CPU/Graphics.

Another thing to be aware of is screen size impacts the keyboard. Usually 15 inches and above = number keypad and anything below a 15 inch screen will not have a number keypad. Depending on how you use it, that may or may not be a factor.