Laptop Dying! suggestions?

I've been a long time windows user in addition to using Macs. Windows 7 was great, I can't navigate windows 8 to save my life. It's like they took everything that worked about windows 7 and threw it out the window. I'm running OSX Yosemite on my MacBook and it works well. For me it was much easier to go from windows 7 to Mac OS than to use windows 8. It's like a tablet OS on a laptop and it's just weird to me. Dell does make good computers, so does HP but they're more corporate focused. I've got a Dell Studio XPS and really like it, been going strong for 5 years now and still works great. It also has windows 7 which I like.

People get VERY opinionated on tech, much like cars. There's no real "best" one. It's all about what you like and what works best for you. Upgrading to the latest OS on a Mac is always free and when they roll it out, they do so for all computers that can support it. It's true they use Intel parts, but Intel makes a great product. The built in anti-virus on Mac is also good and I've had no problems so far with viruses on mine but we have had problems on our PC even though we had anti-virus software on it. Compatability between Mac and iPhone is also a good thing if you have both. When i'm doing homework my Mac will forward calls from my iPhone to my computer and I can answer them there, respond to texts, and if i'm out and about it'll even sense that my phone is with me and with one click it'll set up a secure hotspot and connect me to the internet. It's all very streamlined and it's what works best for ME. I don't have a single problem with people not liking them or wanting to use something else. People like what they like.

For bang for your buck, I still think a Chromebook would be good. My mom is a teacher and they use them in their classrooms with good results. If they can stand up to a bunch of 7th graders then they must not be too fragile. I also agree that Dell is a very good option too, but I think windows 7 would be the best OS to use since it's so familiar to most people and is easy to navigate and use. Even though it's getting pretty old there's still TONS of support for it and lot of computers still run it for a reason. It's good. I just don't like Windows 8 at all. I think they're skipping over 9 and going straight to 10 (Maybe because competition with Apple and OS X?) but I could be mistaken, haven't looked into that kind of thing in a while now.

Apple- Expensive but good
Chromebook- Cheap with decent specs
Dell Inspiron- Middle of the road in price, quality, and performance.