Every few years I upgrade my laptop. I try to get through three years with them, and I've had some good success. At the same time, I've also had some wear out sooner, especially with the amount of travel that I do some years. I had one laptop last just a year before it started to constantly crash on me. That one was just out of warranty, which was a shame. Since then I've usually paid extra for a warranty to get a couple years of service out of each machine.

It's not quite that time for me, but it's getting close. My laptop is about 2 1/2 years old and I'm starting to have some thermal issues. Changes in temperature often cause a crash when I come out of hibernation, which isn't what a traveling presenter likes to see. I'm also starting to have poor battery performance. A full charge recently netted me only about 3.5 hours before the battery warning came on at 20% left.

I have been pleased with my HP Spectre x360 model right now. It's held up well and I've enjoyed using it. The arrow keys are a little oddly placed for me, but overall, everything else has worked well. There's a new model, which is one of those I'm considering, but I am keeping an open mind.

This week, I'm asking you what models you might recommend that you've used. One you've owned or had a friend own that seems to perform well. Keep in mind that I travel quite a bit, so durability and weight matter.

I used to want a 32+GB RAM machine, but these days I do more in the cloud or with smaller demos, so I think 16GB is really the sweet spot for me. A fast CPU and 512GB-1TB storage is nice. I've done well with 512 across the last two years, but you never know how things will change, so a 1TB is something I'm considering. As much as I've enjoyed USB-C, I still sometimes like the convenience of USB-A, especially when on the go and not wanting to pull out some sort of adapter (like on a plane).

Let me and others know this week which models have worked well for you. While many of us don't necessarily get the choice of brand, some do, and many might be able to influence the model that they receive. Most of us want a laptop we enjoy using, and having a few recommendations gives us confidence that we'll choose one that works well for the next few years.