TONS of advice and information here ...
Thanx, all
I DO have one parameter I neglected to mention ... I need a larger screen because of my eyes so the smaller notebooks, pads etc., are out.
I have a 17" monitor now and I think I saw an 18 1/2 ... I'll probably spring for that if I put this together piecemeal.
ALSO ... I cannot ... repeat ... I CANNOT get the hang of flippin' my finger in place of a mouse ... I'm locked into the 90's and I'll stay here 'til I die.
For a laptop, I use 17”. They are a bit higher priced, but worth it.
For desktop, I purchased a 24”. They are relatively inexpensive $120-150 range. Check prices on 27”-ers, too.
I love my HP Pavilion dv7, model 3183cl.
I recently bid $200 for a used one on Ebay and ended up wishing I had bid higher to win. I wouldn't mind having a hot backup in case anything ever goes wrong.
I find that the touchpad works well for me as a mouse replacement.
I have owned many HPs over the years and strayed to other brands only to return to HP.
I, too, have trouble with my vision. I always run my browser with the zoom setting at "125%". This works great for me. Infrequently there will be a web page which doesn't handle the zoom well.