Try to find a windows laptop to actually try. The trackpads on windows machines are often really bad compared to Apple. Sometimes the keyboards are lame too.
Not pertinent to the original poster, but for those in the market for a cheap laptop I always direct people to see if their needs are covered by a Chromebook. All the Chromebooks I’ve ever seen are twice as good as a windows laptop the same price.
Thanks Cam.
This is what I am afraid of. I have been spoilt by the quality of Apple’s hardware. That said, I use a Toshiba Portege Dynabook at work and it never enters my head about the quality … probably because it’s not my hard earned cash! 
Recent article in the WSJ about how Google now “expires” Chromebooks. Oh Dear.
Thanks everyone! New laptop sorted. Setting up now.
A LOT hard than selecting an Apple device. Way too many variations. 
Since 2020, new ChromeOS devices receive eight years of software updates.
Which laptop did you pick?
That is eight years from manufacture date. Not sale date. So be sure to check when you purchase one as older items are still for sale.
I’m really curious how many Chromebooks actually survive the 8 years.
I mean…give me 8 years of software updates if you want, but if you’re shipping a super-budget-component laptop with really crappy processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of eMMC, the odds are good that (a) the laptop will be functionally unusable, or (b) something is going to break well before that.
I suppose if somebody really wanted the ChromeOS platform and was willing to spend a decent amount of money it might be worth it - but is there a benefit to ChromeOS in that price range?
I ended up with a Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1. Quite a cheap model but it is for M365 level apps. No Audio/Video production. That still sits with the M1 Mac Mini.
Lenovo 14" EVO Yoga 7i 2-in-1 Laptop Core i7/16GB/512GB | Officeworks
Sadly, I paid AUD1697 just yesterday! 
I’m in a similar situation. My Mac mini M1 is my main computer, but I have a 14 inch LG Gram to use if I need to go on the road, if I need to interface with a corporate system, or for the occasional instance when a website doesn’t work on my Mac. I like the LG Gram a lot, but I haven’t used it very much.
One thing I’ve found quite handy. I use Jump Desktop (via Setapp), and have the Windows computer open in one of the Spaces on my Mac. That way, I can easily flip over to Windows from my Mac. Maybe I use the LG Gram more than I realize since it is so tightly integrated into my Mac setup.
A laptop like that is generally usable for basic web browsing tasks (email, word processing, etc).
I don’t think that computer manufacturers would be creating such high-end ChromeOS devices otherwise.
I don’t recall any company PC or Mac laptop surviving 8 years. Because they travel home to office, country to country, or just room to room, the hinges fail or they are drowned by someone’s drink, or they are dropped etc. So I would purchase decently equipped computers and hoped they lasted 2 or 3 years. Most didn’t.
People are the reason I don’t believe in spending extra money to “future proof” a laptop. 
I have been using OneNote on both platforms since OneNote was released in 2003!!! It was designed for Windows boxes, bu the Mac versions have been very good. I use it on my M1 MacBook Pro running Parallels 19 without a problem (and run the Mac native version on the MBP too) but sometimes prefer running it on a Samsung Galaxy Book Pro because the Windows version still has a few bells and whistles the Mac versions don’t, because the Galaxy Book Pro has a touch screen and is terrific to ink on with the Samsung S-Pen and because it also syncs with Samsung Notes - a Samsung only app that supports inking.
You can’t go wrong - as long as you’re comfortable with Windows, which is much clunkier in general than any Mac.
What about ten years? 