I disagree on the part about avoiding budget builds like Dell Inspiron, coz my Dell Inspiron 17 (3793) is one of the best bang-for-buck build out there. For a measly $700, I get an i5, 8GB, 512GB SSD and a beautiful FHD IPS screen. For casual users like myself, what more could you ask for?! Self-upgrading to 16GB wouldn't be any more expensive than the costlier builds out there. I don't need other bells-&-whistles on the more expensive builds. Better to save the money for other purposes. They all perform pretty similary after all. I don't fold, game or video-edit anyway.
The thing y'all seem to miss is weight. You constantly recommend the x360 Spectre, the 15.6" version of that weighs over 4.5 lb. Another thing you miss is screen size. You constantly pick little 13.3" laptops that have 2k resolution; which is nice for young eyes, but for any serious wor, you really need the 15.6" machines.