PC users, what advice would you give a lifelong Mac user about buying their first PC?

My dying macbook was a gift from my dedicated Apple using parents. All of our computers and phones are Apple. Since I'm buying a new laptop on my own $$, I want to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck. The thing is - apple makes it easy to know what you're getting and I just have NO idea where to start with PCs.

Please don't turn this into any sort of a mac vs. pc debate. Thanks!

EDIT for specificity: I'm a college student studying chemistry. I use some basic chem software (pymol, chemdraw, etc) as well as a lot of writing, research, etc. so mostly basic Internet/student stuff. I'll also use it for screen sharing to my lab computers that actually have the big powerful computational programs I use. Gaming isnt a huge concern but i would like it to be an option. I will be studying abroad next year so portability is a big factor. Thanks for all the input!