X2 However I would still prefer a Windows laptop over a Mac just not an HP.

Mac. Been a off and on user for 8 years, and went permanent last November. I will never go back. Haven't had a single problem, always stable, not a single lockup on anything. My 800MHz G4 blows away the 2.0GHz P4 Dell I had.

What brand do you recommend then? Just curious

HP is kind of an all right brand. I used to run a PC business, and I sold Asus notebooks with my logo. That was fun. They're all running today after more than three years except for one that was kept turned on with the fans running in a backpack and thrown around. The cool thing about Asus notebooks (with Fujitsu or Seagate hard drives) is that nothing but heat kills them. One of the really good Rubycon capacitors exploded, and I sent that in to be swapped out. And that notebook is still going.

Macs are all right, but they're closed source. There'* an iMac G4 behind me, but it'* been running Debian. Linux is actually pretty cool since it just runs. You can use OpenOffice, bit torrent, and so on. Most Linux distributions can easily work with iPods but without iTunes. I voted for HP because it'* cheaper. Just don't leave it running on a backpack you throw around often.

I have an opinion on Mac products, and frankly I think the are to expensive for web browsing and other basic uses. Unless you can use it for what its designed to do (graphics, photo manipulation etc...lets not fool ourselves) its pretty unnecessary money that gets spent. If you have an extra $800 to spend on a laptop, send it to me, so I can add another laptop to the 2 I already have (Dell and HP) both are great.

Now, if you have $1600 for a laptop go nuts, join the exclusive cachet of fanboys that own Macs and don't use them for what they are meant to be used for.

I, personally love Mac style and the whole idea of the i-Life marketing plan, its great but I'd never get one, because I'd never use it for what its meant for.

x2.

and if theyre growing that fast, theres a reason their market was so small to begin with. as a general rule, i ignore statistics that are thrown around. esp those without sources.

i use a mac exclusively at school, and am always relieved when i get home and get to use a good computer. id take a pc over a mac any day.

i couldnt agree more

Both of my kids have HP laptops. Both two years old. Both ran great until Katie dumped a coke in hers recently. I buy 2 HP laptops each year for friends and family at my discount rate as an employee. I have been doing this for 6 years of my 18-years at HP, and I have yet to have a single one of them fail for any reason.

HP is at the top of the 'quality tier'. There are others at the same level, and there are MANY below.

If you want quality, look at HP, Dell, and Sony. If you don't, go chinese.

Both are good. Mac will almost never crash, is true plug and play, and importantly, not mentioned previously, internet browsing will be nearly virus free. Those writing viruses write them for the largest audiences, which is PC users running Internet Explorer. On the other hand, running Firefox on a PC will give you about the same safety as a Mac. HP has improved greatly in the last 5 years, and is a fine PC.