I got an HP dvt7 Quad Edition and it's great! I don't know why you are saying not to go for HP.. But I would like to say never go with Gateway/Acer.. They seriously have THE WORST customer service on Earth. I've had 2 Gateway laptops and an Acer desktop and they all failed on me (motherboard issues, all of them; all different machines too).. And I have so much trouble trying to take care of the issue.