Are you asking if Acer is better than HP, or are you asking is Win 8 better than Win 7? With either brand or OS, there are plenty of opinions both good and bad. Why is getting another computer a better option than finding out what is wrong with the one you have and fixing it?

I have a W 8 Acer laptop I love it. It has a quick start up. I have had HP mostly but I bought this one because it is a convertible laptop/tablet which I like. As far as W 8 goes, I quickly downloaded Classic Shell.

I would fix the windows 7 computer and keep using it. I have 7 on an HP desktop and Toshiba laptop and it has never given me one bit of trouble so for me there is nothing wrong with 7 and if I did have a problem I would figure it out and not just go plunk down money on a new computer.

No experience with windows 8 but every one I know that went from 7 to 8 did not do well with the change and they are having a hard time adjusting. One friend went from a very old XP to 8 and she is doing well though because she is so excited to have a fast new computer and finally got high speed internet and it's been a nice adventure for her. Mary

Acer makes a fine product, and if you send me a message I would be happy to help you with your W7 I am absolutely sure any problem could be fixed, I have brought a couple back from the dead so to speak, and W7 has a few options where by it fixes itself.

crafty, I love W 7, It was hard to get used to, but with google, I fixed the things I did not like. I also liked XP. The ones before that were not near as good, especially ME. The resources are so much better now.

I never had ME. 98, XP, vista and 7 and had no trouble with any of them or IE. Mary

The things that bothered me was losing works, the quick launch and the other things that were so minor I have forgotten what they were. My first was W 98 and I was a newbie with no one around me with a PC to learn from, I did it on my own. After that ME, Vista and XP were very easy. W 7 was different in many ways which forced me to learn more new things...........which is always a good thing. I find now the learning is more fun than anything about the PC along with solving my own problems.

The conversation seems to have strayed from hardware to windows versions.

mystic, as others have suggested, there may be some easy things to do that might remedy the problems you're having if not hardware related. You could try those first, or maybe you've just decided it's time for a new PC? That's ok too.

Everyone has their biases, my own lead me to choose anything other than HP. Acer makes good products, other companies do too.

snidely, I have 5 PC's in my home online, all but my android tablet are HP's and I love them all.3 are W7, 1 is W8 We had an Acer yrs. ago and it was ok. Mystic's problem can also be solved by restoring the Pc back to factory settings, in other works just like the day you got it out of the box. I would save things to a flash drive or online storage, then easily put back. But when all else fails this is a nice option. I fix PC problems for seniors almost daily it seems, and have brought a few back from the dead, and I do mean dead.

Aputernut... I sure hope you're around when I die & will bring me back too.:)

Regarding this being off topic. Things are slow in here and discussions like this can help newbies. It was very hard for me to learn how to use a PC when I bought my first one, no one to talk...computer with. My Sis tried to help me using DOS well that didn't work. LOL The Compaq techs kind of filled that void for me. You don't get that kind of help anymore.

Through discussions like this we learn about different software that protect PCs and today someone mentioned the slim browser, I will check it out. Years ago someone would start a thread about our desktop wallpaper, people would ask "how do you do a print screen". Instructions were given and someone learned something. As long as the OP's question was answered, I don't see any harm in this.

My company buys thousands (yes, thousands) of new laptops each year. It used to be split between Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba and HP, with a bias toward Lenovo because its products seemed to have the best combination of user acceptance, features and reliability. As in most large companies the costs of IT support, spares inventories and downtime to replace lemon units can cost more than the units themselves.

HP got dropped from the procurement list because of a noticeably lower level of user acceptance and reliability.

If you or anyone else likes HP products, then great, that's what you should get. I thought my last paragraph was clear on that, it's my choice to avoid HP products and for many people it's their top choice.

I hope your description of the Restore procedure was for the benefit of others, I'm very familiar with it. Restore and then Recovery (in that order) can always be tried before throwing one's hands up in surrender, and both steps are easy enough for even novice users to do.

All of my replies are for the original poster or topic starter, except for the comment about HP. I have always had great experiences with HP, even speaking with HP techs, always a positive experience.
And about recovery, do you have any idea how many folks ignore the message to burn your recover disks, when booting up a new PC? very important, unless you choose to buy a new OS. for a few hundred bucks after a major crash and losing the OS, or when it ask for the windows disk to be inserted. We don't get those anymore folks.

I feel compelled to tell you this: I've never been concerned about brands until lately. Acer has changed that. They will never get another dime, nor a recommendation, from me again. I've used Acer products before, with no problem. Then I bought my tablet. During its 1 year warranty, I lost track of how many times I sent it in for "repair". All the while, I was told repair was my only recourse, there would be no talk of replacement or refund. Many folks have used their products and gotten lucky. I have. You might. If you buy Acer, and you're unlucky, they don't care. They don't stand behind it, beyond slappin' a bandaid on it and sending it back.

That's the experience I've had with them. It taught me to look at reviews and ask about return policies. I recommend you do the same. I hope you have a better experience, and that you enjoy your new computer.

Also, please be aware, right out of the box, Windoze 8 is VERY different from 7. Different isn't always bad, but expect a learning curve. Someone above mentioned classic shell. I've heard that makes it behave much more like Windoze 7.

As soon as I set up a new computer I order the reformatting CD's. They have all been reasonably priced except for the Acer's stick. Even that is better than a service repair. A lot of problems with PC's are software related or an infection of some kind. The reformatting CD's can fix that. I also make a start up CD if is says to and always back up every 2 or 3 months or more often if I am working on something I don't want to loose.

I've always bought HP because I just did. It could have been something else. I bought what I bought.

During my almost 20 years of playing with these things, I've lived through this one being the best, and that one being the best. It seems like they all take there turn. Like HP and Gateway having their reign supreme, so has Dell. Unfortunately, right now HP is in a down swing. Their market share has receded, and their corporate plan is being redefined.

My suggestion is be informed, buy what you wish, and have a good time.

W8/8.1 is different. There is a learning curve. Once you get aware of things it is just another O/S. You might not want to wait thinking W9 will be a return to "normal". My last read was it will be basically 50% classic, and 50% Metro.

Finally for what it is worth, a friend of mine recently purchased a near entry level Toshiba 15.6" laptop from Best Buy for a very reasonable price. I helped set it up, and found it more than adequate for a general user.

**Ran into her last night. She only paid $292.00 for the Toshiba.

DA

This post was edited by damccoy on Sat, Jun 14, 14 at 7:27

To each his own, Emma. It's not a bad idea to follow the procedure you suggest, although I've never done it and I've never had a need for it. In more recent years many manufacturers ship their units with the Recovery image on a hard drive partition. If you have one with that, you're good for whatever comes your way EXCEPT a drive failure.

W8 is a great operating system as far as the innards are concerned. It's faster, more stable, more efficient in using memory, and several other "mores" than its predecessors. Microsoft blew it with the user interface, that's about all. As has been discussed here and elsewhere ad nauseum, that "problem" is easily fixed..

Snidely, Years ago my pc's were faster after a reformat. Now I don't notice being any faster afterward. I am assuming they are built better, or I know how to keep it running fast. I was afraid I would damage my first computer and the Compaq tech told me "you can't hurt this machine, if you do something that messes it up and you can't fix it, reformat it". That gave me the courage to jump right in without being afraid. I didn't mind doing a reformat, I learned something almost every time I did it. Silly as it sounds I reformatted my new laptop with W 8 as soon as I got the stick from Acer. I was bound and determined to set it up without an MS account and I found one. You just have to pay attention.

This post was edited by EmmaR on Fri, Jun 13, 14 at 22:05

See my thread on Windows versus Linux MINT ... Buying a new computer because you are having problems with the software is not necessary. Spend a couple of hours and you can have a minty-fresh system :)

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Back up your data files to somewhere safe, export your bookmarks and stored passwords (Firefox has an add-on that will show you the site and password - screen grab it) and e-mail them to yourself at an on-line account.

DELETE your data AND/OR then compact your hard drive like this:
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000528.htm

Then download and "burn the ISO" for Linux Mint (if you insert a blank DVD and then double-click the Mint "iso" file, your DVD burner should do it automatically).

Then reboot your system with the Mint DVD in it and follow the instructions. It's REALLY easy.

You can choose whether to keep the Windows installation or not, and you can decrease the Windows file space by sliding the divider bar towards the left.

NOTES: Libre Office can read your MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files. You will be able to READ the Windows part from Linux, so you can retrieve files . I haven't tried the reverse, and I haven't tried writing to the Windows side.

Linux has "WINE" which lets you run most Windows software, including MS Office.

Give it a rest, lazygardens. Linux is the proverbial "you can't give it away for free" OS alternative. Despite being free, almost no one uses it as measured by its desktop market share percentage. There are many good reasons why that is and why that's unlikely to change.

Emma, if you found what works for you, that's great. It's true that older version of windows had a tendency to slow down over time. I dealt with that by limiting downloads and managing what started on boot-up. I personally didn't choose to periodically nuke everything and start from scratch, the hassle of reloading software and re-establishing my setup preferences would have been very annoying. Your attitude shows that there are always lots of alternatives for users to get where they want to be if they are proactive.

I wouldn't be so quick to forge ahead and recommend an install of Mint without first checking wireless compatibility with the hardware. One of the reasons I haven't put Mint on my Dell 530 wireless desktop is because, according to my research, Mint STILL does not support my Broadcom 4318 wireless card. Yes, I know it can be "fixed", but not before jumping thru multiple hoops locating and installing the necessary tools. You would also need to to buy or borrow an Ethernet cable to get it done.

I forgot to mentioned I enjoyed doing it.

" Despite being free, almost no one uses it as measured by its desktop market share percentage."

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

This new computer "counts" as a Windows 7 installation because that's what came with it, pre-installed, even if I had overwritten it on first boot-up. Or maybe it is considered Win8, because some Win8 disks came with it. Or maybe both.

This laptop's Mint install (and my desktop Ubuntu system, and the SO's Gentoo systems, and his children's various Linux systems) don't show up in the market share stats because they are installed as an "aftermarket" OS.