As I have mentioned in several other threads, I have been rehabbing laptops over the past year. If your machine is a Dell, I have had very good experiences with their tech people in that they have willingly provided me with software and advice for computers they had no need to back up any more. This included source disks so I could get reinstallations of XP registered after Microsoft sent me back to the drawing board because XP is no longer supported. Would I keep another Dell for my own use? Yup.

Based on my experience, I have done well with Dell, Compaq, IBM/Lenovo and Toshiba. With HP, go to the company website before committing to a specific model. I have been given an HP DV9000 to play with and it has significant issues with the video chip.

If you are going to get an antivirus program, I suggest Avast rather than AVG, as AVG and Dells do not seem compatible. Also AVG seems to slow our computers down when it is doing its stuff. The only quirk I have run into with Avast is that about 5 minutes after we start up, we get a popup and a female voice announcing that the program has been updated.

If your friend runs into problems, I am right near the NYC area and will be happy to help you. Jest put yer lips tagether and blow.