If windows 8 is updated to 8.1 it is often less bad. Laptops often come bundled with a great deal of crapware, which can also be done away with (be careful though, as some of it might be linked to sound/video card drivers that could stop working).
HP and Compaq (basically the same) are usually good robust machines but are bulky and heavy. I prefer Intel to AMD chipsets as AMDs run hot and that causes more issues in a laptop due to confined space.
Also unless you are working with a computer at remote sites or DJ’ing regularly at venues, a desktop is often far easier to use, cheaper and more maintainable.
After 2 years on most laptops the accu (battery) is cooked and you must buy a new accu (Chinese sell them via a UK supplier in Essex for about £40) or its tethered to a 230V mains supply anyway. I often use such laptops when I need a computer in a more compact space, like the one I use by my electronics workbench for programming arduinos. Even then the screen and keyboard size are a limitation, I keep leaving out brackets {[]} and confusing letters and numbers which creates bugs in the code.
Currently I sometimes use a old Compaq laptop for work (my mum gave it to me as she bought it in Malaysia but its hard drive was crashed and the accu and PSU knackered by the then dodgy electric supply (there is a youtube of a Chinese rapper cursing the Electricity Board in 5 languages)), and a Samsung netbook which is good for decoding radio signals as it does have a good accu that still lasts several hours (though this is because it uses a low power processor which will not handle much intensive graphics). Also it is not so bad for interference and noise. I saw a film some Dutchmen had made where they sailed their yacht from Rotterdam to Ipswich and were using a larger Samsung laptop to monitor the GPS, set up right next to their ships VHF radio, which is a good demonstration of how compatible the computer is around radio signals.
Even then I now rarely use them unless there is no other easy access to a desktop computer (for instance if I am at the housing co-op and repairing a desktop computer, then the netbook is handy to get info from online). The Compaq’s new battery is already on the way out and thats only just around 2 years.
