That's what I use at work and home. Does a perfectly good job and the people who write the software only make money through donations.
The obvious question is what will you use it for? Just web browsing and emails etc or gaming as well?
microsoft office pretty much comes with every laptop sold nowadays. if it doesn't, just download it from piratebay
I used to buy Sony but they have become far too expensive relatively. I switched to HP Pavilion about 4 laptops ago and have stuck with them. I always buy from John Lewis. They will match a price, provide a better guarantee and good service. Great shop. Good luck to you if you can get MS Office free with unlimited use. Is it for just a single lap top or will you want to run it on more than one machine? If you want MS Access for database applications you will need MS Office Professional. If you only need basic word processing and spread sheets then MS Works (cut down version of Office) usually comes free with the computer. Much depends on what you want to do with your laptop. I find John Lewis very helpful.
Open Office is the way to go but if you are doing any Project Management work I'm not sure if has software for that. Not sure
