Hi Rudy,

I think HP laptops are pretty good - the only thing is the AMD Turion
64 X2 dual core. Personally, I'd prefer an Intel dual core - I think
Intel makes slightly better chips.

To answer your other questions:
1) The notebook BIOs these days usually allow you to boot from the DVD
drive or USB, so I don't think you need to worry there.
2) Again, CD and DVD drives in the very latest laptops usually read
both + and - types of CDs and DVDs.
3) I believe Microsoft would give you the Windows updates once you
purchase the machine from HP.

Hope this helps and do let me know if you have more questions.


Regards,
Gary Hendricks
http://www.best-laptop-guide.com