So my notebook crashed this afternoon wasn't doing anything just playing podcasts, I noticed it stopped abruptly (I was doing some paperwork) and when I check the system was unresponsive. I hit the power button to reboot and the poop hit the fan. Tried to boot into safe mode -- no joy Tried to repair the MBR -- no joy So I went ahead and reformatted. My backups are current so I'm not worried about data loss. It's just a chore to rebuild a system just the way you like it. This is the 3rd major issue I've had with this notebook, I'm not blaming Acer entirely though. My friends are advising me to switch to a Mac, but I am apprehensive. Aside from the obscene Apple tax, I'm just too comfortable with Windows 7. I suspect an HDD issue, so I will be observing the system as I rebuild.