As you can tell by now Kris, computers and peripherals are largely a matter of personal opinion and preference. One user's bad experience, is another user's recommendation.
In the end, it's what you like.
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Kat - sorry to hear about your driver troubles with the 64x. From my experience with the server I'm running at home (wireless network connecting 3 pcs, 1 laptop, 2 printers, and a slew of multimedia devices), I've had limited issues. Some manufacturers have been somewhat slow on the draw in releasing the 64x drivers, but for the most part, it should be a thing of the past (unless you're using a Russian device manufactured during the cold war).
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Regarding Acer - my wife's laptop is an Acer that has worked flawlessly (again, Acer only makes the shell and puts the components together) - I wouldn't shy away from the brand, put your research into the components within.
I'm in Ontario and shop at either Canada Computers, or Tiger Direct. Both have stores in Ontario, but ship Canada wide (just check out their websites). Hope this helps, and just let me know if there's anything else I can be of help with.
Cheers,
Bushmills
I couldn't agree more on personal preference, and brand name being just a shell of parts.
I did have a bad experience with HP, mostly with the customer service aspect and that may have changed. The laptop was a lemon, but that was just that particular model. It had a major design flaw (and an ensuing class action lawsuit, actually).
I didn't realize that Tiger Direct was Canada as well. They have 2 stores in this area. I find their online store to be awesome, and the bricks and mortar, well, maybe not so much.
My 64x issues are with two specific printers in my office, neither of which offer 64x drivers, and with my Samsung Moment which also does not offer a USB driver for 64x 7. I have tried a few things with the latter but haven't completely researched it yet. I can just take the darn micro sd out and stick it in the card reader, which for now seems like less effort.

I have also had a ton of issues with my development environment (I write software for a living), but that is not something a typical user would experience.