When Countryman said he had problems with his internet connection, it immediately told me that his WIN8 had never gotten the critical updates necessary for the WIN8.1 free upgrade and his OS always closed down and then rebooted to exact screen it was shut down in.
I don't like many manufacturer's who load only the basic WIN8 and then give no real instructions to the user on how to customize it or get things running properly. HP loses a lot of points here as do other companies.
There was a recent critical update to WIN8.1 for all those who have completed the upgrade and this update is necessary. Please make sure you have installed this update.

As far as Countryman going to a MAC, that was one solution but an expensive one (someone got a real deal on a laptop). With regard to his display though, there are many laptop PCs that now have the same resolution and some even have bright IPS displays and excellent graphics from NVIDEA GeForce so the old addage that MAC had better displays is something gone by the wayside.

Hi Countryman. Sounds like you made the right choice - (for you). My experience has been just the opposite with Windows 8. In fact, I was so impressed with how solid and adaptable it was, I bought it also for another desktop computer of mine. Working excellent on both. I quickly changed each one from the 'Metro' screen to the old 'Windows -start/programs' screen. (Don't care for the Metro look). The 'feel' is just like I'm working with the older versions of Windows but the results are greater speed, faster boot-up, better security,etc. so that makes TWO of us happy; you with your Mac and me with my Windows 8.1. Can't beat that, eh?

Hi Countryman. Sounds like you made the right choice - (for you). My experience has been just the opposite with Windows 8. In fact, I was so impressed with how solid and adaptable it was, I bought it also for another desktop computer of mine. Working excellent on both. I quickly changed each one from the 'Metro' screen to the old 'Windows -start/programs' screen. (Don't care for the Metro look). The 'feel' is just like I'm working with the older versions of Windows but the results are greater speed, faster boot-up, better security,etc. so that makes TWO of us happy; you with your Mac and me with my Windows 8.1. Can't beat that, eh?

For those who are worried about a filter degrading the image, I will repost this test shot I did. Nikon 80-200mm lens at 200mm f8--one side without filter, the other with a bog-standard Kenko skylight filter mounted. Remember that any filter flaws are magnified the longer the focal length, which is why I shot at full extension.

I've changed to greyscale to mask slight color balance differences. Downloaded, you are viewing the files at 100%. Can you tell the difference?

FWIW I am a professional news cameraman and I can attest that filters do absolutely protect the front element of lenses. I replace scratched filters regularly, which is quite a bit cheaper than replacing front lens elements. Of course if you have lots of time to carefully clean your lenses and work in clean environments, then a filter is of less use for protection.

Folks, the Blue Angels are here for a Father's Day weekend show. They are flying out of Smyrna Regional Airport which is only 2 miles from my house. Today I was able to get a few shots of them practicing. Some of these were taken at my house. My wife and I attempted to get to the airport before their practice session was over...but alas, they had the roads to the airport closed. I guess for safety reasons.
Now, this is my first time shooting fast jets with the HX300 so the quality isn't what it should be. I need to learn how to do high speed panning better. On a side note: They are scheduled to be in Dayton Ohio next weekend for the big Dayton Air Show. Now that would be a show to see...!

The 1st photo was shot with my Galaxy S4 about 10:30am. The 2nd was shot with my Sony A850, Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 zoom about 7:30pm. Exposure info: Rose 1 (35mm equivalents) 31mm, 1/121 sec, f/2.2, ISO 50, White balance Auto. Rose 2 75mm, 1/60 sec, f/8, ISO 800, White balance Auto.

Rose 1 looks to contrasty to me. The sky was overcast and while the rose was a rather intense shade, it didn't look that contrasty.
Rose 2 is in a neighbors yard. To me, this is how a rose should come across. There is good definition in the petals & the color is not blown out. In this case, I was shooting in full shade.

No attempt at PP.

This photo is straight out of the camera, no pp. None. Shot in RAW uploaded to lightroom. No adjustments. Just sent over to photoshop and saved as a Jpeg. There are people out here that you have to work every RAW picture somewhat. No you don't. I don't work stuff all the time and simply post after converting to Jpeg. I hate pp. That is not to say that I don't utilize pp. I do so way more often than not.

My camera is not even top of the line. I shoot with a Sony a580 and in this case, I used a kit lens.