HP is like a default. It works as a laptop, but don't expect any high end quality.
Acer is pretty good, but like others said, I would actually go for a Lenovo. Specs are different depending what version of the laptop's brand you're buying, but overall, Lenovo seemed to have been able to run smoother and last for a longer time. My Acer was slowing down until after a year it was already unbearable. I could've worked with a Lenovo laptop at high speed for work for about 2.5 years.
Personal life at the moment, I still have my Vaio laptop, although it feels like HP. It works, but it's really slow now, although it's more because the thing's about 6 years old now, if not 7.