>I prefer the HP boxes, but Compaq is pretty widely accepted. They skimp on space inside, and tend to use a lot of Compaq-only parts, something to keep in mind after the first year.

I've been using an HP Pavillion 7410P for over two years. It's marketed as a home computer but I like it. I bumped the memory up to 80 MB and added a SCSI zip drive.

Lately it's stopped playing my music videos reliably. I wonder if that could be a dust problem.

What do you like in the lap-top market? I realized recently that if you add the cost of a flat-screen monitor (healthier) to the cost of a desktop you can afford a pretty nice lap-top. (And get a UPS as well.)

I would want a machine that didn't make me yearn for a desktop.

Peter