<snip> So I found two great deals, one for an HP ze5125, the other for a Compaq 1525us. </snip> My .02... I recently got a ze5155 HP and have been very happy with it performing to my desires - RH8 was a no-brainer (mild pun intended), SuSE8.1 would go on but some other issues occurred (tried 3X - kept obliterating the MBR, so loose everything?!?!), haven't tried anything else. The Nat'l Inst NIC built-in works without a hitch. DVD/CDRW - same. PCMCIA - same. Modem - who cares? *shrug* I got rid of a Compaq 1215US when I got this one and have but one thing to say - avoid ANYTHING Compaq like the plague it is... I had Carl help at the last installfest work with me (and finally just working ON it) for over 2 hours w/ NO luck (well, 'bad' luck isn't 'no' luck, but you get the idea). EVERYTHING was WinModem in nature - nic, modem, et al. Install went fine, but at first reboot KUDZU kicked in and said 'oh! let me configure that!' to everything and then would never come back - hard lock/no way out/death and dismemberment - was to follow. After 3 attempts at it Carl pronounced, "you have a very nice Windows machine". *sigh* Since HP bought them I don't know, but based on my (very limited!) exp, steer well-wide of Compaq if it's an issue of a few bucks. ze5155 stats: 1.8Ghz Intel 512Mb DDRAM 40Gb drive IEEE Firewire - 1 usb - 1.1 (x2), 2.0 (x1) 32Mb - ATI Radeon (dedicated) 2 PCMCIA slots built-in floppy DVD/CDRW combo 15" xga display irda - don't know if this works either? Be advised - this is a DESKTOP REPLACEMENT - and all that that implies. It's a beast at about 8#, uses a Northwood processor (desktop) so isn't speed-step enabled - it's got about 60-75 minutes unplugged (I use SETI at HOME so the processor is pegged at 100% at all times - if I drop SETI it gets closer to 2 hours). I wanted the dedicated video (the 4145 AMD equivalent was shared and have numerous other 'cost-saving' features that put it out of the running as much as I'd rather have AMD), the firewire (also not in the 4145), and 'all in one' (4145 = usb floppy). <end propaganda> Hope it helps! Wil _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list