On Fri, 2012-12-14 at 15:51 -0600, Chuck Cole wrote: > My last HP (2000) popped ball bonds on the > CPU several times, requiring motherboard replacements. The mechanical > design lacked proper support to dampen vibrations in the motherboard. An > employer back then required me to use their Dell Latitude and I discovered > the spec difference in episodes of HP repairs. I had other issues with the > HP as well. Had to contact HP product support in France to get some Linux > drivers because Linux was not fully supported in the USA then. HP is not > the top brand it once was! Having no opinion myself on comparing Dell and HP... your time frame of Y2k seems a bit antiquated... in computer/Internet terms 12+ years is ancient stuff, I am sure a lot has changed with both Dell and HP since then.