> In my experience… a computer that is used daily costs about $300-$400
> per year of service.

$300-$400/year of service?!  I'm currently running a 4+ year old
Dell that cost $500 new, and haven't put in a dime to repair it.  It
gets at least 4-5 hours of use per day.  I usually keep computers
around 5-6 years, and the only repairs I've ever had to do were
replacing a keyboard (on a ThinkPad) and a backlight (on an older
Dell).  

>   For the PC-compatible laptops, who makes the most reliable
> consumer-class systems?  Which of their product lines are more
> reliable?

I think I'm going to have to suggest ThinkPads just because the repairs
are so easy to do.  It's also one of the few laptops on the market
available without a glossy screen (if that is important to her).  It
also seems much better put together than the Dells I've had.

> Mostly she uses her computer for web browsing, email, word processing
> and spreadsheets.  She would like something faster than she has right
> now, or at least better response times.  Her current computer has an
> AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 2.0 GHz cpu, 3GB RAM.

Thanks for reminding me how much I love Bodhi/E17. ;)

-Max
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