amanoffewwords,
When it comes to desktops, Packard Bell is pretty much at the bottom of the list, but I do not find any of the other Dead End Computer makers (Dell, IBM, HP, Compaq, Gateway, etc.) much better. They all cut corners. They all use fast processors and surround it with junk, just because they know the Mhz number sells comps. The average user does not understand what all goes into making a good computer.
My favorite example was the Intel i845 Chipset. Nothing like pairing the memory bandwidth hungry PIV with a mobo that only uses PC-133!!! But, those mobos were cheap, (especially with onboard sound and video), and the RAM was much cheaper than the DDR RAM at the time. All the Dead End makers sold the heck out of the computers with that mobo, touting the high PIV Mhz when you could take a PIII 1Ghz with an i815 Chipset and run circles around their high Mhz Machines. The Dead End makers were not much better in the days of the PIII. They would only use PIIIs with 100Mhz FSB's (since PC-100 was cheaper than PC-133), even though there were PIIIs with a 133Mhz FSB that would give a much better performance.
When it comes to Notebooks, everything is proprietary, so all you can do is look for a notebook with all the specs you want. Usually Dell, IBM, Gateway, Toshiba, and Sony are good. Then I would put HP/Compaq, Acer in the next tier.
There are two things about Sony:
[list=1][*]You will pay an extra $200.00 to have the name
Sony on the Case.[*]They put a Memory Stick Reader for they Proprietary Memory.[/list=1]
I guess that is long enough of a rant.
Take Care,
Richard