BB, you may find these two links worth a read although they won't help you with any technical stuff
Asus and HiGrade Combine in UK
HiGrade/Asus in OZ
I've had a HiGrade Notino notebook (with ASUS motherboard) for three years and have been well pleased with it. It's heavy because it has everything in it (CD-ROM, Floppy, removeable HDD twin PCMCIA sockets, IR, USB) and it is strong enough to be dropped on a corner from one metre without damage. I didn't do that! That was the test done by PC Magazine when they reviewed laptops.
It's way out of date at PentiumII/266MHz and is not upgradeable. But it's fine to pass on to my lad at Uni.
I might buy again, but then again there are others to look at. ASUS are dominating the motherboard scene at the moment in all directions. That could be a good sign.