Hardware vent...

[Hewitt Tech]

My piece of (fill in the cuss word of your choice) Compaq Presario laptop is
starting to break down around the hinges of the cover. This system has been
a series of disappointments - can't run Linux easily, doesn't support 32 bit
cardbus cards, battery croaked early. I just discovered when I called the
toll call support number that I was talking to someone in India who was
marching me through the numbers (script). He then tried to transfer me to
their "specialized" Presario notebook support number and the call was lost.
While I was listening to very badly garbled elevator music (this would be
doing a disservice to most elevator music ;^)) I noticed what was causing
the popping noises that just started today when I open the laptop screen.
The plastic housing near the hinge was starting to separate. That's what was
causing the popping sound, the plastic be snapped as the screen was wrapping
around the hinge joint. So I think I'll cut my losses here and buy a laptop
that will actually do what the manufacturer claims and will also run Linux
properly. Anybody had good experiences with their laptops? I'm looking for
reliability and the ability to run Linux without ridiculous efforts. Also,
I'd really like to have USB 2.0 compliant ports on the thing...

-Alex