[H-GEN] Testing hardware, laptops, distros.

[Carl Adams]

> downloading and installing Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an easy choice, but PCLinuxOS has much more to recommend it,  
especially the User Forum which I've always found very prompt and helpful.  
I've been using it now for over three years:

http://www.pclinuxos.com

> laptop is showing occasional faults. The guys at work stress tested it  
> but nothing came up.

If you'd prefer to do your own testing use the Inquisitor LiveCD (137MB  
download):

http://www.inquisitor.ru/about/

> all the brand name laptops (Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, ...) are pretty  
> similar design wise
> - ie mostly good with the occasional lemon model.

Agreed. My Lenovo was purchased in China and has been robust and reliable.  
Lenovo actually made all IBM PCs for years, including laptops, before  
buying out the IBM PC division, so you're effectively getting a later  
model Thinkpad. Have a look at this before committing to Dell:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki

Carl.