I've ben thinking for a long time of buying a laptop for working on my projectduring trips and overseas stays ... rather than renting desktops. Needless to say I wish to rn SuSE. Up to last year most laptops were shipped with Windows installed and vendors/makers denied any responsibility about replacing Windows with SuSE satisfactorily. Another drawback is the particular configuration I need. Basically I'm looking for at least 1GB RAM, Pentiun IV or equivalent processor at least 3.06 GHz or faster. I aslso need the wireless network and a true model for occasional dial-up connections. Last year i thought I had found a laptop with the above characteristics but a better look at its components revealed an extrmely slow access to the data bus which would result in many CPU idle cycles. During the last year laptops have evolved and maybe the current market offers even more than I need ... I havent' found any time to follow up unluckily ... recently I've been offered a laptop ECS which is to me a totally unknown brand name. My understanding is that some third parties buy the main components and then they assembly them together according to the customer's requests .. which sounds pretty convenient.. But there may be a pitfall I cannot see out of ignorance in this field. Honestly I do not know whether it's better to buy a known brand like Dell, HP, IMB, etc ... or save some money and still have a reliable laptop specially made for me by these third parties ... I'd greatly appreciate some advice Maura EM