You opened the can originale, are you sure you're ready for the answers?
If you look back at some recent threads on this subject you'll probably hear:
Laptops are not gaming machines
ebackhus likes his Acer.
IBM are good (but can the Chinese maintain the quality?)
My son likes his HP6130. (He does play games and uses it constantly).
Sony are over priced and too proprietary.
Toshiba was good but has gone down.
Nobody likes Dell (I'm typing this on a Dell D800 that has been very good.)
I don't recall much talk of Averetec, Gateway or Compaq.
It's been almost a year since I shopped for the HP6130. I'm sure there's new stuff out there.
Good hunting.
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If there are lawyers or politicians involved, logic may be a very poor tool for reaching a conclusion.