Anyway, it has been suggested to me, since I seem to be the unofficial point guard for this one - that we file a class-action lawsuit of sorts - I'm not big on this - and really don't have the time - But I am so pissed off at CPQ/HP and their plain ignorance and constant denial of "any problems" that I do think it's time we do something about this collectively.

So, if anyone else is interested in filing, write me at:

CLASSACTION@KAL-TEX.COM

Tell me your woes, what part of the country you're in (or abroad... as one chap from the UK has emailed me) - and we'll see what kind of headcount we'll get, and if it's worth going after?

I know personally that I am out the cost of the 2701 unit ($1900) + the bogus repair ($400) and the cost to replace - $1750 -- So, if we get enough folks together - I think that'll catch their attention.

GOOD LUCK!

Brent

However the laptop itself is suprisingly good. Key features are the seperate DVD & CDRW drives and the JBL speakers. I was playing a music CD & my friends had to go outside to hear themselves talk. There is minimal distortion at high volume - something that quality desktop speakers have trouble doing.

Now for the bad: Must boot up to have a music CD play but hey it's an 8lb laptop not a CD Player. Intermittingly the keyboard interface becomes hashed on some bootups - letters are numbers etc. unless I reboot & the mouse button became worn after a few months of left-clicking that I now use a USB Mouse & Keyboard. Other problems that were XP Home/Install related (driver searches on boot-up,etc) until I did a fresh install of Pro. Also for a time I had SuSe Linux 8.0 dual booting no problems except it ran very hot, uninstalled it because with a 20GB hard drive things got cramped real fast.

I started out with 8mb video and 256mb RAM and upgraded to 32mb video & 512mb RAM, bought the port replicator and a PCMCIA-USB 2.0 Card and have been using my 2700US as a desktop relacement for a little over a year now flawlessly, except for a problem using an external monitor until I upgraded the video driver for dual monitor support. I use several desktops but I keep going back to my 2700 because it's capabilities are evenly balanced -DVD viewing, web surfing, CD-Burning, & music with non-tinny quality speakers, but Compaq's Customer Service is by far the worse HP can't save them so I can only give 4 stars but this is truly a 5 star laptop for those who have taken the chance - like me - to own one.