Hi Folks -- I've been "lurking" this forum for a long time before joining... Don't think I'll ever get to where I'm up to speed. Based on what I've been able to learn so far, there's alot more to notebook than a pretty box (duh). I've only been dinking with them a few years (since 2005) They're remarkable little critters but wow, the drawbacks. Like, it's about impossible to "whitebox" one. They are ALL propietary. There seem to be maybe 4 (?) basic flavors in terms of the motherboard... Rather than having any more unplanned learning experiences, I figured -- why not ASK you folks that have much more experience? My personal preference is for FLEXIBILITY and (really) "vanilla". By vanilla, I mean "generic" hardware, the sort not requiring "this one exotic driver which cannot be substituted" ... By "flexible" I mean configurable to my liking. One that won't break when I change the LCD, CD writer, etc. ALSO -- WHICH ONES ARE NOT HARD WIRED TO CALL HOME ? Thanks in advance-- LN