My mom's old computer has finally died, so I'm wondering what people would
recommend for an i386 laptop.  Preference for cheap hardware which works at
least tolerably.  I have access to a functioning driver for Allegro sound
cards, but I'm very concerned about the huge variety of modern video cards.

Anyone got any suggestions?  Companies whose laptops are more than average
likely to work without a huge hassle?  I've been reasonably happy with my
HP laptop, but they have, of course, replaced it with a new model.  (A model
which comes with different audio, video, and Windows version, of course.)

-s