I've actually had very good success with this machine (had it for over a year), and the Compaq Armada that preceeded it. I will say that the modem in the Armada blew out as well; maybe it's just a dial-up modem issue.
Wow. I'm impressed. Seriously. My first experience with a Compaq came when a friend's Windows system got corrupted. I tried using the Windows restore disk that came with that exact same system and the machine refused to recognize it at all. That disk worked on other systems--just not on a Compaq.
Pretty weird.