I use computers of that vintage with FC4, and they run quite well. Granted that HP Pavilions aren't the most impressive of PCs, but they will run it. My mum has one, and it runs better with Linux than Windows.
I've noticed the same thing - I thought our Pavilion 6630 was an unreliable, flaky piece of garbage when it was running Windows for secretarial tasks (compared to Dells). But... it's been super-reliable for years as a linux desktop and server, starting at RH7 and now running FC4!
- Mike
