Been recomending HP for years...
I've sold 100's of HP Business Desktop machines, they've been OK value, and high quality. I think they are now worse value, but still OK quality. We've got many machines that have been in use for 8+ years that do the job needed of them really well. (They sit on a desk running outlook and being a fat client for some database app the users need). I worked on one today, that was totally usable and good for the job it does.
Recently, I've bought some Fujitsu and Levano machines, for much less money with as good/better specs. The build quality is as good and the support for drivers and the like seems no worse. Main reason I've done this, is because the HP partner program has been pushy and annoying. If it hadn't been I think I'd have stuck with HP much more.