Personally, I don't quite like the case design of the latest Compaq models (you know, those big ones with coloured front panel - yuck!), but admire many HP models. Now that they've merged, I think Compaq PCs will look better and better, at least I hope.
And as for inferior components being used, they're not. It's clearly stated on their site that prebuilt models are very very basic configurations, and if you want smth more, like the GF4, for example, you have to order it to be in your PC.