CathInfo.com

What does the Patriot Act have to do with anything? Are you afraid of backdoors in the circuitry? If you are, that sort of thing goes back long before the Patriot Act. The Pentium III was released in 1999, and I remember the controversy at the time with the unique serial number embedded in all of them that almost any software could read.

It is possible, though, to use even modern electronics in a way that protects your privacy if you know what you're doing. If you're interested in this sort of thing, there is a great podcast by a guy who is a privacy expert and helps people live under the radar and off the grid. He actually is a full-time expert on how to live anonymously in the modern world. A lot of his techniques are burdensome and complex to implement, but you might want to give his podcast a listen if you're into this sort of thing. I think he published a how-to manual, too, on how to be anonymous in the world today.

Don't buy Dell.  Crappy computers.  I bought one, problems from Day One, I call it "Dell Hell".  My Asus laptop seized up on me and I lost some of my son's movies (he had made them, he wasn't happy).  Don't bother with a Microsoft Surface either, overhyped and low on performance.

I've had my best luck with HP and Lenovo.  I also have an Acer Aspire laptop from 2009, and aside from its being antiquated, it's been a solid performer, heavy as an anvil, but a good little machine.  I'm going to repurpose it as a DVD player for my son to use on long car trips.

Bought a refurbished HP Elitebook 8460p online, for $189.00 in 2017.  This is an engineer's workstation and she hasn't missed a beat.

I agree Dell is China-Jєω-junk.