The VAR Guy has never been much of an investor. But he knows how to read a stock chart. And boy are the charts for Dell and Hewlett-Packard heading in opposite directions. Seems like Dell lost its way and HP got on track around April 2005–a few weeks after NCR veteran Mark Hurd arrived as HP’s new CEO.

HP critics, including The VAR Guy, thought IBM and Dell would squeeze the company from above and below. But HP managed to turn the tables on Dell. Even as HP’s chairman steps down amid a boardroom scandal, partners such as Sequel Data Systems remain loyal. Soluton providers have learned to design imaging and storage systems comprising HP’s entire product portfolio, while the once-mighty Dell has struggled with the basics of customer service. Ouch.

Still, The VAR Guy doesn’t think perception matches reality. HP isn’t all good and will take a few lumps for recent boardroom goofs. And Dell isn’t all bad. Keep an open mind. And don’t dismiss Dell. They’ve stumbled and recovered before.