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My personal picks...
IBM
Acer
Panasonic (ToughBook series)
Brands you couldn't pay me to buy...
HP
Compaq
Sony
Gateway
Dell
Somewhere in the middle...
Apple
Toshiba
Now for the reasons!
I chose IBM, Acer, and Panasonic as my top picks because I like three things in laptops: Quality/Speed, price, and durability. Those three brands excel in all three categories.
IBM's laptop line (
www.lenovo.com) has been strong since the early days of portable computing and has kept up with that strong tradition. The T series are my personal favorites.
Acer (global.acer.com) makes great products at great prices. I've never had an Acer product crap out on me and I love the flexibility they offer. There's a system from them for virtually every person and every budget.
Panasonic's (
www.panasonic.com) ToughBooks can literally stop a bullet. They fill the durability area in completely by being ultra durable and resilient in situations that would often destroy the average notebook. You pay a bit more for that, but the first time that durability saves the notebook you'll be glad you spent the extra bit.
HP/Compaq has never been a brand I liked. HP makes great printers but garbage computers. They're heavier than a wheelbarrow full of bricks and about as powerful. Their laptops are as equally unimpressive.
Sony is a big name in electronics but they can't make a computer to save their lives! Tall and hard to work with, Sony tends to use proprietary designs that can make upgrading a true nightmare.
Gateway used to make great machines in their early days but really dropped the ball in the late 90's with underpowered and underperforming machines. I'd avoid it unless it was given to you free.
Dell... How I despise thee. I have nothing good to say about them. All the Dells we have here at work have all DIED and have all had major repair work done to bring them back to operating condition. Many cannot be upgraded and the company itself is very explusive about what goes inside the box offering no real choice. Beware their cheap offerings, you really do get what you pay for.
Apple used to be a good company, then they went with Intel. They said it was for performance but as anyone knows, Intel's offering as of late aren't all performance. I was saving up to get one but I think I'll blow that cash on something else.
Toshiba used to make great machines up until the last few years. If you can get an older model then you'll be good.