Taiwan works for me, specially for the price...ALL laptops except Panasonic laptops are made in either China or Taiwan. I believe the Panasonics are still made in Japan, but they start at about $1,500. However, they are very, very good laptops. I personally own a Panasonic CF-53 Toughbook with Windows 7 Pro x64, upgraded with 8GB RAM and a 750GB 7200RPM Hitachi hard drive.
If you don’t have that kind of dough, try a Latitude E5x30 with Windows 7 Pro x64. You can pick up bargains at dell.com/outlet. All the Dell factory refurbs have the exact same warranty as a brand new machine.
Whatever you do, don’t buy Windows 8. You’ll hate yourself if you do and truly regret wasting your money.
Taiwan works for me, specially for the price...