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I'm still researching...

I've only had experience with Dell and Toshiba - we had those at the places I've worked. In general, the Toshibas didn't seem as sturdy, though they had nice feature sets. Service was OK, though as with most companies, their first level support folks obviously worked from a script, and you had to go through a whole song-and-dance to get someone to come out. I've heard from some that their quality has declined a bit, but I dunno if that's so.

I've only had the chance to play with one or two Thinkpads...LOVED the feel of them. Really solid feeling machines with great keyboards. They have a rep for being dependable, if not flashy - they rarely include the latest and greatest. Wish they weren't so expensive. I've not seen the new Z60t in person, but it sounds like about what I'm looking for.

I'll likely end up with a Dell, I guess. It's what I have now, and it's been dependable, for the most part. And most places I've worked have had them. I know their service gets a bad rap, but with a little patience, I've never had them try to duck out of dealing with a real issue. So...there's that. Just wish they had a standard Inspiron model in the size I want. The 6000 is too big, most of the others are too small. Maybe they'll come out with something new before I'm ready to buy, though.

Some of the current HPs look really nice - I want a 14.1" wide screen, I think, and the dv1000 is priced pretty nicely. However, I've heard some horror stories about parts going bad on HPs in the past, so I dunno.

It's a crapshoot no matter how you look at it, I guess. Any system can have problems. I'm gonna keep an eye on reviews and all for the next few months! New Intel processors are coming out in a week, and I imagine a lot of companies will be revamping their lines and dropping prices on systems using the older processors.