Well I have been in the PC biz for 10 yrs and work for 3COM for 8 yrs and we were a DELL shop until recently they went to IBM. I recommend certain Dell models as I had the Inspirion 8200 that was bullet proof. I have read many people unhappy with Dells support now that it has gone over seas and also complaints about build quality. I would not personally recommend a IBM as even the new ones we have Im repairing and I dont feel that they are a quality built laptop. Even with my corporate discounts for Dell and IBM I went with HP/Compaq. I ordered a Compaq X6000 in a custom config for my needs. I have had very good luck with HP/Compaq support and read many people happy with the models. I will make a recomendation to configuring a good laptop though, have at least 512k ram, buy the best screen you can afford (hi res & higher DPI = crisper screen) also make sure you get dedicated ram (64 is good, more is better for gaming) also HD spin speed is key for fast performance, standard is 4200rpm, try and get 5400rpm (10% better performance) if you can afford it get 7200rpm (15% better). CPU will determine performace also. If you need a desktop replacement go with P4 3.0, 3.2, If you need portability and desktop style performance go with M Processor((715A(1.5 GHz),725 (1.6 GHz)etc). Celeron is your last choice although they are better now than in past. Good luck
Hi. I?m looking to buy a new high end laptop/notebook (two names for the same thing, or is there a difference?) ready to start a degree in multimedia computing. Does anyone have any recommendations re which are the better makes? Acer look good & price wise they compare well with other makes of similar specs, but I don?t know if they?re well built, with good quality components; have good customer service technical help etc.
Any comments/suggestions/recommendations much appreciated.
TIA, Jeff
p.s. I'm in the UK, if that makes any difference.

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic