Some comments

1. If price is a big issue you just can't beat configuring a v2000z at hpshopping.com starting at $529, but still able to stack this unit with options like LightScribe DVD and come out with something fancy for well under a grand. The wait sucks though ( 2 weeks, built in China)
And Dells are pretty cheap these days.

2. As a side note, I was looking at one of the v2000s at a store today, the model# with the Turion 64 in it, and the area around the touchpad seemed quite warm, even warmer than a similar model next to it with the Sempron 3000 in it. The AMDs might perform better than a Celeron but heat factor might be more of an issue, I'm guessing.

3. Truth is, Compaq and Dell and even HP are not the best choices for longevity. Heck, they're all pretty much made the same. That's not to say that if you take care of your budget laptop you can't get a good 3-5 years out of it with a little luck. Alot of people underestimate the inherent fragility of notebooks and abuse them and then blame the manufacturer when something goes wrong. I bet well over half of all customer complaints to tech support have nothing to do with build quality and everything to do with neglect.
Anyway, I think IBM/Lenovo, and Apple are better bets for quality/dpendability but need to be revised with the times a little. Have you considered an iBook or a PowerBook?
Fujitsus are sweet, have really come of age but remain rather pricey.

4. Sony's are a bit more expensive but you gotta love the crisp screens and cool features on say, the Vaios. I'd say Sony PCs are of better quality than HP/Compaq and Dell.

5. All things considered, I'd skip all of these and consider the holiday upgrade of the 14" 5 lb. Toshiba m55 (m55-s139) which you can get at Office Depot for $999 if you can deal with a Celeron 380. The similar s-329 has a Pentium M and it's $1149.
I feel a little more comfortable buying a Toshiba over a Compaq.