Or even it's Compaqs. Here's why out of HP, Sony, or Toshiba. Sony ranked the lowest in customer service last year. Since you are used to Apple service which ranked #1 in said survey, you would not be happy with Sony. Toshiba is, in my book an "avoid" till mid-year since they had a minor glitch in some models so rather than chance getting something with said glitch, just shop elsewhere for awhile.

We have many Compaq/HPs at the office (along with Dell, IBM...) and they're just fine. Consider the 64-bit models if you want some longevity in your laptop.

Happy shopping,

Bob