for the general population, i would suggest going with one of the big boys like Dell or Lenovo. i'm currently typing on a 5-year old Lenovo laptop that is working great, not a single complaint so far. i bought the 3-year no-questions-asked insurance, because i'm a klutz, as it turned out nothing broke on the machine. just as the warrantee was about to expire i sent it in to get the keyboard and a USB port replaced - didn't really need it, but i recouped my cost right there. to my mind, support options are more important for the average man on the street than the specs of the machine, if it's going to be mostly used for email and surfing. any machine you buy will do the job. question is, what is your tolerance for pain when the machine dies? how much are you willing to do to get the computer back into service? personally i want overnight my laptop, have them fix it ASAP, then ship it back to me. both Lenovo and Dell have good options in that regard, along with others like in-person drop-off. if you're patient, a good sale/deal will pop up - they're constantly discounting something in their line-up...
