Buying a computer these days is not a very big decision. Most of you either do it for yourself of for your wife or for your children. In most of the cases the ideal is the desktop model - a personal computer.
Buying a Laptop: Who should buy?
Which popular brands are available?
IBM
Compaq / HP
Toshiba
Sony
Acer / BenQ
Dell
Apple
Which factors to consider?
tech specs - Processor, HDD capacity, RAM, DVD/CDR-W, networking, USB ports
screen specs - size, flat, TFT
touchpad / trackpoint or both
weight
carrying case
guarantee / warranty: domestic / international
service centers, after sales service
built-in softwares / additional softwares required
PRICE
Do not hestitate to ask your friends, colleagues, neighbours(who own a Laptop) about their opinion and experience about the piece which they use.
I have been using Compaq Armada 500 laptop for last two years and about 5 months ago I have IBM ThinkPad T41. The new laptop is half the weight and has a soft-feel look. Looks very sleek. T42 also now is available.
My T41 has Pentium Centrino mobile processor. 40GB HDD, DVD/CDR-W combo drive, 512MB RAM, without floppy drive(who uses floppies these days?), flat screen, touchpad and trackpoint and PS2 optical mouse. It is very nice and I have no problems so far with performance and service.
All the best.