All I can say is, anything but HP. We've never had any of their computers, but that's because their printers are so bad that we don't even want to know what their computers are like...

We have always had IBM's. They're slow to start up because of all the extras IBM put on there, but are strong and run well, and are reliable. There's a reason these are favorites with companies worldwide (although I understand that this was sold to some Chinese company, so the recent ones are probably POS's too.)

I also can say that Dell laptops from ca. 2000-2004 aren't a terribly good choice. In my Dad's time as a quality control director for IBM's (and later Hitatchi's) Hard Drive division, he was getting an alarming hard drive failure rate in the Dells. The reason? Dell placed the hard drive right under the spot where most people rest their wrists. Some put a lot of pressure there, and POOF! there went the drives.