Further to my and AMOFW's posts:
Mesh, HP/Compaq, Toshiba are the ones I'd look at as well as Sony.
But then I'm a Sony "nut". Love the design philosophy of their products. Must have had more than 30 of them in recent years.
Have recently bought four laptops with/for clients as well as for myself and now know that the drivers out of the box are also out of the Ark. Get straight on-line for the updates.
Service is so-so. I needed a bit of springy plastic to keep the letter "d" in place on the keyboard and the suggestion was that I part with the laptop for a month and pay £200 for the repair. The support person said they do not supply parts to the general public. Ignored the problem and the key top is still in place for No 3 son at Uni.
I'd still look at Sony as long as the spec was what I needed.
Just about to initiate the purchase of a Vaio PCG Z1XSP.CEK for client who gives educational presentations. £1999 VAT inc !