Don't get a HP, they're rubbish. We have three Toshiba laptops and a netbook in this house, no problems with any of them, nice build quality and very reliable.
And from my experience I love my HP and wouldn't have anything else - on the other hand I wouldn't touch another Toshiba - it was nothing but trouble. So the lesson I would say is good and bad in all brands!
I had an Acer desk top many years ago - had no complaints.