After reading more of the posts since I posted last in here I can't believe people were having a lot of problems with Sony. I will admit that I based my recommendation on experience of my sisters Vaio which hasen't given her any problems in the 4 years of ownership. I wonder if they cheapend them up over the past few years or she has been lucky with it.
Like I also said, I've been (and still are) happy with my Toshiba Satellite 1905-S277 (1.6 ghz, 30mb harddrive, 512mb ram, 15" lcd screen, 56k, nic, combo dvd/cd burner, Windows XP home) that I bought 1 1/2 years ago. Just that for what I paid compared to others I didn't get any software other than Lotus. I did get a good laptop but it's more of a "work" model than "entertainment". The dvd player is great but the dual (stereo) speakers I would rate as just "decent". I don't play many dvd's or cd's but the few times I do it lacks in the sound department compared to others I've heard. This isn't the Toshiba brand as a whole, I've heard other Satellites and Tecras with good sound. It's just that the entertainment factor wasn't what I was going for or intending the laptop for when I went looking for one and the dvd player with this model was only a side bonus. I'm starting to ramble on here so my main point is to decide what you want in a laptop (the features, plus what you're planning to do with it), the amount you're willing to spend, and above all how you feel with it. I'm not just talking about wieght but also stuff like the keyboard (another reason I bought this model) and how to move the cursor. Do you prefer the "eraser head" or "touch pad".
There's also a good website (among others out there) that bases thier reviews on average people than magazines who sometimes base thier recommendations on thier advertisers. Unfortunately they don't do complete systems but only parts and periphials. Check out
www.sysopt.com/userreviews/