[JamesBrown]

I will join the group reccommending ThinkPads (They are still ThinkPads, they are just Lenovo's now not IBM's)

I am on my second ThinkPad, I still have my t60 (from 2006) I haven't had any real problems with it, I still use it regularly for things that don't require high performance just before the warrenty expired (last summer) my hard drive failed, lenovo tech support had me run a diagnostic test, then they sent me a new hard drive with factory image at no cost. I also have a t400 that is less than a year old, I had a problem where it would not power on one day, I called Lenovo tech support they sent me a box, I shipped everything to them and they replaced the mother board and returned it to me. The whole process took 5 business days, there was no cost to me.

I have been extremely happy with both of my ThinkPad's. The Lenovo's are the most common computer at RPI (by far) and are the most common computer at Hasbro (my current job), over all most people seem to have good experiences with them.

My only advice if you decide to go with a Mac instead is to find out where the nearest Mac store is to you at school. School help desks are usually very good at fixing computers they are fammiliar with but it is hit or miss whether they have a Mac expert there, even when they do it is usually faster and cheaper to go to the Genius Bar instead.