I would suggest IBM ThinkPad. They are great laptops. They last really long and all of them come with 3-year warranty. I always had IBM ThinkPad and recently I bought a T43. I am very happy that I stuck with ThinkPad. Especially, I like the marker in the center of the keyboard- cannot live without it anymore. Dell laptops are cheaper compare to others but not so dependable. If your budget is around 1700 go for T42 or T43. You can customize it the way you want, just go to Lenovo webpage.