I'm personally strongly against HP, and Dell. Bad experiences from friends and myself....
I'm also against Macs mostly from a price standpoint, I'm typically an AMD guy, but in terms of laptops I've never gone wrong with Toshiba.
This particular one is an intel, but looks like a pretty solid package to me.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834214870
Code:
Brand: TOSHIBA
Series: Satellite
Model: L855-S5255
Part#: PSKACU-03W012
General
Color: Mercury Silver
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
CPU Type: Intel Core i5-2450M 2.5GHz
Screen: 15.6"
Memory Size: 4GB DDR3
Hard Disk: 640GB
Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7670M
Video Memory: 1GB
Communication: Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Dimensions: 14.96" x 9.53" x 1.14"-1.31"
Weight: 5.5 lbs.
CPU
CPU Type: Intel Core i5
CPU Speed: 2450M(2.50GHz)
CPU Support: 3MB L3 Cache
3.1 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
Chipset
Chipset: Intel HM76
Display
Screen Size: 15.6"
Wide Screen Support: Yes
Resolution: 1366 x 768
Operating Systems
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Graphics
GPU/VPU: AMD Radeon HD 7670M
Video Memory: Dedicated 1GB
Graphic Type: Dedicated Card
Hard Drive
HDD: 640GB
HDD RPM: 5400rpm
HDD Interface: SATA
Memory
Memory: 4GB
Memory Speed: DDR3 1333
Memory Slot (Total): 2
Memory Slot (Available): 1
Max Memory Supported: 16GB
Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type: DVD Super Multi
Optical Drive Spec: Maximum speed and compatibility: CD-ROM (24x), CD-R (24x), CD-RW (24x), DVD-ROM (8x), DVD-R (8x), DVD-R DL (6x), DVD-RW (6x), DVD+R (8x), DVD+R DL (6x), DVD+RW (8x), DVD-RAM (5x).
Communications
LAN: 10/100Mbps
WLAN: 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
Ports
USB: 1 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0
Video Port: 1 x VGA
HDMI: 1 x HDMI
Audio Ports: 1 x Microphone jack; 1 x Headphone jack
Audio
Audio: SRS Premium Sound HD
Speaker: Built-in stereo speakers
Input Device
Touchpad: Touch pad pointing device with multi-touch control
Keyboard: Premium Keyboard with 10-key (black)
Supplemental Drive
Card Reader: Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, miniSD, microSD, Multi Media Card
Webcam: Yes
Power
AC Adapter: 75-watt AC adapter
Battery: 6 cell/48Wh Lithium Ion battery pack
Battery Life: Up to 4 hours, 38 minutes
Physical Specifications
Dimensions: 14.96" x 9.53" x 1.14"-1.31"
Weight: 5.5 lbs.
Decent battery life and great performance. Seems like a winner to me.