Need suggestions for a new laptop

[RedDevil]

Dell's 17 inch laptop is a hefty one, you'll save money on the gym equipment :)
it's a good deal tho and Dell has all sorts of deals floating around every week
their support system is OK, it's mostly India/Pakistan sort of, they type well but speaking to them is a nightmare, I always ask for English as a native language only persons to call, if they need to speak to me .. I just have a hard time understanding them otherwise.

Best Buy and Circuit City have some good deals on HPs and Compaqs oftimes, so comparing is necessity :) best thing to keep in mind is support and repairs..
All PCs pretty much use the same components anymore and they all break just as much as the next one so that's nothing to worry about, it's how long and where it's gotta go to get fixed is..

get the best video card you can as most are soldered into the boards and you cannot change them out, try to avoid the cheapo "mobility" ones
256 or 512 meg cards are awesome, but costly

HDDs are a cinch to replace, mostly 4 screws and it's done.
memory is also easy to upgrade in most laptops, but many only have 2 slots, if you can get 2 GB, get it.
Get 4 GB only if you're planning on a 64bit OS as 32bit systems(which 80% of us here are running) only see 3 GB anyways.