RRRED had a thread about this and everyone in the thread threw around "Dell, Sony, Apple".
I just got my first laptop six months ago and didn't go with any of those companies, even though the IT guys I work with recommended them. Once I found out that there are only a few companies that actually build the original parts that most main-stream, known dealers use: Those "alienware", "falcon-nw", "dell", etc, etc are all built from the same manufacturers who just add to it. Like "sager" being the base for some high-end laptops of which they just upgrade.
So I went to
http://discountlaptops.com/ and chose an
Asus z70 because it had everything I needed, was want I wanted in a portable computer and had a solid support base for troubles. **Note, apparently DELL's support is stellar (next day keyboard replacement, next day [whatever]), which I can't have with my generic laptop.
I fucking love my generic laptop. It's not bulky like the Dells, it doesn't suck up battery life like the Sony; it's just a solid laptop for what I wanted. The battery life rocks, the speed is stellar, my 2Gb of ram helps with anything I need; I could go on for a while about that shit.
Anyway, that's my story about the lappy I write this post with. When I need a next laptop, it won't be from a mainstream company. The price I paid for the hardware I have in this laptop far outshines any other mainstream company re-selling the same.