emachines and hp laptops are bottom of the line. they use the cheapest parts. compaqs are a little better, on the top of the line you've got sony, ibm, and dell. take it from me, i am a computer technician at compusa and i work on laptops everyday. get an ibm laptop. they come with a 3 yr manufacturers warranty. most laptops only come with 1 yr (compaq armadas and hp omnibooks have 3 yrs but are only sold commercially). i'm not sure what dells warranty is but some sonys only have a 90 day warranty. as fragile as laptops are you need a good warranty. i've seen people sit on them, leave them in a hot car, spill stuff in them, etc. just make sure you have a good warranty bc if your system board goes bad in one you're looking at $800-1000 to replace it, or if you screen goes out you're looking at $700-1500 to replace it. you may as well buy another laptop. plus hdd are anywhere from $200-500 so i can not emphasis the importance of a warranty enough. i would suggest an ibm laptop, you can only buy them online they are not sold in retail stores anymore so go to ibm.com and order yourself one today! (i've got one)