I work for Dell, but not in the laptop division, and so I'm just a consumer of them. It is happenstance that I've not had a non-Dell laptop, but I do gather that the IBM Thinkpad is highly regarded, and I'm sure others are as well.

Personally I don't like the Inspiron consumer line, and some of the Vostro line are rebadged Inspiron. I fine them heavy and less robust then the Latitude line. Though I did recently purchase a Vostro 13 (a rebadged Latitude 13) for $400 from the Dell Outlet, but checking now it would run you $500, for $30 more you could get a Latitude E5420. Bensbargins will knock 20% off a E6520, which start at $649.

Another option is the Dell Financial Services off lease site. You could, for example, get a E6400 for $362, down side it comes with Vista, and only a 100 Day Limited Warranty. Benbargains will knock 25% off that.

Finally, we do get a discount, 17% off Inspiron laptops & desktop, 10% off Alien, XPS, Electronics, etc, stackable on top of any you find on the internet.