Shoutbox

Firstly if you aren't going to move around with it lots then I highly suggest you just get a desktop.  If you want performance than I would look at desktop replacements with their 17" screen, but these can be a pain if you are taking it with you everywhere (but are great for viewing movies).  They cost more but are superior for the computing side (just not battery life and size/weight).

I recommend getting a decent brand too,  I just don't trust thee cheap imports .  Toshiba and Sony are always fairly safe choices, but Dell seems to have cheaper laptops for the same stuff inside.... its your choice really.

Make sure that you get the stuff you want, there are many laptops out there these days and you can get one that will be exactly what you are after (CPU, RAM, HDD etc) oh and make sure you look at the RPM of the HDD, 5,400 is usually what you get but I did see a 120GB HDD that was only like 4,200 or something and that would be deadly when you are used to your quick one on your PC (7,200RPM is the norm for PCs).  Make sure you get the etended warranty as well and look for ones that have wifi (preferably n type) and bluetooth and all the connectors you want.

Another thing to be careful of is the graphics card, make sure it uses its own memory, a lot use shared memory and that's just not cool.

And lastly, try before you buy (and read reviews of other people who have tried).  You don't want o get something that has some annoying features or the battery just dies on them after a little, or the sound is crap or blah blah blah....