I have a Sony VAIO. I got it almost exactly one year ago and have loved it. I used a desktop for the longest time and finally bought a laptop last March. I fell in love using it and until recently, only turned on the desktop 3 times in the past year LOL. It is/was not the top of the line computer but it wasn't a bargin bin one either. I like Sonys A LOT because I have yet to have any hardware conflicts. Even the OS has not really created any problems for me. As for durability, I have taken it to work every day the past year. I work in a dirty shop where there is a lot of grease, metal shavings, dust, and such. I hook it up to speakers and play music for 10 hours a day. Then mess around the internet at night so the machine has been running a lot. Durabilty is top notch.

As for the features its just a matter of comparing them between different companies. But you know that I'm sure ;)