what kind of notebook would you buy?

Business? Thinkpad T61(T61p) or an x300. The previous to a to the T6* series is the T4*. I use a T42p for work and a T23 (also with an SXGA 1400 x 1050) for home (before that, I had a T22 (still have it) and before that I had a 600X).

The Compaq Armada series was failry rugged and very easy to work on. The Evo series, which replaced it, was hit or miss. I stopped following after that (my last was the Evo N160-- craptastically unreliable). I do not recommend anything form HP/Compag, currently.

Dell's "business" line is the Latitude, but also hit or miss especially with Latitudes / Insprions (or the other way around-- except for the Inspriron 1200 / 2200 and Latitude 110L. I have two of those (one 1200 and one 110L), and they are VERY easy to work on, which is good because the durability is a bit eh). I suppose the E series and the previous D series is ok. If you're on a budget, there's Vostro-- a lot of computer for the money.

TravelMate is Acer's "business" line. The TravelMate 803 was a legendary benchmark champ, but I could never get used to that curved keyboard. Plus, their build quality is also, eh. So I don't recommend them, either.

The only Toshibas I have first hand knowledge of is the P25 series. Difficult to work on, heavy and hot, but keep on going. The Qosimo series replaces that, I suppose, and I've been marginally impressed.

The new MacBook Pros are nice, but cary that hefty price premium.

Sony, I do not recommend.

Asus. Great hardware. Just hope it never breaks. Tech support and warranty replacement is glacial. Same with MSI, although MSI is a little more on the ball in my experience.