I'm really not digging the 16:9 screen though. That's the only downer for the E4310 IMO. It's great for movies and such, but for Internet, Office, etc, I'd rather have more vertical pixels because all that is typically vertically stacked. It's only 32 pixels, but I think that's about the size of the windows task bar.
This statement reflects my exact feelings on the current state of the laptop market. This requirement removes most of the current laptop market from consideration, bumping the specifications into the $650 - $1200 range. I have been researching this past week for resolutions sizes > 1366x768 and this is what I have come up with.
Technical Specifications:
Resolution (primary consideration): 1600 x 900, 1920 x 1080
Understand the screen sizes required for these resolutions bump the laptop into a pricier range.
RAM: 4GB (Upgradeable to 8GB is optional but allows for future expansion.)
CPU: AMD (not 'Neo' or 'V'), Intel Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7
(my recomendation is AMD, or Intel i3, i5)
Other specifications are unnecessary (hard drive size and speed, graphics). An external drive is better for file storage reliability than a 500GB drive inside a portable laptop that may be dropped or banged around. The (Touchpad - Multi-touch) software feature did catch my interest since it allows magnification changes and smaller icon sizes.
Laptop categories with 1600 x 900 resolution:
Toshiba Satellite L675 17.3" $600 - $700
Asus 17.3" $710 - $1025
MSI 17.3" $775
Sony Vaio E Series 17.3" $825
Sony Vaio F Series 16.4" $1100 - $1300
Lenovo T510 or W510 15.6" (Business Class) $950 - $1400
Toshiba Tecra 15.6" (Business Class) $1200 - $1300
Sony Vaio Z Series 13.1" (Business Class) $1700 - $2300
Brand Discussion:
http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf
This report shows the following in brand reliability over 2-3 years.
Asus > Toshiba > Sony > Apple > Dell > Lenovo > Acer > Gateway > HP
My personal preference order:
Asus > Lenovo = Apple > Sony > MSI > Panasonic = Toshiba >>
Dell = Gateway = Acer > eMachines >>
HP > Compaq
I expect Samsung laptops are on the level with Sony.
Regarding Toshiba, this is most likely the lowest cost laptop with a 1600x900 resolution. I worked with a Toshiba Tecra that ran flawlessly on a level comparable with Lenovo and I do keep this company in higher consideration than both Dell and HP. However, Toshiba does not have that strong of an impression with me, since they sold our submarine screw designs to the Russians many years ago. As a former submariner, I find that difficult to accept.