Reliability: Sony, Acer, and Gateway have worst reliability. Dell, Toshiba, and HP are at the same level as far as reliability as concern. MacBook and Lenovo have the best relibility.
Cost / Performance ration: Compared to Toshiba, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer has the best. Same price, they usually put higher CPU, memory, hard-drive, etc. But there is sacrifice.
Appearance: for a $500 one, don't consider this.
It seems to me you are looking for a laptop around $400, Correct?
Also consider this one
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Lenovo+-+IdeaPad+Laptop+/+AMD+Phenom&%23153%3B+II+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+3GB+Memory+-+Black/2171094.p?id=1218312457552&skuId=2171094&ref=25&loc=NXT&srccode=cii_9324560&cpncode=00-11706900-2
PlayForever says right. Go for a business grade if you don't mind spending couple of hundreds more. I personally use Lenovo ThinkPad.
Also, try ebay.com. I always found great deals there.
Once you receive your laptop, remmeber to install and uninstall some softwares, and remember to make a recovery DVD.
More questions, email comparisonshop@gmail.com
