http://www.lebokov21.com/2009/11/20/asus-tops-laptop-reliability-research/
Not sure how reliable this chart is, but HP seems to have the highest malfunction rate out of all brands. I say go with Asus since I always hear good things about them or Toshiba(based on the chart). Sony is not a bad choice, though a tad expensive from what I remember. Also, I see many complaints about HP coming with many bloatware pre-installed.