I'm an IBM lover all the way, and I hate compaqs with a passion. In addition to all of my personal dealings with them, this site sums it up nicely
http://compaqsucks.com/ .
But anyway, back to the issue at hand. I agree with you that Dell and Acer are no good, I've also had problems with them in the past. As far as bang for the buck though, you can't beat IBM. I know that they're friggen expensive, but they build'em like tanks and mine has taken more punishment then I care to admit. The main thing is that they aren't the best on graphics. They're meant for work and they do it better than any other machine I've seen, but the 3D acceleration isn't a big part of the unit.
There was a thread awhile back on what type of laptop was the best for different needs, a little searching should pull it up. The main thing is to know what you're going to be using it for the most and build it to that spec, don't get caught up buying stuff you don't need. Let us know how it turns out btw.