For the first quarter of 2011, here are some laptops that I like.  They all have the follow specs (unless specified differently):

• Intel Core i3
• 4GM RAM
• Integrated video card
• 500 GB HDD
• Resolution: 1366x768

• Apple MacBook Pro MC374LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop
• ASUS U35F-X1 13.3" - 3.7 lbs
• ASUS U35JC-A 13.3" - Nvidia 310M - 3.7 lbs
• ASUS U43JC-X1 i5 - Nvidia G310M - 14" - 4.7 lbs
• ASUS U45JC-A1 Nvidia G310M - 14" - 4.6 lbs
• Acer Aspire TimelineX 320 GB HDD - 13.3" - 3.97 lbs
• Sony VAIO Y 1366x768 - 3.9 lbs
• HP Pavilion dm4 i5 - 14" - 4.4 lbs (I bought a version of this laptop!)
• HP Envy 14 i5 - ATI Radeon HD 565 - 640 GB HDD - 14.5" - 5.2 lbs

For the first quarter of 2010, here are some laptops, broken into a couple categories:

Ultra Portables

• ASUS Eee PC (1201N)
• ASUS UL (UL30A-X5, UL30A-A2, UL30Vt-X1)

i7

• Dell Studio s1557
• HP DV6-2190US
• Sony VAIO VPC-F111FX/H

i5

• Dell Inspiron i1764
• HP Pavilion DV6-2170US

Dell came out with the new Zino HD.  It's a small profile computer made specifically for HTPC.  You can get it as low as $230, or make it as beefy as $600+. Looks wise, it's pretty similar to a Mac Mini .

I would go with the Tech package + 4GB RAM upgrade.  With the Dell's "8 Days of Deals", the price comes out to $562 - $104 = $458.

• Windows 7 Home Premium
• AMD Athlon X2 3250e
• ATI Radeon HD 4330
• 4GB DDR2 RAM
• 250 GB Hard Drive (though I have extra hard drives for more storage)
• 8X DVD+/- RW Drive

One of my friends is looking for a new budget computer (with a little bit of "future proof"). So I did some looking around and came up with the following parts, if you want to build one yourself. This is assuming you already have a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse.