[dogscoff]

I would second Fyron's recommendation: Go with a Dell. They were shipping some crap a few years back and skimping on customer service, but I've heard they have fixed all that now. Modern Dells are good machines at a decent price, and they are usually Linux-friendly.

I've heard good things about Lenovo as well, they are supposed to be pretty hard to break compared to most other laptops, which is a good thing. Also pretty well supported by Linux.

Avoid Sony. Overpriced, underspecced, flimsy. I have one, and it is falling to bits. Admittedly it *is* still working after 5 or 6 years, but for what I paid I would expect better.

Looking at what you intend to use it for, you don't need particularly high specs. You could easily get away with a second-hand machine or a refurb, might save you some £$¥.

Also, if you're using it for ebooks and if you plan on travelling with it, maybe consider a small, lightweight machine ratehr than one of these hulking great 17-inch desktop-replacements. My boss has a tiny little dell tablet PC with a flippy-round-and-fold-back-down-over-the-keyboard touchscreen. You can use it as a dainty little laptop, or hold it in one hand and use it as a tablet with a stylus. It's great, and ideal for working or reading on a plane or in a car. Power consumption is good too, which means longer battery life. You'd pay a premium for one of those thogh, and I have no idea how it would run under anything other than the factory-installed OS.