In november 2007 our old desktop finally passed away. In the midst of our grief we were faced with the need for a new machine. To support my wife's mobile lifestyle we decided to get a notebook. In our hurry we purchased a 15" MSI notebook and upgraded the memory. All told the cost was about AUD $1400 .
By february I needed a new notebook myself. I bought a
Dell Inspiron 6400 - probably the ugliest notebook on the market at the time. The Dell cost me AUD $998.
The MSI was expensive, has been unreliable and has an awful compressed keyboard with a full numeric keypad. The Dell has been an indispensable business tool; fast and rock solid.
So maybe you can't judge a notebook by it's cover?