I have an HP that I got when they went on sale at Wal-Mart... and it's been a great machine. LOTS of use between me working and the kids carrying it off to lay across their bed and play games on
It's a Pavilion - one I got a year or so ago. Still going strong!
Actually, Wal-Mart.com has some HP's on clearance on their website right now, so you may want to look there too (in addition to checking out what's on sale at your local store, or other electronic stores):
(click electronics)
I got some desktop systems from Dell last year that I'm really (REALLY) pleased with, so I had looked at getting another laptop from them. I dont have any personal experience with their laptops, though... Check their site, too - because they post deals quite a bit:
www.Dell.com