First you should tell us how much is the budget and what is the purpose of the laptop? Is it for gaming? multimedia? or just for brwsing . Go for WINDOWS7! For multimedia you can check on Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725 the price is around $1200 dollars. You can search the internet for reviews. For Gaming try to look at this Alienware M15x starting price $1,499. You can check the details on their website. You can also go around the internet for reviews. And you can also check on TOSHIBA Satellite L505-S5969 with discounts in newegg website @$599.
It depends on ur budget and ur specification.i recommend dell studio 17 or acer timeline.and sony vaio is evergreen.
Definitely Toshiba, Sony Vaio or Asus laptops. Reliable brands with high quality. Explore computer hardware forums to choose the model. For example visit: http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16
I suggest Notebook Toshiba L500-14X T4200 250GB 3GB HD4570 or Notebook Dell Inspiron 1545 Red v33 T4200 250GB 4GB HD4330 , both with dedicated video card (512MB) for now is ok. IF you want a more powerfull laptop for the games get 1GB dedicat video card.
At my point of view, You should go with Sony Vaio... An advance technology.. Go, and research for sony vaio, which can be compatible for you because there are lots of model available in market with different costs... Best of Luck..
Acer laptops are a good brand, you can get hold of them relatively cheap and I have found them to have good customer services.