As Dan said, I've had a series of Toshibas and been pretty happy with them. However, I've never used one as my development machine, only as a secondary machine, so I can't really comment on how they hold up under that workload.

I have needed service a few times and Toshiba authorized service has done what I needed.

I'm actually thinking about a new notebook (my current one is 4.5 years old), but holding back because it doesn't look like I can get one without a touchpad, something I've never mastered.
(And yes, I know I can turn it off, but I just don't want it there.)

Tamar