>Settled on a Lenovo Ideapad y560 with an 1.73 i7, 7200rpm 500gb hd, 6gb ram, 1gb ATI Radeon video. 15.6 WXGA LED screen.

I have had a Lenovo ThinkPad R61 for a few years now. I opted for the 1680x1050 screen resolution which makes it bearable to program with when I'm on the road (my office setup is triple 24" monitors).

With an oversized battery in the back and a supplemental battery in the cd drive I can use it for 5 to 6 hours unplugged.

Not a single problem so far. I recently used the built-in utility to reset it to factory fresh install and it was ridiculously easy.