Stay away from HP in my opinion. Their customer services I experianced was subpar and it was rated the worst out of 8 laptop manufacturers. I have a dv9000 and had it for over a year and one of the hinges are really loose, some of the keys stick, and they are known for overheating. I say sony or toshiba are you best bet.
HP Corporate Notebooks are good, however some time over priced.
HP Consumer Notebooks (Presarios and Previlions) are rubbish.