All of the laptop companies have good retail products. For cost and features Toshiba has a good satelite line and HP as well with the pavillion. Just watch the cost. If it costs $500 with rebates then it probably will not last long. You really want the machine that costs $700 after the rebates or around there +_ $50. Don't be cheap on the RAM, some say 2 gig is not needed. I disagree. 1 gig is the min, but 2 should keep you going for a couple of years. Drive size is not important these days with external usb drives being a dime a dozen for you to store pictues and backups of everything.
My favorites are IBM T60 and Toshiba
15.4 inch screen is big enough. If you want bigger get a cheap flat panel and plug it in while at home. Taking a huge laptop on the road sucks and the bags that they fit in are expensive. My two cents.