I used to work at a privately owned computer store after I got A+ certified, and I used to get people in that asked me about the same question. I always told them "You probably want something that will last instead of something that is shiny." and that's when I got the funny looks. When I explained that they really aren't going to need the top of the line because they're not using it more than what you would use a public terminal for. My personal opinion, is that Toshiba and Lenovo/IBM laptops are the longest lasting ones out there now. They're built well, have longer warranties than any other, and are spec'd for business usage and wear-and-tear. Note that they cost just about the same as a higher end Dell or HP, but either one of those laptops won't last half as long without serious problems occurring. And Toshiba and Lenovo/IBM are better about not installing a ton of useless software onto the machine.
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That's the awesome thing about IBM. Just because their name isn't on the machine anymore, doesn't mean you don't get their full service.
I used to work at a privately owned computer store after I got A+ certified, and I used to get people in that asked me about the same question. I always told them "You probably want something that will last instead of something that is shiny." and that's when I got the funny looks. When I explained that they really aren't going to need the top of the line because they're not using it more than what you would use a public terminal for. My personal opinion, is that Toshiba and Lenovo/IBM laptops are the longest lasting ones out there now. They're built well, have longer warranties than any other, and are spec'd for business usage and wear-and-tear. Note that they cost just about the same as a higher end Dell or HP, but either one of those laptops won't last half as long without serious problems occurring. And Toshiba and Lenovo/IBM are better about not installing a ton of useless software onto the machine.