laptops...which one, what to look for

I'm gonna be in the market for a laptop soon (couple months).
What should I look for mainly?
I always noticed that laptops (especially IBMs) used older video cards then what was currently available for desktops. With low memory on them as well (video cards).
I'll be using it mainly for school, courses, surfing/email...and possibly photography.
I'm also tempted to go for an apple powerbook, but not sure yet if one of my courses' websites will be compatible with da'Mac's.
Here's what I'm looking at for now
http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/s...542&storeId=10000001&catalogId=-840&langId=-1
X series from IBM
http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/s...541&storeId=10000001&catalogId=-840&langId=-1
T series from IBM
http://www.toshiba.ca/web/group.grp?lg=en&section=1&seg=2
or Toshiba, loved their Satellite series' laptops.
Had one for 8 YEARS, really good.
But I need something faster with XP not Win95.

Really don't know where to start, so I'm asking here, thanks.

 

forgot to add...are HELL laptops any good?
I mean Dell...

 

You can't really go by brand alone, they all build good and bad models.

How much do you want to spend?

 

About $1400 US., that would be $1840 Aussie dollars and $1600 Canadian

 

Not sure if all these are available in your area,

Pioneer DreamBook Slim 805

HP Compaq nx6120

Optima Centoris W259-3165

ModTech Civic Panoramic


An important thing to note is to not buy a laptop that uses a desktop processor, and to check the dead pixel warranty for the screen.