It really depends on what you want to do with it...

If you're just using it for word processing and general things like that, a Dell or Toshiba would work just fine.

But for me, I'd have to say Apple all the way.  Of course, I'll still always us PCs, but for what I'm doing when I'm not simming, an Apple caters to me better - I'm doing music and dabbling a bit in film.

So you could break it down like this: General stuff/games - Dell, Toshiba et al, music/film (or any other intensive tasks) Apple's iBook or PowerBooks.