I'm considering a new laptop, looking for experiences.

[Bill Freeman]

My Acer is scaring me.  Sometimes at startup it goes into an infinite
reboot loop.  The way out seems to be to force power off, flex the
case and whack it a few times, after which it boots.

So, I'm considering replacing it.  Last round I insisted on an AMD
CPU, but I'm currently drawn to an i7 or i5.

I know that lots of folks swear by the ThinkPads, and I will consider them.

I'm not really willing to consider Compaq/HP, Gateway, or Apple, and
I've found Linux on Toshiba to be troublesome in the past.

Can anyone offer personal experience stories on the Dell Inspirons?

Any additional suggestions?

Any bad experiences with the i7 CPU?

Thanks, Bill