Well, I personally use IBM laptops ( now Lenovo laptops because of the buy out of the IBM PC's last April) because, well, lets say this. My mom is somewhat high in the staff list there... Now if my mom would just open up that friken tablet she got for free from Lenovo I could make some sigs... Anyways, I really like my thinkpad. I've had it for 4 years, never had a problem with it. I do all my school work on it also, plus all the extra stuff I use ( a lot more then you would think.) We put one memory upgrade on it, and it's been fine. Durable too. Only thing I don't like about it is my model doesn't have exterior power buttons so I can't use my display as easy. But oh well, this is fine too. I'd recomend getting a nice tablet for school. Enough power and memory, yet you can still draw in class if you get bored. I always like that aspect of it. If you want, I can pm you a link to finding a nice one for not so much cash.