I've owned at least five Thinkpads, from the first 700C to a T30, and a very good friend bought a loaded T40 not long ago.
They are rock solid. Not always quite the fastest, or quite the coolest, or certainly not the cheapest. Just the best built, with just what you need and want. Still the best keyboards on the planet. Phone service is better than anybody else.
I've also had other brands, and had friends with other brands. Stay away from Viao. Dell is fine, no problems, other than service, if you want to speak to a native speaker of English. Toshiba is fine. Gateway, well, their survival is still up in the air.
If I was going to buy a new laptop today, it would be IBM, hands down.
Clay