Back when our company used to use windows laptops we constantly had trouble with hardware failures. I personally broke my nerves totally after sending the same Fujitsu laptop back to service 3rd time in a row. After switching to Macs there has been only one failure to date and we've been using them for several years now.
that was the number 1 problem, nothing more. fujitsu laptops are full of second rate parts so the company can pack a lot of "cool" features into the unit for low cost. complete craptastic junk, second only to mpc and e machines. i've had the opportunity to work with a large variety of laptops through the years and every generation has had it's ups and downs. the most durable laptops i've ever seen were the old gateway 2000 nomads and the latest panasonic toughbooks.
at work i've dealt with hp, dell, compaq, apple, ibm, lenovo, toshiba and a couple of fujitsu's...the most durable so far have been apples and ibm's. the best performers over time have been apple, toshiba and hp in that order. but as with everything computer related, you have to be careful what model you buy. i just bought the girlfriend a new mid range asus laptop ($385 on sale) to replace the old e machines laptop i bought her 4 years ago that is still going strong. she needed a more robust system for photoshop and the asus is proving to be very good. i wouldn't recommend either brand for business purposes since the screen/lid is a bit thin and the hinges aren't very robust, but for basic home use, not bad.
if the price cap is $1000, 17 inch screen size is within that range, i'd go down to the local bestbuy and look at what they have just so you can get a better feel for what you want or don't want.
