I'm currently using Dell Inspiron 5558 (Dell 5000 series) and it's better notebook and this don't have much of the issues that I found out during my R&D when I was looking for personal laptop.
HP G4:
is also a good notebook but I often feels that I'll break soon enough so it won't be handle the rough conditions under when laptop is used like it should be used (I mean portability concerns). My neighbor is using it and it lasts about 4 hours in battery under normal usages.
Lenovo G5080 / G5070 / B5070 / B5080:
Check the lenovo forums before buying. Their keyboard, AccuType, has problems. But this won't be an issue if you're not a touch typist. It was my concern as I'm touch typist with 100+ WPM. So when I was selecting that laptop, I dropped the idea.
When I was in market looking for laptop about couple of months ago, I was more inclined to HP (as I used ProBook extensively - one of the best laptops I've ever used) but bought the dell. I loved it's huge clickpad. It's just awesome.
Now, back to dell:
Dell has series, like 3000 series, 5000, series, 7000 series, XPS, Alienware, etc. where dell 3000 series being the inferior one and Alianware being the superior one.
In addition, I like the design of dell. Please visit market and check the laptops in display centers.