I have a packard bell easy note laptop whch I bought in the end of 2003 and has been working very well. I have used this Packard bell laptop more then you could ever imagine.. On an average I must have used it atleast 5-6 hours a day and at times it has been running for day at a go so I guess the £1400 something I spent on it back then was well worth it and I am typing this post on my laptop sitting in the back of my new toyota innova doing 130km/hr on the gt road going towards Jallandhar from New delhi and connected to the WWW with this reliance data card. The only problem this laptop has ever had is a few days ago when the hard drive made a cracking noise so I backed up the whole hard drive and have bought a spare one just in case this one gives up on me so I will just have to open up two screws and put this new hard drive in and my laptop will be as good as new again.
I am actually looking to sell this laptop now but dont know how much to ask for it but if you are keen on owning this technology marvel which has travelled across the globe atleast twice and have been mostly used in UK, USA and Canada and doesnt have any scratches and doesnt have any dust inside either given the fact that its never been used in India before.
I will most probbably buy some cheap laptop this time so it wont be so painful to get rid of it every year and I will be able to buy a new one every year 
Give me a shout if you are looking to buy a used laptop I have one for sale..