Depends on whether you need something truly portable or not. I am running a newer Samsung with i5, 6 GBs RAM, 500 GBs hard disk, 15″ monitor, eSata output, etc. Something with those specs is my minimum for HD editing. It’s heavier than I prefer, but it cost me less than $900 in May. HP has some nice laptops that are much more expensive but very powerful, and some that are in that same price range. Dell has some nice ones too. I don’t love HP as they load up with crapware, and I not wild about some of their keyboards (personal prefs). Dell seems to be fine for me, but others don’t like it, it seems. I really like the Thinkpads, but they are pricier. I am not wild about the monitor on this Samsung, but it gets the job done. The keyboard layout takes some getting used to, as it has a numeric pad, which I prefer. I liked the eSata port.
If you are in the area of a Best Buy or something like that, you can put your hands on some of these.
Hope this helps.
Alf