Any Thinkpad T4x or T-6x, or any HP in the upper third of their price range, or any Gateway in their upper third of their price range, or Dell Latitude in upper half, or Dell Inspiron in upper third of price range.
No Sony, no eMachines, no Compaq, No Acer, No Asus, no Winbook, no Toshiba, and no Alienware. Local warranty service or 7 day maximum turn-around on national service. Guaranteed parts availability for five years minimum.
Four USB ports, docking station available, ports for external optical mouse, 80 GB hard drive or better with 7200 rpm, 2 GB of memory minimum, with option to 4 GB for Autocad, telephone modem, ethernet ports, and wireless antenna in the lid.
The computer should have multiple cooling fans and vents, superior video graphics, and a long warranty must be available.