It depends on what you want the laptop for. If it's for general work, gaming, photo or video editing, state it. There are different laptops that can do different things, and I can only suggest the laptops that are decent for any task.. Like Nelson said, the Thinkpad laptops are fairly cheap, and decent compared to the $1,000 laptops that are dedicated for gaming. Laptops are generally for travel since it's very light, and simple to carry around.
If you're thinking of buying a laptop for gaming, I would suggest you build a desktop. The cost would be significantly cheaper, and it would run better than an average laptop. The only downside of desktops is the weight, and that's pretty much it. You can decide the specs, and how you want it to run and look.