Toshiba makes many laptops for various budgets. I just got one of their cheapest Toshiba available from Best Buy to replace my grandparent's old Compaq and it seems to be a nice basic web-browser/word processor/etc. Good quality materials, nice keyboard, good screen, sits very flat, doesn't seem to get all that warm.
Otherwise, Asus seems to have made quite a reputation in the mobile market as well. Though I'd probably go with them for higher-end models. One of my friends has one and the keyboard/touch pad are both pretty bad when compared to even cheap Toshiba's.
I beg to differ... You put the machines side by side and they are nearly identical. I had my HP laptop around the time my grandparent's laptop was new and they were laid out exactly the same. USB ports, mouse pad, keyboard...all essentially lined up. Same can be said for the desktops. They are all the same. Aside for the front, the back, over-all case design, guts...all the same. And if that's not enough, practically any removable part in a Compaq has a little sticker saying "Replace with HP spare..."