Please, run far away from sony. Sony is overpriced and still crap. HP as of late has been decent, dell is always risky (bad manufacturing) but decent, and acer is currently the best option in my opinion. Get on newegg, find an acer that fits what you need, and it'll be the best for the money.
Of course, if it were me, I would definitely get an apple... but that would probably cost the whole 1.5k (you get what you pay for).