Advice Needed On Computer Purchase

Both my girlfriend and I are in need of new notebooks/laptops. Now I know enough about computers but not as much as some people on here I assume. Are there any brands/sites you would recommend? Perhaps minimum suggested system requirements?

If it helps, I would like to be able to play some games from time to time, although I'm not much of a hardcore PC gamer so that really doesn't matter as much as ultimate cost. I have to do a lot of business-related things though. My girlfriend has very minimal system requirements.

Kotomo is our resident computer guy, Apa...I'd ask him.

After my laptop died on me, I purchased a Dell Dimension. I've had no problems and it works great with my external harddrive.