I use an Acer Aspire 15.4" wide screen, 1.5gb memory.
I would recommend the Ferrari, but what do I know I am an acer reseller and got mine for free. So of course I recommend them.
Really though for reliability I would go with acer, international tech support, drop of protection can be bought for most countries.
And as for looks you will not get a better looking note book than the ferrari it makes the imacs look like candy.
When it starts and you hear the sound of a 4-500 hp engine you can feel the power of the notebook, and graphics card. Not as cheap as others but alot more for your money.
If you want to get into Hand Drawing, I would Recommend a Motion Computing Tablet, light weight upto 8hrs of battery life. Full touch screen w/ digitizer. Nice for doing custom graphics and is small enough to work with on the plane.
Yeah well I have one and I resell those also, so I might be Bias.
just my 2 cents.