Need new laptop, any advice? (1 Viewer)

I currently own a Dell 610 about six years old. It's runs XP Professional SP3, Office 2007, plays DVD plus writes/burns CDs, has 2GB of RAM, plenty of hard drive space, IE8 works fairly well, Wi-Fi, and all the usual, but it's starting to show its age. Runs great but it's getting slower and I think it's time for a change.
It isn't widescreen, can't playback to my television, battery life if lucky is about 1 1/2 hours, plus it's thick, clunky and probably weighs in at six or more pounds.
Would like something new, preferably in the $600-750 range if possible, Windows 7, able to handle streaming video and playback on my TV, plus better battery life and easier to carry size. I used to handle all the hardware purchases where I worked before, but that was ten years ago so I'm a little out of touch.
Don't want to accidentally get a lemon or something with known problems. Was hoping some of you already have experience in this area and could recommend a decent brand, where to buy, along with avoiding problems you've already been through. Have always had good luck with Dell, but companies change over the years.
I'm leaning towards Costco or Amazon, will never purchase from Best Buy again, just hoping some of you have some ideas on what would be best.

I was told by a computer "expert" that Asus and HP make the best laptops. Anyway, we recently bought a HP laptop for $299 and we really like it. It was on sale from $399 at Office Max. It has 4 GB Ram memory and a 500 GB hard drive.

Can't really help ya here. My opinion is that most of the budget laptops aren't worth their weight in trouble. I'd be wary of the crapware bundled in with most o them in particular.

A big part of this depends on what your expectations and uses for it are. I know people who are happy with ultra-cheap laptops, and people who hate them.. I know people who demand the highest end, and those who think it's a waste of money. In the end, a big part of it is laying hands on. In the end, though, even the cheapest laptop will be a step up from your D610.

Thanks for the info. I'm not into gaming any longer so don't need anything terribly high end, but don't want a cheapo just to get by. Seems like there is always something you want to add on later only to find out you can't, so I'll probably stick to the middle/upper level brands.
Time to do some more research and like Matt said, it will need to be hands on. Certain things you need to see and feel how they work, rather than buying sight unseen from Costco or elsewhere.
Just don't care for the actual "shopping" experience, with all the upsells, you need to add this, etc. I'll put together a list of what I want and go from there.