Fairly simple.  Every computer my family has has come from Dell.

Unfortunately I only wised up to how expensive these computers are for their limited performance only just AFTER we bought the last one a year ago.

So does anyone have an idea of a (preferably uncomplicated) way to purchase a cost-effective laptop in Australia?

Hell I'd even be interested if someone knew a way to make a well performing PC at a cost-effective price for gaming, although the laptop won't be a gaming device per se.

Well, Asus make some good stuff, the store i work with sells HEAPS of them.

If you want a fantastic laptopn look at the Asus G series

Dell are cheap but do not buy from them they sell you dodgy hardware. Try a well known computer store, look in newspapers or ask friends what you require.

Thanks guys. Does anyone have any other ideas before my thread gets buried under the "WTF look at the numbers" threads?

I hate Asus, the Eee my friend bought was pure garbage (hardware breaking apart within 2 months-wise)

Stick with Dell, if you can get them cheap, that is.

Dell if they stuff up its hard to get parts to fix them. Dell use cheap inferior parts in their computers.

The main way to get Dell's here in Australia is off their website and it is pretty damn expensive for anything remotely good.

How expensive?

Dodgy dell with the computer hardware from hell. You pay for what you get. Harvey Norman and Retra- Vision have great interest fre, no deposit for up to 48 months in sales periods for computers.

BTW I got a Free Laptop with Windows XP bundled in with the purchase of my desktop PC at the start of 2007. 

I'm not Australian, but I suppose the method I use must work equally well there:

1- Go to every online Australian computer seller, and lookup what models they have with the characteristics/price range you want. That should give you an idea of how the market currently looks like, and it will allow you to recognize good deals later. If you have bad memory, write down some of your favorite findings (main characteristics + price) You should be able to find a list of Australian computer sellers on some web directories like yahoo or similar.

2- If you're not satisfied with what you found in step 1, log off vgchartz and get your ass to some stores, where you can compare their prices with what you found online.

3- Decide what you want to buy from what you saw before.

4- Buy it.

5- Wait for Starcraft 2 to release and play it until your laptop breaks.

6- Go back to step 1.

If you want advice on some particular models that you find, I'm sure many people here will help ;)