So in light of my other thread, I thought this would be a worth while effort. What I'd like to do here is start a list of laptops which those within the community here have used, that are Windows 7 compatible, run like a kitten on crack, and have survived more than a year or two of HEAVY use beyond mere light web browsing or a couple of hours of use a week.
My first suggestion is the Dell Precision M4400. The video drivers were kind of tricky to work out, but once I had that down and installed a Solid State drive, this puppy seems to think it's a new computer all the time! I've had it for about 2 years now, and I even bought it used, dropped it a couple times, etc.
What have you got?
I think this list will help weed out the good laptops from the bad for those looking to buy a cheap used Laptop, so they are not forced to switch to Windows 8.