After 5 years, my laptop is on its last legs and I need a new one. Requirements: easily portable, CD drive, fast, lots of storage, long-lasting. Not bothered by a touchscreen or any of that.

I'm considering a Macbook Pro but the price tag is really unnerving me - it's nearly double the cost of the cheapest laptop I'm looking at. Is it really that good? Does it live up to the cost? Will a cheaper model do me just fine? I do want a *good* laptop as I use it a lot for work and play (and as a TV) and will probably be downloading quite a bit of software, but I'm about to start a distance learning course full-time and so while I could afford a Macbook, it would definitely mean tightening my pursestrings for the rest of the year.

Also looking at the HP Pavilion 15, Acer Aspire V3 and Lenovo Z5070, if anyone has any insight into any of these laptops/brands that would be appreciated! (I have an Acer at the moment and it's been overheating for the last 2 years, but I don't know if that's just poor care on my part)