Advice, plz!

[steffish]

So I'm going to be buying a laptop sometime this year. I just need to be able to do basic kinds of stuff, writing, internets, music, photoshop, saving ridiculous amounts of photos and videos, etc. I'd rather buy a better one than I need so I won't be complaining about how shit it is when I want to do other things, though.

Advice? Brands to avoid? Best places to shop? Noone I know in real life has any knowledgable advice for me :(