Recommended laptops?

My first laptop was a Toshiba laptop. After two years of owning it, the fan crashed, and it constantly over-heated quickly and shut down. My current laptop is a Gateway laptop. I've owned it for two years, and it now has a fan problem, like my old one, and it has issues with the battery (I have had no success when I tried changing it), and it has other various glitches.

Either way, to sum it up, I have had bad luck with computers. Am I buying wrong? Are there things certain things I need to look for in a computer? Are there any recommended brands? What am I doing wrong when it comes to picking out laptops?

TOSHIBA Satellite A665-S5180 NoteBook Intel Core i5 480M(2.66GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel HD Graphics

TOSHIBA Tecra A11-S3512 Notebook Intel Core i3 370M(2.40GHz) 15.6" 3GB Memory DDR3 1066 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel HD Graphics

TOSHIBA Satellite M645-S4116X Notebook Intel Core i5 2410M(2.30GHz) 14" 6GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel HD Graphics 3000

TOSHIBA Tecra M11-S3412 Notebook Intel Core i3 370M(2.40GHz) 14" 3GB Memory DDR3 1066 320GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi Intel HD Graphics