This is really the sweet spot for business laptops,
Ping G20 Sale, and not surprisingly it what most companies buy for their employees. For my midrange business laptop recommendation,
TaylorMade R15 Price, I really wanted to get a better display least 1600×900,
TaylorMade R15 Hybrid Sale, if not 1080p. I think the Dell Vostro 3560 $999 model is the only option with such a display priced under $1000 that I could find),
TaylorMade SLDR Irons Sale, but a bit of searching via Google turns up plenty of retail outlets with preconfigured models at reasonable prices.