Apple has a 17" Powerbook, but it's ungodly expensive. For a Windows machine, what you've heard is right - most of them are built by the Taiwanese; the only major exceptions are Sony and IBM, and they may be built there as well, just built to their own design rather than the Taiwanese company's (which the lower end Toshibas, HP, Compaq, Gateway, etc. are). If you're shopping among those, I'd just compare specific features, warranty, and price, because they're all the same. Toshiba has (or used to) its own LCD factory (A jv with IBM, iirc), so their screens actually may be different - Sharp does, too. They're commodity products, now, so there's probably not much difference. If you want to know the scoop, get in touch with a shop in Connecticut called Micro Solutions (www.micsol.com). They've been Toshiba specialists for over a decade (I've bought 4 from them in the last 10 years), and their people are a cut above the usual electronics retail drone. They can tell you what's made where, and what the difference is.