Unfortunately laptop support somewhat lags behind in Linux, mostly due to bizarre hardware idiosyncrasies. Toshiba, Sony are particularly despised for their botched BIOS and ACPI, strange hardware management, and complete lack of alternate OSes support. Most of the time Asus, Dell and Lenovo laptops work, though.

However it's unfortunately a good advice to always check with a live CD that your distro actually supports decently the laptop you're about to buy.