From a security standpoint, company laptops can be a hassle to maintain. In the case of theft (very likely) your data is completely compromised. Viruses and wireless data sniffing are another huge concern.
My first line of defense is updating the OS. Second is anti-virus, and third is encryption. Typically I will encrypt the entire hard drive using TrueCrypt. This took about 3 hours per computer to complete on these brand new machines.