Hi, I hope this helps a bit.

I'm Kevin, as you can see, I deal with a lot of estate and antiques on eBay, but as a spare time gig I advise companies about technology.
In a course of one year I buy an average of 15 computers and tons of peripherals for myself & my clients, so I hope my experience helps a bit.

First of a all, I am a huge fan of Dell desktops.

Dell, in general, is an awesome company with super great service. You can talk to their people and always work some kind of deal or get the info you may need. Most other companies hire robot-like people to work for them. This is a big issue with computer support and sale which puts Dell on top.

Also, all dell desktops are top-of-the-line, the form factor and components are the best and cheapest in the market. Their desktops computers are the best.

HOWEVER

For some reason, Dell went too cheap on their laptops. In the past year I have purchased 3 laptops, all insperon series from $599 to $799 and guess what....All were low quality, not durable and left a lot to be desired.

I even gave my Dell rep a list of what's wrong with their system, but nothing yet.

So...I went shopping elsewhere and so far I have purchased and worked on 2 HP laptops (in the $500 range), one Toshiba ($1500 range), one cheap Compaq and now another HP at $1200 range.

And the results are in.......

Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, Dell laptops do not compare to any of the above. Design wise, HP is first then Toshiba and then Compaq. They are great laptops for the money with tons of features that make them a lot of fun. Additionally, I have found that Dell does have a power issue with their screen and their keyboard is fragile (I just had one changed).

So in short, Dell is by far the best DESKTOP manufacturer, but for laptops just go HP or just about any company other then dell, don't spend too much and you'll be just fine.

Good luck and please don't forget to rate my guides.

Thanks!

Kevin