I have a Dell desktop that has worked excellent for going on 5 years now. It was an incredible deal ~750 for a 2.8ghz Dual Core with 256 video card and a 24″ UltraSharp… that was back when the 24″ were going for $800 alone!
But for laptops I haven’t had good experience with Dell.. stuff is always falling apart on them and the batteries would always go out quick on me.
For laptops check out HP. You can have a look at them @ Frys.