I did a lot of research before buying a laptop in late July. The Dell's looked attractive, but the reviews were not good. Ended up with a good deal on an HP from Best Buy.
LOL I "bought" an E-machine 4 years ago and have NEVER had a problem. It really was free from Good Guys if I signed up for 3 years of Internet service. Got a great monitor and printer as well. Best deal I ever had! LOL (Now the 3 years modem is up and DSL rocks ;)