All of my computers and my family's computers have been Dells, purchased directly from Dell. At work, all of our lab PCs, as well as the lab laptops are Dells. They have been far from perfect, but for the most part they've run well. My sister and I both bought new laptops (my sister got a 15" Studio, and I got a 15" (?) Inspiron) for like $700 or so. Pretty decent specs, though in my case, I do wish I would have gotten a nicer video card for games.
My previous Dell was a Latitude D620 that I got the summer before college. I ran that thing to hell and back with movies and games, work, etc and it lasted me until the day I was done college almost exactly 3.5 years later (literally the day I moved out). Actually it still works, but the screen's inverter is broken, which is a relatively cheap and easy fix, but I'm too lazy.
My previous Dell was a Latitude D620 that I got the summer before college. I ran that thing to hell and back with movies and games, work, etc and it lasted me until the day I was done college almost exactly 3.5 years later (literally the day I moved out). Actually it still works, but the screen's inverter is broken, which is a relatively cheap and easy fix, but I'm too lazy.