I've got a Dell.

... and I love it.

I've had this XPS M1710 laptop since December 2007. It goes almost everywhere with me for work and I'm on it probably more than I should be. I would say it gets "heavily used".

Over the course of the past year, tiny little bits of dust, lint, and such have appeared under the surface of the LCD. I got on Dell's Web Technical Support Chat, and I basically said, "My LCD has dust inside of it. My keyboard keys are a little loose. The LCD hinges are becoming loose. Please dispatch parts, and I will replace them all myself." Then there was a bit of the tech on the other end (probably in India) verifying that I know what I am talking about, but in less than 5 minutes, parts are on their way.

The beauty of this? I don't have to talk to anyone. I don't have to schedule a technician to tear apart my laptop when I can do it faster. I don't have to pay a penny.

Dell's CompleteCare warranty is basically unrivaled. It covers all accidental damage... in my case, for 3 years! The only things it will not cover are theft and fire (which would be insurance anyway).

If you have to buy a laptop, buy a Dell with CompleteCare. I can't recommend this enough. It pays for itself.

Confession: If I had $3,000+, I'd probably buy an Apple MacBook Pro. I have no grudges or hateful opinions against Apple. I just don't think they're a very road ready product. I think they're overpriced for the technology you get. I think Apple products have an effective lifetime of about 1-2 years. I'm a computer geek. I know OS X. I know Windows Vista. I'm not here to say that one is better than the other.