That was just the sales guy who doesn't sell Dell because they only sell direct - Do you really expect an honest opinion?
I was just passing on what he said for what it's worth. Obviously his interests are vested. However, I should clarify that Dell was not mentioned in our conversations and he was talking about how he would only rate sony, toshiba and acer for reliability out of the brands he sells in the shop - they stock several other brands.
The new Dell vostro lines in particular look very tempting, and if the poster is just looking for something for light home use, he can't go too far wrong anyway. I was just pointing out that from my experience, they are nothing as reliable for laptops as they are for desktops, and I'm not alone in that view.
As it happens, while I was always first to rush to Dell for desktops, a recent purchase for my Mum has even put me off those. We spent quite a bit of money, about 1500 I think, and went for quite high end specs, and got this slow monster with a rubbish fuzzy looking 19" flat screen monitor that you would not even put up with for playing solitaire on. We had to send it back, even though we were offered 70 euro back if we would keep it....
But hey, they sell so much stuff and they are generally solid, and they take things back without much hassle. Given the poster's needs, and that I have now read that Boards thread, I'd say a Dell bargain like that is the way to go...