I had a Dell E1505 for a while, but it developed lines on the right hand corner of the screen, and when I would bend the screen slightly, they would go away. well one day I bent my screen and the whole thing broke. All in all it took a beating from me and my carelessness really and only lasted me 2 years.
I now have an HP and I really like it alot, it's a gaming one and has some graphics on it which probably cost extra but whatever lol. I also grabbed an external Hard Drive for all my music.
I'm not saying Dell are bad or anything, Dell is a good company and so is HP. I'd go for either or really.
Good luck finding the right one for ya.