Well, nobody has put in a good word for Gateway, so I guess I will.
I've owned 3 GW desktops and 2 GW laptops over the last 6 years. I keep reading that the "service" isn't as good as Dell, but that's irrelevant to me, since I haven't required any service on any of the machines. Nothing went wrong. Of course I've had a few software glitches, but that wasn't the machine. It was either my fault or a bug in the software.
I feel I got a good bang for my bucks on all of them. I will upgrade again at years end and it will be another GW (latest version of the 700XL customized). I already have a 700XL that's about 2 years old. It's run like a charm from day one.
I've never owned a Dell, so I can't vouch for the "its great" propaganda. I will say that $ for $ configured with the same components, the GW is a bit cheaper.
Now you know why so many brands stay in business.