The dell I bought like 4 or 5 years ago I hated cause the cpu was way to fast for the size (15" non wide) like a 2.6GHZ and the laptop would get so hot it would overheat and lag. If you remembered to prop it up so fresh air was always flowing under it then it would be ok but whats the point of having a laptop if you can never sit it on your lap..
I've had this 17" Gateway for a little over 2 years and it's been great and can do 100% of the things I would need a full pc to do..
I'll be shopping for a new one soon though cause it's better to replace laptops and PCs while they are still running good rather than after they die along with that one file or large project you were working on didn't get backed up