My neer dell laptop has done pretty damn well considering the use it gets and how portable I make it. Somehow the cdrom went up, which I don't use anyway and my screen is beginning to flicker. If you tap on it, it comes back fine. Guessing there is a loose or worn out connection somewhere in there. I'll take it apart eventually and figure out the problems.
My old Latitude from 2001 is still going strong. Not a damn thing wrong with it besides being slow. Great for browsing the web though.
Either way, both of my dell laptops have done better then any other brand I've owned.