Dell had a recent promo ($750 off a 700m), so I helped configure laptops for my sis-in-law and my niece (who's going off to college). They haven't gotten them yet, but their shared config had XP Pro, the 8cell battery, 60GB HD and CD/DVD burner. The BTO 700ms just shipped, but it'll take 3-5 days to deliver. I didn't add extra RAM (base RAM is 256MB) for them, as that's cheaper elsewhere than to get it from Dell.

I have a friend who recently bought a Toughbook, but dropped it and the top loading CD tray lid broke off and messed up the laser eye. He's bummed.

Interestingly, the price for their Dells was roughly equivalent to my 12" PB 1.5GHz G4, bought through the EDU discount. But my PB was BTO with 100GB HD, builtin BT and a slot loading CD/DVD burner. It shipped for free via FEDEX next day and arrived from my office in New Orleans all the way from China! Amazing! (why is it taking Dell so long to ship??)

All things being equal, I'd get a Dell if I were buying a Windoze laptop. Maybe the Vaio, second.