Bryan, Here at Montpelier we are definitely a Dell shop. I've been buying Dells almost exclusively for over six years now and I continue to recommend them enthusiastically. The Optiplex desktop system is reliable and standardized as much as possible. Their Dimension system for home use will have whatever components the market is offering the best deal on, but you can count on Optiplexes of the same model having the same components. At least that's our experience. But it appears you are looking at laptops rather than desktops. We've gone to Dell's here as well, after a bunch of bad Toshibas five years ago. The Latitude line is the Optiplex equivalent for their laptops and the Inspiron corresponds the desktop Dimensions. We do have some IBM Thinkpads and have been satisifed with their performance as well. Gateway seems iffy to me. I think they are getting pretty hungry and I've heard stories of them compromising quality to hit a particular price point. I've seen people get some great deals with Gateways, but I've also seen some problems. And there have been times when their support has been really awful. I'd certainly recommend Dells. I've had very few problems/support calls other than a Latitude I bounced off the floor from a height of about 6 feet a week or so ago. No, it didn't survive (motherboard cracked I think), but they overnighted a new motherboard and had a technician in the next day to repair it. This is with the standard three-year warranty on Latitudes (not the cheapest, but it's the default warranty with their standard quote). Vince Vince Rossano Information Technology Director Montpelier Public Schools 58 Barre Street Montpelier, VT 05602 Voice: (802) 229-5355 Fax: (802) 223-6146 Email: [log in to unmask] >>> [log in to unmask] 9/30/2003 11:02:54 AM >>> Hi all, Winooski School District is a Mac School but we are starting to buy a few PC computers. I'm curious what brand other schools are buying - I just called the big three and Gateway has a laptop for $1399, Dell has the same one for $1700 and IBM is around $1700. To me a Pee Cee is a Pee Cee. What are your thoughts? I quoted a Intel Pentium M Processor 1.3 GHz, 14" display, 512MB RAM. - Bryan -- Bryan Thompson Technology Coordinator Winooski School District 60 Normand Street Winooski, VT 05404 Phone: 802-655-2555 Fax: 802-655-6538 AIM: bryantg3 mailto:[log in to unmask] http://www.winooski.k12.vt.us