>Hey Craig,
>
>>>Yeah, I talked to him this afternoon. Although he's not privy to the inner workings of the Dell marketing machines he agrees with me. Both machines use industry standard parts and architecture, but the Latitude is aimed at corporations, the Inspiron at the individual.
>>>
>>>Don't take this as my personal guarantee on an Inspiron, but I _would_ buy one again.
>
>>I've been looking at both the Dell and the Gateway...I'm much more impressed with Gateway.
>
>I've actually been looking at both Dell and Gateway as well. What about the Gateway machines have impressed you more than the Dell's?
>
>I lean toward Dell because of their support has always been strong and their Latitude wins an award every year for toughness and reliability. BUT, the Inspiron is a newer line, has more features and costs less. The Inspiron *doesn't* have the cooling features and quick battery recharge the Latitude has though.
>
>I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point....

Larger screen, larger hard disk, more RAM. I don't know what the battery life rating is, but I'm impressed with the Gateway. Gateway is getting good reviews too. I've bought Dell in the past and have liked it.
I have a friend who recently got one of the Gateways and it is very nice. Screen is very easy to read. Case seems to be sturdy. Now if I just had the $$$.