Love my e1705. First Dell I've owned. Bought Toshiba for 5 years and both machines have died. They were expensive and disappointing. If I'm going to be disappointed, I should spend less money.
I upgraded Ram and HD after-market and my machine pretty much flies. Run BF2 at 1600x1200 on medium settings w/ 2xAA and no lag. Haven't tried more but I'm sure I could get more. The machine itself is nice looking to me. Similar to a MacBook but I will give the presentation edge to Mac. However, performance-wise, I will blow the Mac out. Better Video Card, Better Ram, Better Hard Drive, Better Screen, much much much less money.
I did a reinstall after I got it with the discs I got from Dell and was able to install with no bloatware. No traces of Dell on the OS that I can see, save the Bios screen (and I'm pretty sure I can turn that off). I've had it since July and no complaints whatsoever so time will tell. However, I have had 2 machines that have broken 3 times each so I'm used to that. My contention is that all laptops have issues and break. But they are all getting better. I assume Dell is no exception.
On the downside, the battery life isn't great but with power-down options you can suck more out of it. It's a bit large to be very portable but it is portable. You just can't whip it out on a crowded lunch table without making some room first. My little brother has a 15.4" MacBookPro (or whatever the newest one is called) and side-by-side comparison, his machine is slightly smaller in dimension. His is 1" closed. Mine is 1.5"ish closed (essentially, the difference was the screen). About an inch shorter longways and half an inch on the short edge. But my screen is larger and has a better resolution. Give and take, I suppose. I'm happy and I spent alot less than he did.
Good luck,