I personally would avoid Dell. I have had personal issues with their customer service. We got my dad a laptop years ago for Christmas we also knew that he was rough on his stuff, so we purchased the accidental damage warranty on top of it. We were told it would cover any sort of accidental damage from dropping to spillage for 2 years. Well a little over a year later, he spilt his coffee all over it. When we sent it in for service, they wouldn't cover it because of liquid damage. I just feel that they are not honest with their sales tactics.
For brands, I would recommend Asus or Toshiba. I had a Toshiba laptop for 8+ years before it finally went out. I currently have an Asus X550C laptop that I like. I build all my desktops with Asus motherboards and have not had any issues with the brand.