I just ordered a E1705 (4/20) with the following config for $848 - Core Duo 1.66Mhz/667 Mhz, 1G RAM, 80GB HDD, XP Home Media Center Edition, 8x CD/DVD Burner and other regular stuff. I used a differenct coupon code(expired 4/26) of 40% off on systems priced $999 and above. I also shopped for Macs but inspite of those being cuter by the looks, I don't think I would have spent that much money to just get a better OS; especially for me, I definitely can deal with MS xp and get it configured my way since I've been working with MS for over a decade now. But I agree to the fact that Mac would be much more simpler and easier for novice computer users. Overall, I believe I got a heck of a deal with free shipping and amazingly, dell shipped mine before time too(4/26)! So far so good.
All in all I think, I agree to the fact that Mac has both, hardware and software, much insync than MS. I don't see how you can isolate Dell alone with this fact from all the other Intel Based MS XP providers like HP etc.
Just my 2 cents.