Half of your problem is Dell. There are variety of smaller PC and Notebook builders who will provide a good product without getting their hooks into you like dell.

Also use XP or Windows-7, not Vista.

My problem with Mac is that the "real world" is not quite there yet. Between airline and military systems which I need to access, Mac is a non-starter. If UAL supports Mac for crew applications, then you can probably do it. SKW has not always given mac access the same priority as windows.