FWIW, I have three at home now, and have used Latitude laptops for 10+
years at work. I have never had a problem with the work laptops or their
docking systems.

I bought a Dell 1505 for my daughter for college, running without fail
for 3 years (Windows MCE). The only glitch was in the first month when
the DVD drive failed. After a troubleshooting session with a Dell tech,
I had a replacement drive shipped. It arrived in less than 24 hours and
installed it myself. No problems since.

I bought a Dell 1515 for my son for college in February 2009 (Vista
HP). Everything works fine so far.

I bought a Dell XPS 15" laptop in April 2009 (Vista HP). Everything
works fine so far, but the fit and finish was unacceptable -- there was
a "bump" in the keyboard and the media control panel, resulting from a
twisted power cable. A technician came to my house, replaced the
keyboard and MCP, and left me the originals. No cost; problem fixed. I
could have returned the laptop and demanded a new one. Instead, I
checked a local Sam's Club and saw a Studio 15 on display that had the
same "bump." A little online research showed the problem was uncommon
but recognized.