I am far from an expert. I have used Dell's for many years at work, because that is what the company buys. I think they are OK. My first one went through 3 motherboards (all under warranty - these were around 2001-2002), but the third one worked like a charm for five years and gave me no further problems. My current unit is a couple of years old and seems ok.

As far as keyboard/pointer - my best advice is to test drive some at a store and see what your daughter likes. Some people love the touch pads, some the little "eraser head" pointer, some hate them all. I personally can use the touch pads, but I can work much faster with a mouse.

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