They have good, basic design. They last forever and are easy to repair. They have everything you need, no extras, but nothing lacking.
They’re like the Platonic Ideal of laptops; you open it up and you don’t say “wow”, you say “Well, this sure is a laptop” – but that’s not an insult; that’s what makes them the perfect all purpose general laptop.
Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions :)
I’m not sure about today, but my school had the Optiplex 760 line like 15 years back, and those things were rock solid. I wouldn’t be surprised if those units, and their accompanying black keyboards and 1280x1024 monitors, were still around somewhere today.