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 :)
This!
My last laptop, brought at some time around 2014 was a Dell and was exactly like the OP mentioned. There was nothing amazing about it, and nothing egregious either. It mostly run, for a very long time, without any problem. Had to change the battery once, and the multiple battery standards without any visible difference was a speed bumper, but not all that bad.
When I went to replace it, every singe decision I could see on the Dell line was bad. I could see bad things on the specs, the photos, the segmentation… didn’t even need to see an actual laptop to run away.