When I was shopping for a laptop, I found that looking at retail stores for samples was quite useful. Getting the opportunity to look at the screens and test out the keyboard, as well as a general impression of build quality, was quite useful to me. I was still deciding between brands at the time though, so it may not be as helpful to you as it was to me.

As for finding a Dell in a store...good luck. The Dell kiosks are few and far between, and they focus mainly on desktops.