It wasn't so long ago that Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) was swell. Surely you can remember that far back. Maybe you don't know what you were doing when Dell toppled Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) as the classroom leader or Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) as the top dog, but you know it happened.

These days, Hewlett-Packard and Apple seem to be the ones with the Wall Street glow. Even an old PC pioneer like IBM (NYSE:IBM) has gone on to live well in corporate IT consulting. Then you have Gateway (NYSE:GTW) which -- um, OK, Dell's aura still hovers above a penny stock (as defined by the SEC) like Gateway. 

But has the market beaten down Dell to the point where it's a bargain as a turnaround play? Not all Fools agree. Matt Koppenheffer makes his Dueling Fools debut this week as our bull. He's not alone, of course, as the stock is an active recommendation in both our Stock Advisor and Inside Value newsletter services. Alyce Lomax steps in to grill Dell as this week's bear.

Does the direct seller belong directly in your portfolio? That's what this week's bout is all about.

Duel on!