[whyagaindavid]

I do admit in this case Dell has messed up a lot. But for heaven's sake, why does a school buy Inspiron? Here in Europe, we buy Dell latitude - thru Dell Education Portal. I got 2 harddrives for my group with 10 machines in the University - next business day. No waiting with my express code. These days I recommend Latitude even for my friends and family (unless they want OSX).

[gizmo686]

Does Dell offer different customer support for Latitudes than it does for Inspirons? I collected on my warranty for a broken harddrive on my Latitude laptop and also had a terrible time with their support.

If you are just going through the common path of buying their product, it is not surprising that they offer a painless experience. The problem comes when something goes wrong and you need support.

[marklyon]

Dell offers different warranties depending on the channel you use to buy. I always buy through the small business section and buy next business day service. It's far less of a hassle.