This isn't really related to TW in any way, but I had an experience with Dell that was hard for me to believe. 
I have an Inspiron 9300 notebook that I use for playing and it recently developed a vertical red line down the middle of the screen.  The Dell forums called it the "line of death" that appears 18 months or so after getting the unit.  A lot of talk from some unhappy users.
Even though my laptop is out of warranty, Dell sent the parts 2-day express and a tech out to replace the LCD monitor.  Considering I had a problem with getting a CD-ROM replaced from them about a year ago, the fact they replaced the monitor and paid for a tech to do the work amazed me.  No cost replacements on a 2 yr old unit just got them additional repeat business from me.  I have 2 of the Inspirons and 2 desktops and have had very few issues over 5-6 years.
 

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

Dell seems to be geting better. I have an Inspiron I use in the field on excercise and I love it. They sent a tech out to us when one of our notebooks crashed. I will admit, I had been hesitant going with Dell, but over the last while I like the service they are providing.

Hopefully we don't get a "red line of death" while in the field. Good thing I have medics nearby

I've had to deal with Dell Technical Support often.  I've grown to hate it.  I can only help they are improving, but here's an example.
A case fan is wound up like a jet engine prepping for takeoff.  I call dell and have to run through all their hoops to convince them I need a new case fan for a warranty repair.  They finally ask me to unplug the fan from the MB and reeboot.  I do this and they ask "do you still hear the noise"? Well NO.  So they send me a new fan, but this fails to correct the problem.  So I call back, run through the same hoops.  I tell them it's obvously getting an incorrect temp sent to it as it's a variable speed depending on how hot the computer gets.   So they offer to send a new fan and a CPU cooler.  I ask why the CPU cooler and they tell me this is where the temp sensor is located  I inform them that that cooler is nothing more than a hunk of metal mounted to the processor, and that the sensor in question is on the MB.  They insist they are right, I know they are full of BS and inform them they are not dealing with a rookie here, and that I will not accept anything less than a MB to fix the problem.  They finally send the MB and the problem is fixed.
Nope, I really hate Dells non english speaking tech support.

RP, I have to agree with you on Dell's off-shore support.  Talking on the phone with them is a nightmare.  The chat support seems to be a lot of "canned" hot-key responses, but I have seen that wiith support from Toro mowers in their emails.  Support after the sale of any kind is usually very poor, and that is the reason Dell's response on the LCD monitor surprised me. 
The tech came out and replaced the LCD Friday and even cleaned the unit while he had it open - granted only a couple of minutes, but still a nice touch.  I am hoping if/when the second Inspiron develops the same issue that they do the same thing.

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

I work on Dells all day and I swear I hate them. The only thing worse than a Dell is a HP and the only thing worse than a Hp is Toshiba. Toshiba is the worst you can get. Emachine is a walk in the park compared.

That is why I never buy premade anymore. I make my own. You know what youre getting.

But seriously, if you need one go to http://WWW.Microcenter.Com and get a powerspec. They rule.

I've had both hit and miss with Dell Support.
The Enterprise support rocks- tell them what part is busted, and you get it the next day.
Habib in India on the other hand...
I have a really sad transcript of my support chat with HP regarding a bad laptop fan. The fan was rattling and being REALLY loud. His first suggestion was for me to flash my bios and uninstall ACPI...
Needless to say, my fan is still loud.

Well, crank the volume up