tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12249734.post113601088451487854..comments2012-02-24T13:15:31.714-08:00Chiphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02509734740570392546noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12249734.post-1136901468213090732006-01-10T05:57:00.000-08:002006-01-10T05:57:00.000-08:00I've had night and day service from Dell.<BR/><BR/>The laptop I use now is a Dell Latitude D600, which is a gorgeous little machine. I've had to have the keyboard replaced, but that's all. I called Dell and they had a new keyboard in my hands within 16 hours.<BR/><BR/>The Inspiron that I used (briefly, before it died) was the precise opposite. Every problem (they sound very similar to yours, including both a catastrophic hard drive failure with 100% data loss and a toasted motherboard) was incredibly difficult to deal with.<BR/><BR/>I think what happens is a crapshoot - it just depends on the Dell tech that you got.Hamishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05894456270853147459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12249734.post-1136608331934653662006-01-06T20:32:00.000-08:002006-01-06T20:32:00.000-08:00I have used 3 of Dell's laptops, all of them several models of Inspiron. I found them very reliable and economical. The only problem I had is that they are a bit overweight. I had only one problem with one of the laptops, and that too after 1 year of its use, but I got it fixed by Dell's excellent customer service. Well, its just my experience. I believe that different users might have different experiences. From my experience and that of my friends, I think the "lousy" cheap-plastic dells whose mother-boards die are a rare occurence. All of us had excellent experience with using Dell and their technical supportKiran Badamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14591121644779697437noreply@blogger.com