Wow-that's some pretty sweet customer service.
Well, yeah, but you pay for that when you buy the computer - it's not done out of the goodness of their heart. He had checked the $300 box for 3-year next-day on-site service, and it got tacked on at the price at the end.
OTOH, it is true that Apple, for it's $349 Applecare program, has nothing similar. In this case, his motherboard fried, he called Dell service (Latitude customers aren't routed off-shore), they determined that the motherboard was dead, they overnighted a new motherboard to a local guy that Dell contracts with, he came out the next day and installed the new motherboard right on my parner's desk. It was indeed, pretty slick. They've done that twice.
My son had an Inspiron, and we'd bought it with Dell's "Complete Care", which is a no-fault repair or replace program. He spilled Pepsi into the keyboard. Dell replaced the computer with a new one, but the new one had a DOA motherboard. They did the same overnight motherboard thing, came out to our house and replaced the motherboard on our kitchen table.
I am a believer in Dell service. I'm not so convinced, however, about the quality of their computers. I certainly don't believe they are better or more reliable than a typical MacBook/Pro.
