My previous laptop was a Dell XPS M1330. It ran linux well, although the fingerprint reader never worked properly for authentication outside of Windows. Unfortunately, it was one of the many laptops from many manufacturers that included a defective NVidia graphics chipset. Dell issued a firmware "upgrade" that simply cranked up fan speed (making the laptop run noisier and consume battery power quicker). They also extended the warranty slightly. My particular laptop lasted until a week after the extension and promptly fried itself. Arguably, if I had not dutifully installed that firmware "upgrade" it would have burned out under warranty.

So, I knew what had happened to my laptop. The symptoms of a M1330 with a burnt out graphics chipset were common knowledge online. I didn't feel like buying a new laptop right then and there, so I decided to contact Dell and try to pay for a replacement part. I was routed to a call-center in India where the employees had a set script and absolutely nothing would deter them from following it. Even though I knew what was wrong and just wanted the part to fix it, they told me I had to pay them $50 so they could diagnose the problem themselves. i.e. $50 so they could move to a different section in their script and, if it was well made, tell me what I already knew! I tried to escalate the issue, but no luck. Dell had clearly dumped their customers on this third party call-center and cut all backwards lines of communication.

I know other companies may be little better and this mess was really Nvidia's fault, but I refuse to send more business to a company that I know will do everything in their power to avoid taking care of me. They provided a hot-fix that they knew would just barely delay failure until my laptop was off warranty, and then they treated off-warranty service like a money-making third-party contract.

Dell ultrabooks? No thank-you.