It must have been the four-month wait for the new motherboard that put tech services over the edge. They finally offered to replace my system with a better one. The one they offered had more RAM and a faster refresh rate on the LCD. I managed to find an even better model for my needs on the Dell Outlet website and requested that one instead. Dell agreed, after manager approval. Picture added. The new system also has a 6-cell battery instead of a 4-cell, and better wifi controller. Also, they gave me a $125 store credit to use on the Dell website, which I used to purchase another 1TB SSD.

The situation with the laptop , yes. But the support team was damn-near perfect in how they handled me. 5 stars across the board. If you didn't buy the extended support package, DO IT!