Watching smoke waft out of the computer you’re using conjures up a certain combination of awe and horror that’s hard to describe. But Airborne Express is coming in a few hours, to pick up my laptop for its fourth trip to Dell’s repair depot in its two-year lifetime. Luckily, this one is covered by the 90-day warranty on its last repair visit.

I have now paid for this laptop at least twice over. If I had known the first time, I would have donated it to Goodwill and bought a PowerBook. But, of course, at any given moment, repairing the laptop is always cheaper than buying a new one. Each time, foolishly, I assume it will not break again.

This time, at least, I tried to plan for the future. After navigating through Dell’s voice mail maze for an hour (see previous entry), I finally reached the Extended Services and Parts department, where I was told that once a system has been out of warranty more than thirty days, it cannot be extended. So much for that.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I will never again purchase a computer from Dell.