Bruno: ditto on pretty much everything you just said. I had the same exact experience ordering one of their higher-end systems for a family friend (I tried to convince them to let me build something for them, but they hear Dells are the best!). I had the same headaches with the McAfee software, but I'm convinced that this isn't Dell's fault. 33% of the freelance tech support visits I make to people in the area seem to trace to a problem with Norton or McAfee. I've had a couple instances where McAfee blocks all internet access whatsoever (hey, you're not getting any viruses!), and one where Norton slowed an eMachine down so much it literally took 3 minutes to get the start menu to appear. In all instances a simple removal of that software alone fixed the problem, and the user is left dumbfounded that a product they bought to protect their computers rendered them unuseable.

As for the recovery disc, you didn't mention my favorite part of their new policy: that the note they include regarding the recovery disc is on a little piece of paper that looks like a recovery disc. Haha! You're funny, Dell. The difference I ran into was that when I called tech support, they ended up sending out the discs to me for free. Of course, you're stuck with no computer for a few days if you don't remove the software yourself.