That might have been an option were it not for the fact that with the exception of a lousy one-month warranty on any replaced parts, no warranty was available to protect him in the event of a recurrence of the problem. And a recurrence, Dan and I learned too late, is all too likely.

We found message boards and blogs brimming with tales of woe from Alienware users who have experienced the same problem and from users who have undertaken initiatives to boycott Alienware. When you spend that much money for a system only to learn that there's a design flaw that routinely causes a meltdown after about a year (or sooner, many users lamented), you expect the company to do the right thing: Fix it right or replace it.

The Alienware brand still enjoys substantial cachet among younger computer enthusiasts, and that could be a problem for many IT shops. I'm usually the first one to speak out in favor of taking advantage of the unique contributions young people have to make in the workplace, as I did at last week's Computerworld Honors event in Washington. But the last thing we need is the next generation advocating the adoption of Alienware systems. Avoiding Alienware's own marketers, who will increasingly target you and your users, is sound advice as well.

For now, just be aware of the situation. And steer clear of any company that finds doing the right thing to be an alien concept.

Don Tennant is editor in chief of Computerworld. Contact him at don_tennant@computerworld.com.