I've been building my own since the 286 chip came out. 

As mentioned above, the 'script kiddies' have a pre-programmed series of responses to 'basic' questions, and if you call and say your PCs on fire, they'd ask "is it plugged in, is it turned on?"
You get them 'off the script', and they are totally...lost. One of the scariest thing I wind up doing nowadays is explaining to the guy on the other end how to fix my own problem.

One thing they're working with (almost all call centers) is they have a given amount of time to fix a problem, and they'll look for any excuse to get you off the horn. They're supposed to fix you within 'x' amount of time, because the 'business model'. 

However, they're not supposed to blow their cool. You should have every right to complain to their manager, and if they refuse, call back, and get their name! Can't stress this enough. I 'know' their 'name' is 'Mark', or 'Sandy', even though their real name is another 7 syllables.
(Nothing against that, there are millions upon millions of South Asians who speak better English than I do, it's just that none of them work at call centers...;)

I was taken aback when last you notified us you were going back to Dell (I kept thinking of Princess Leia in When Harry met Sally, when she kept going "he's going to leave her'..;) And the current track record (I lost track of how many bad parts you got sent) is nothing to write home about.

The Vista bit you're stuck with. Microsoft sets things up that as of launch time, anything you get will have Vista, period. Ka-ching..:|  The serial number of the Operating system is probably tied to the Serial number of the unit you had, so that's why it's 'pirated'.

I've been doing PC tech support for 20 years come June, and I've lost count of the number of times I've called Tech Support (yes, we do that too, only our questions are harder and much more pointed..;), and I've noticed a substantial decrease in the helpfulness and knowledge the person on the other end has. It's sad, but it's all about cost, and driving that down even further.

The folks above are right; do it yourself is the way to go. Heck, if they have you replacing laptop system boards, making a new desktop/tower/small form factor/whatever is a lot easier than that. 

What I do is sort of a halfway thing; if I'm making a PC, I'll have the store mount the processor and memory, and test that. They leave the whole thing together, then it's just a matter of putting the screws in, attaching cables, and figuring out various options. Usually the system board will come with a CD with all the drivers you need (for the system board), and usually some utilities as well. 

And we should be able to help you over the rough parts, should you need to do that. I know Vista can do repartitions, because of the 'training course' I took. We care 'bout ya hon, and think you've suffered enough. Just let us know what more we can do.

Good luck with all this.

I wish I'd said that.. The Staircase Wit

anahl nathrak uth vas betude doth yel dyenvey..;)