That really sucks Sparky.

I recently had a similar experience with an ASUS MOBO with bad caps. Based on my reciept I had 3 months of warranty left but ASUS cares not about purchase date, only manufacture date. In my town the local PC store won't sell you a MOBO anymore without opening the box for your inspection first. I expect there have been a lot of angry customers complaining about similar issues.

As you may have divined from my sig I've had plenty of warranty experiences myself. My expensive OCZ VX RAM kept dying though my TCCD worked just fine. OCZ CSR rep offers to replace my DIMMS with stuff that cost less than half the value of my defunct kit and then has the nerve to lecture me on the economics of warranty programs. Clearly the lifetime of the DIMM is the one specified in the case of that warranty not the life of the owner, the company nor even the computer. Soon after my OCZ powerstream went tits up followed by an OCZ flash drive. Every other component in that PC works great today, I'm typing on it now.

To avoid the disapointment of misrepresented warranty I no longer buy anything OCZ regardless of value or performance.

I'd say the computer industry with all its problems is actually pretty good with warranty compared to say... the automotive industry. Secret DSBs suppressed safety recalls all on 20k+ consumer endurables that could just take your life.

Don't believe the warranty hype. Your consumer rights are only as good as your lawyer.