Nope, it was an Inspiron, and I was expecting a big hassle, delays, and the whole messy dance, but it was quite easy. The German support guy who I reached checked my information, and asked whether I'd prefer someone to come around or for them to mail the disk, and both being free, I chose to have someone come by with the disk as it was faster.

I guess I may have gotten lucky, but it really left a good impression on me.

Most Inspirons don't have a warranty that includes international service. I had to tell people in similar situations that they need to bring or mail their machine back to the US before it could be fixed. So, I'm leaning toward lucky.