First, a correction to your letter. "I believe the warranty follows the equipment and not the owner." You may want to believe this all you want, but no warranty has the requirement to follow the product. I've worked with many products over the years that require the product be purchased from an authorized reseller. If the product is not, it is not under warranty regardless of the time frame. These same products may also not allow for a warranty to be transfered.

As I carefully reread your letter, I noticed something very interesting. You've stated you completed a "change of ownership" and that you received an e-mail stating that "the transfer of ownership has been completed and that I was now the owner [on record]". But realize that at no time does any of this speak of transferring the warranty, only changing Dell's records as to whom the computer belongs. This may mean the warranty has not been transfered to you and it may not be up to you to transfer said warranty. It may be up to the person who originally purchased the computer.

If the original owner is okay with having the warranty transfered, I would get him/her on it immediately. Having it delayed further may mean the warranty expires.

This doesn't, however, mean that the problem the computer is having is necessarily covered under warranty.