Thanks so much for your input Terrister and Baldie.
You know, shortly after I posted, I turned it on and started surfing. (It gets extremely hot and then cools slightly and then gets hot again. over five minute intervals.) But then after about 20 minutes the virus program came on. It suddenly became so extremely hot it would burn your hands and it stayed that way...and then started to smell like burning something.
The fans and vent are not blocked.
It's packed up in it's box and will go back. Nice little laptop and disappointing. I've had a few Dell laptops before this and have never had a problem. Makes me hope CC will allow me to exchange for a similar Dell.
Thanks so much for your help.
nancy