Dell computers have been the subject of cheap jokes for years, though it seems that reputation may have been rightfully earned. A lawsuit targeting Dell says that the company knew that 11.8 million OptiPlex computers between the May 2003 to July 2005 had faulty components.
Dell apparently purposefully downplayed the issue, telling its salespeople to conceal system problems. The issues came from poor quality capacitors on motherboards, which could cause systems to fail.
Source: New York Times
