I serviced a private school for a year as their network administrator. All they had where Dells, so you can imagine the type of weekly relationship I had with Dell support.

I once had a technician come in to replace a moetherboard. As he was doing his diligent work, he let a "of course, one of those" slip through his lips.
I questioned him what he ment.
He was a sub-contractor for a contractor for dell, and since he got cought, he decided to come clear about a few things.
Dell had made a version of their desktops with motherboards that where designed to overheat within 18 months from the purchase. He showed me the resistors on the motherboard an I noticed the etched tops on the motherboard that broke.
He then showed me the new motherboard, where I noticed the tops where flush and clean.

I don't really like Dells all that much, but that's just me. I prefer just building my computers. And if I end up buying a brand (like I have in the past) I have double checked the components before the 30 day money back guarantee expired.

I have to say that e-machines (after it got bought by gateway) so far has been delivering good quality....