It's sad, it really is. The last Dell I purchased was in 2003, an Inspiron notebook that still "runs". I also had my dad purchase a Dimension desktop during that time.
Dell was once the company to beat. They were "it" when it came to price and reliability, but obviously somewhere along the way they lost focus. Why would they allow faulty products to be sent out for years? Wouldn't the repair costs to them be extraordinary? Apparently not, which just tells you how much it doesn't cost them to make these computers. Parts that would cost us hundreds of dollars to replace ourselves they can replace for a few dollars.
I will not be buying any Dell products for the time being -- although I have been avoiding them for years now.