[driftdiver]

This explains a lot for me since we buy Dell computers. Well we used to.

[wally_bert]

From the few hundred I have had my hands on, Dells usually held up well and gave little if any trouble. Really old units had typical failures such as boards/power supplies/bad caps.

[RegulatorCountry]

Maybe Dell should just shut down and refund the value of outstanding shares to their shareholders, lol.

[Dumpster Baby]

I was given an "old" computer after an upgrade, and I found a bunch of those leaking capacitors in it. It wasn't a Dell, and there were a LOT of electronics manufacturers hit by this problem.

Due to the way the boards are constructed, and my lack of a $2000 soldering station, I had a very difficult time replacing about 8 capacitors without damaging the board. I ended up having to mount them upside down on the board with double sided tape dots, and use jumper wires to connect the leads to the board pads.

I'm using that very computer to write this even as we speak.

[FreePaul]

This sounds like the capacitor problem that was prevalent throughout the industry. A lot of people, including those who built their own computers, were victims of this as the mother boards had these defective capacitors. The capacitors bulged and sometimes burst.

I built a computer with one of the boards that was subject to failure. I guess that I was lucky since mine is still working. I didn't have to replace any capacitors. I'm not the one using it but it doesn't seem to have any capacitor related problems.

[LibLieSlayer]

Cheap chicom electrolytic capacitors on mother boards that were full of moisture... when they fail they bulge out at the top. Seen hundreds of these go bad. Dell is not the only one that used this crap knowingly.

LLS

[DuncanWaring]

More on this from Karl Denninger:

Faulty Capacitors: See, They Knew!

Chinaman Fails To Hose American.

[dartuser]

I have a Dell Studio for work and I am ABUSING it with mathematical computations. No issues at all so far.

[RoadieFan]

We have hem at work. They are crap. I will NEVER buy one for home. IF I had to buy a PC...I would get an HP. But since I don’t HAVE to, I buy Apple products :)