My entire company uses Dells (a couple hundred machines). That includes laptops, desktops and servers. Dells are well made, reliable, quiet, and all together excellent machines. The reason many people complain about them is that sometimes you will find proprietary components that can only be replaced with Dell parts.
I also find many people complain about the service, but any time I've had exposure to them they have been very kind and thourough when trying to resolve an issue. You have to realize that when calling the service line they are required to follow a step-by-step manual for troubleshooting.
So... to answer the question in your subject... No. Dells are not rubbish.
Stryker
