I maybe late as this was a while ago, but I just ran into it....
"After the math department at the University of Texas noticed some of its Dell computers failing, Dell examined the machines. The company came up with an unusual reason for the computers¹ demise: the school had overtaxed the machines by making them perform difficult math calculations," Ashlee Vance reports for The New York Times.
"Dell, however, had actually sent the university, in Austin, desktop PCs riddled with faulty electrical components that were leaking chemicals and causing the malfunctions," Vance reports. "Dell sold millions of these computers from 2003 to 2005 to major companies like Wal-Mart and Wells Fargo, institutions like the Mayo Clinic and small businesses." Sent from my iPad (and loving it)
...and while I guess it was those crook caps that you all know about, the Dell staff explanation is a classic they will never live down
David