And historically they've been less reliable. I've had 3 Compaqs, 2 Emachines, 2 Dells, 1 HP, 1 Fujitsu and 1 Gateway. 2 out of 3 of the Compaqs crashed nonstop and turned into paperweights. I've been more than happy with every other computer I've had except one of the Emachines which had a short on the mother board 3 months after purchase.
Just make sure you have an airtight warranty plan or make sure that the computer is so cheap that you can replace it.
And invest in a removable hard drive so you can back up your files once a week.