While I don't share all of the same experiences with you, I have had some fans die too. That is just the nature of sleeve bearing fans. I usually just find some good ball bearing fans for replacement. In the PC world, this is commonplace, so I just roll with the punches.
As far as the flaws about recording, that I don't think I've heard before. Not doubting you, but just wondering if it may have been a config issue? The biggest flaws we experience are due to their crappy software, with the exception of their excellent mobile apps. PSS, Smart PSS, Config Tool, etc. all have their own major issues.
One recent example is the newest Config Tool 4.0 looks much different from their past versions of the tool. We found that using this tool to set the IP address on IP cams has a flaw. Even when setting a static IP, it leaves the radio bullet for DHCP/Static set for DHCP when viewed by the web interface.
We also have one 3MP IP cam that insists on enabling motion detection on the camera (we use server side motion) and keeps locking up the camera. We keep disabling the motion, but it keeps getting enabled all by itself. Gremlins!
Another big annoyance is retrieving footage from any of their recorders. If you are using motion recording in addition to general recording, the exported video will be cut up into multiple clips, depending on if it was general recording or motion recording. There isn't a way to stitch these files together in their software.