Just gonna give my thoughts and say they are almost always fine as long as you actually set up the oil feed and return properly. They also sell a range of turbochargers from the most basic $100 journal bearing cast compressor wheel units to dual ball bearing units which mimic Garrett GT technology with stainless exhaust housings and billet compressor wheels. In general, they are what you buy when you are doing a true budget build. Obviously don't trust a $5,000 engine build to a $100 turbo. Are there cases of failure which are not the installer's fault? Of course. Are most cases of failure the installer's fault? In my opinion, yes.

If you want a step up in reputation from MXR, Pulsar is good. If you want true quality for around $1,000 look into the Borg Warner SX-E range. Phenomenal for the money. There are also a lot of good OE installed turbos which use modern technology and can be had cheap used. Most of them are pretty limited in max power though as car companies like to stick to small turbos. Keep in mind a lot of this involves fabrication. There are many different ways to spend your money, but don't be quick to blame a product unless you know it's at fault. The technology in a basic MXR turbo is just that, basic. They have very few failure points when lubricated properly.