I would agree on the Doughboy, except for the pump- undersized, overrated, and insufficient documentation to know in advance or do anything about it. Getting into it voids the warranty, but the casing makes is such that they only way to see what is going on is to crack it open. They also tend to leak- see the following post:
http://www.troublefreepool.com/doughboy-powerpak-pump-leaking-t12047.html
The structure of the pool is good, the filter is fine (hard to mess up a big barrel of sand), the liner warranty is excellent, but steer clear of the pump. We had one dealer try to warn us, and we did not listen and went with another dealer, thinking we wanted the whole "Doughboy package".
The "local dealer only" aspect is a problem if you are a long ways from the dealer. Doughboy is the dominant pool in our area, but we have an hour drive to get to a dealer. Of they are happy to charge us $150 distance fee to come out and look at our problem, eve under warranty. We did not have much else for choices in our location, but that pump is going to be an ongoing source of headaches, I can already tell.
I also agree with wmshay6 that after sale support is key. Another key is a knowledgeable, experienced installer familiar with the peculiarities of your pool type (each seems to have their own little unique trick-such as non-standard hose fittings on Doughboys) and the ground in your area. That can make or break your experience. Ours was excellent- has made a huge difference- could have been a disaster with our unstable ground and crazy weather.