the DELL Boy of Computer hardware

[Jupitus]

Ok - I was prompted to post this after much discussion in #barrysworld last night about the pros and cons of buying a DELL system. Sure, they do some nice bundles and interest free credit, but my point is as a warning for anyone who thinks they are likely to want to upgrade a DELL machine in the future.

I dedicate this to the memory of Anidante's shattered reputation. R.I.P.


Check this thread out:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=oplex_other&message.id=12625

As you can see there is alot of confusion, but basically DELL have been using motherboards in mass supply with a non-standard but 'ATX-like' power connector configuration. I nearly fell foul of this myself.

I had a DELL tower with a micro ATX motherboard, and wanted to upgrade the mobo, processor and memory, taking the existing components and putting them in my lad's machine as an upgrade for him too. I found out 2 days before I was going to do this that if I had simply installed the new mobo in the DELL machine and connected what I thought was a standard ATX PSU to it, I would likely have fried it there and then.

Ok, I'm a technical support manager and reasonably up to speed on matter pc, so I figured I'd swap the PSU out for a standard one aswell, and put the DELL one into my lad's machine along with the DELL proprietary mobo.

A standard PSU didn't quite fit into the DELL case, but it was close enough to not cause issues. Ok... so what next? Replace the mobo...



ahh....



of course, you simply unscrew the screws and take out the mobo, no?



No.



The clamps for the processor heatsink dont fit the mobo, they go through it somehow and screw into a metal tray which clips into the DELL chassis, so if I wanted to swap the mobo I needed effectively destroy the heatsink clamps and then try to replace them for the mobo to go in a standard case.

Frankly, by this time, I was so fucked off with DELL I gave up. I put the DELL back together and went and bought a new case, PSU and a couple of other parts and gave my lad the DELL, keeping his old machine aside for when #2 son wants his own pc.

DELL build very nice machines, and the interior is well laid out with lots of thoughtful touches (extra slides for additional disks including spares for example). If you never want to upgrade I would recommend them, but if you think you might then I would strongly advise you to stay well away.

 

[wyrd_fish]

ah... good thing i didn't go for a dell, almost did...

 

[AniDante]

As I understand it from those forum posts, the Dell Dimension 4600 is not one of the ones affected. Also, frankly if you're going to be ripping your PC to pieces and swapping it about here and there why buy a custom/ready made one in the first place?

If things have progressed to the state where you need to update the mobo or power supply then you either need to buy a new one of build one from scratch.

For a decent one off pc upgrade, the kind most home users do every 5 or 6 years, even IF it was affected by Dell's odd mobo fixings and powersupply connectors it wouldn't matter in the slightest. Normaly upgrades are memory, graphics card, bigger HDD etc.

However, I do appreciate you spending your time searching through the Dell forums, I shall make sure to check the pc mobo connection and the powersupply connectors when it arrives.

 

[Ch3tan]

I would not buy Dell again.

While I had 3 years good service from my Dell machine, it really wasnt all it claimed to be. My monitor died just months after the 3 year warrenty finished.

Dell took nearly 8 months to refund me £70 they owed me on a peripheral sale whcih they never delivered but took the cash for. Everytime I phoned they gave a different reply and then once I said I wanted to complain they gave me an address to write to and refused to handle my case by phone anymore. The address was a waste, 4 letters and no responce -I was off travelling for six months now, and my mum was writing to them. Eventually it took my bank to get involved asking why the funds had been claimed from my card without deliver for them to return my money -which they claimed they never even had.

Most of my uncles bought Dell systems, simply because I was happy with them, one of them fitted his whole office out with them. needless to say I wont be buying anything Dell again and neither will they.

 

[Jupitus]

Originally posted by AniDante
As I understand it from those forum posts, the Dell Dimension 4600 is not one of the ones affected. Also, frankly if you're going to be ripping your PC to pieces and swapping it about here and there why buy a custom/ready made one in the first place?

If things have progressed to the state where you need to update the mobo or power supply then you either need to buy a new one of build one from scratch.

For a decent one off pc upgrade, the kind most home users do every 5 or 6 years, even IF it was affected by Dell's odd mobo fixings and powersupply connectors it wouldn't matter in the slightest. Normaly upgrades are memory, graphics card, bigger HDD etc.

However, I do appreciate you spending your time searching through the Dell forums, I shall make sure to check the pc mobo connection and the powersupply connectors when it arrives.

I think I make it quite clear that people who know they won't be upgrading the maching shouldn't worry, indeed I praised certain areas, and if you are going to be happy with a 4600 for a significant period then good luck to you.

However, I think 5-6 years is rather optimistic, no? The pace of change in the hardware market is renowned for leaving people with 'out of date' hardware in a matter of months, not years, and for most of the folks here at Game.net I would imagine keeping a good spec gaming machine is very important when you consider the performance requirements for the modern genre of games.

My post is aimed as a warning to those unsuspecting souls who might buy DELL kit in good faith, then in a year or two's time spend a few hundred quid on a new ATX mobo, processor and RAM only to end up frying it because DELL, in their wisdom, choose to use non standard PSU's and 'ATX-like' mobos.

Why do DELL use non standard mobos and PSUs at all? In a cynical attempt to hoodwink people into purchasing further upgrades from them, and not from the free, open marketplace.

And Ani - it didn't take me long to find the details, don't worry, and the dig at you isn't because you chose DELL (that's up to you entirely) it's in response to your advising other people to buy DELL without knowing the facts first, and your blind refusal to accept that there may be issues ahead for people taking said advice.