all hardware is not equal- stoopid Dell and Gateway tricks
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tuxchick Nov 25, 2005 8:36 AM EDT |
"Just remember that whether you buy a low-end Dell, Compaq or Microtel that they all have basically the same parts inside. You pay for the name." And you pay for shoddy stunts like Dell changing the pinouts on the power supplies, so you cannot swap in an off-the-shelf PS, because it will fry your motherboard. Compaq and Gateway like to use weird little power supplies with customized fasteners so that they cannot be replaced with off-the-shelf parts. So you either have to cobbled up a clever hack, or pay through the nose for a name-brand part. There are other tricksy things that they do which I forget at the moment. |
| jimf Nov 25, 2005 9:44 AM EDT |
If you are thinking of upgrading something like a low end Dell, forget it anyway. With anything else, you may be able to recycle a few parts. Not so with Dell. Nearly everything on those things is proprietary. I seriously doubt that even the MB mounting is anywhere near standard. |
| cyber_rigger Nov 25, 2005 6:12 PM EDT |
Not so with Dell. Nearly everything on those things is proprietary. I seriously doubt that even the MB mounting is anywhere near standard. The USB cables are even different. I happened to be in a local computer repair shop. A customer brought a Dell in with a bad motherboard. The shop's solution was to sell them a new generic motherboard+case+powersupply. |
| sharkscott Nov 26, 2005 6:09 AM EDT |
Not Compaq,
A Compaq is an HP on the inside, the only thing that is Compaq on the whole machine is the case. With Dell and Gateway you will get whatever they were buying that week but not with a Compaq. Don't believe me? open one up and look. HP motherboard, HP Hard Drive... Yes there are lower line components and yes they do make it hard to upgrade the hardware, but they are HP components. Besides, if you know how to upgrade an existing computer why not build your own and do with it what you want. Dell and Gateway do not actually manufacture anything of their own, never have. |
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