Did anyone catch this?
http://www.theinquirer.net/15040206.htm
Might save someone from some heartache and an expensive repair and/or medical bill when upgrading a Dell machine.
Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, Flying Fox, morphine
Speed wrote:Sheesh. The only thing proprietary is the part that interfaces with the front panel switches and indicators. Big deal. It's not like they take non-standard memory or any other parts.
If you're going to replace an old Dell mobo with a new Pentium 4, you're going to have to replace the power supply anyway. So exactly what is the big deal?
BTW, the last time I checked, Dell is a business and not a charity. This is hardly a new concept! The object of business is to make money. Isn't it disingenuous to feign surprise about it?
tekmachine wrote:Who is feigning surprise?
I was always under the impression that Dell used industry-standard ATX power supplies. They don't. Apparently lots of others weren't aware either.
If you want to upgrade the p3 or p4 mainboard in your newish Dell with a newer p4 or athlon mainboard, you normally wouldn't need to replace the power supply. But it turns out you do with a Dell.
I always used to hear people bragging about how Dell used industry-standard parts, so I always assumed their ATX power supplies would be standard. It came as a genuine surprise to me that they weren't.