I had the same kind of experience with a Hewlett Packard PC.  The suckers sold me an on-site maintenance guarantee (Nya Nya NYA!).  I am 130 miles from the nearest on-site maintenance tech, so he had to make several trips to replace a hard drive, hard drive cable and a CD rom drive (twice!)  

Whenever I have built a PC, I have usually had two weekends of hair pulling, cursing, teeth gnashing and randomly punching out hapless passersby before the *&^$%# thing started working correctly.  

Lets see, I bought a computer off the shelf at Sam's club, it was DOA. 

I can truthfully say I have never had a PC that didn't cause trouble at some point early in it's career, homebuilt or factorybuilt. I have never tried a custom built computer, maybe that is the solution!


-- Lawrence Lile, P.E.
Electrical and Electronic Solutions
Project Solutions Companies
www.projsolco.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Newtons Massmind [mailto:jamesnewton@massmind.org]
> Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 3:29 PM
> To: 'Microcontroller discussion list - Public.'
> Subject: RE: [OT] Beware IDIOT!! assemblers of PC power connectors.
> 
> Having just spend over a month trying to get Dell to repair a desktop
> machine at work, I don't thing that is a sure decision.
> 
> Quick overview: Keyboard stops working, new keyboard has no effect, call
> support, they send a guy with new MB (fine so far) He puts in the new MB
> and
> the machine won't boot. I called out the replacement MB, but the tech said
> the problem was damaged files on the HD and we would have to reload the
> OS.
> I called Dell and complained, but they refused to do anything other than
> walk me through loading the OS. Shrug. Tried to format HD, failed, they
> called out defective HD and sent a replacement. Then another. Then
> another.
> Then FINALLY admitted the replacement motherboard had been defective all
> along and sent out a replacement with another tech. NOW the machine will
> format the HD but by this point they are willing to send a pre-loaded HD.
> Which comes a few days later, and is blank. I gave up and reloaded the OS.
> Total elapsed time: 1 month 2 days. Total time on phone, etc: 8 hours, 23
> min.
> 
> I'll give you the case numbers if you like. Of the 4 dells we have
> purchased, only one has not suffered some sort of failure. One overheats,
> one has a dead floppy drive (DOA), one as mentioned above, and one still
> working. Knock on wood. Of the 5 Gateways we purchased, two had video
> cards
> that eventually failed. Not one home built machine has ever failed.
> 
> Buying a pre-built machine just ensures that you will have to learn how it
> comes apart later on. Might as well build them yourself.
> 
> If you don't have the time, it's better to have someone you trust build it
> for you. M. Adam Davis
> http://www.ubasics.com built my last two servers for me and did an
> excellent
> job. I have more features for less cost and NO problems.
> 
> ---
> James.
> 
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu
> > [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of Lawrence Lile
> > Sent: 2004 Nov 29, Mon 11:39
> > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
> > Subject: RE: [OT] Beware IDIOT!! assemblers of PC power connectors.
> >
> > That's it.  I'm buying a Dell.
> >
> >
> > -- Lawrence Lile, P.E.
> > Who used to build his computers from scratch
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
> 
> ---
> Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.762 / Virus Database: 510 - Release Date: 9/13/2004
> 

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.762 / Virus Database: 510 - Release Date: 9/13/2004
 

_______________________________________________
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist