I used to build clone PC's professionally (about 8+ years ago), and I remember the molex connector problem happening to me once. Problem is that the power supply QA team probably just looks for CORRECT voltages. They know that the voltage between the yellow wire and the black one should be 12V. They didn't notics that the yellow wire was on the wrong side of the connector. Also, I know what you mean about the Dells. We have a couple hundred of them at the office. For a corporate environment, It's OK that they have a slow chipset, crummy integrated video, and shared video memory. Our employees are supposed to be using Office software, not playing Doom 3. I just wish they would use better Hard Disks. We have Dells and Gateways, and it seems that both of those manufacturers LOVE to use Quantum Hard disks. I would gladly pay the $30 more per machine if they were WD hard drives. For a home environment Personal Computer, Stay away from the prebuilt machines you find in a store like Best Buy, and visit your local clone computer shop. You can get the performance you want, in the case you want, without being limited by custom motherboards. You can also talk to the technician who would assemble it, and I'm sure he would have valuable insight on compatibility and performance. At 10:51 AM 11/30/2004 +1100, you wrote: >generally when I custom build a PC I assume there will be >roughly 2 mistakes made with it. Typically this is something >like IDE cables swapped around and messing up partitioning of >the hard drive first time round. > >setting up a personal PC takes about a day about half of which is taken up >with patching. >a PC for a friend, about half a day (less stuff installed, less patching) > >had my first problem with insufficient power lately >went through 3 400W supplies before I got an Antec True Power 550W >for a while I was running 2 PSU's, ATX running the mbo and SCSI HDD and >an old AT supply running all the other drives. >I had originally ordered the PC with a large PSU but none of my regular >suppliers >could get it in stock, eventually I went to another store and they got it >in, in 2 days >(along with a DVD burner). > >current system is a Dual Xeon 3.06Ghz 2x80GbIDE 1x36GB 15Krpm Seagate >cheetah (SCSI), Raedeon 9600pro. > > >problem I typically have with dells is they make me look like a damn fool >if ever I'm called on to repair/upgrade one. >with all their catches and levers and dohickies removing a hard drive is a >puzzle nigh on insurmountable at times. I have once pulled 15 screws out of >one of them only to find out that >there's this little catch behind the drive you lift and twist and the whole >thing pops out. > >Also beware of the old dell/all-in-wonder PC tricks >Top of the line CPU, crap everything else. >Pentium 4 3.4Ghz >with an integrated video card sharing system memory >128 mb of ram for it to share >a quantum bigfoot hard drive (cheaper to make but MUCH slower) >bugger all USB, no firewire, slowass chipset > >net result, your better off buying a P4 2Ghz for the same price >and it will run at 4x the speed of the dell. > > > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu]On Behalf >> Of Lawrence Lile >> Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 10:04 >> To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. >> Subject: RE: [OT] Beware IDIOT!! assemblers of PC power connectors. >> >> >> 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 > >_______________________________________________ >http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive >View/change your membership options at >http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > Remove the BALONEY from my email address. ----------------------------------------------------- Matthew Fries Minneapolis, MN USA freeze@baloneyvisi.com "Quit eating all my *STUFF*!" - The Tick _______________________________________________ http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist