<snip>
Sorry Rod - I had no idea that you used a Dell. My point was that
most geeks
don't use Dells, and most people who use Dells aren't geeks. Geeks
like to
"roll their own" and therefore, a propriatary computer - the most common
being a Dell - would not normally ebe something they would have.
It wasn't meant to be taken as a 1-to-1 equation, just an illustration.
Sorry to offend. I had no idea you were so attached to your computer
hardware maker.
-Chad
My ire, wrath, and outrage were tongue-in-cheek, I hope you realize.
But I'm not quite sure why a Dell would be any more "proprietary" than
anything you could roll-your-own. Mine came with an Asus motherboard,
Maxtor hard-drive, Sound-Blaster audio, NVidia graphics card, Conexant
modem, and Harman/Kardon speakers. The only parts that actually say
"Dell" on them are the case, keyboard, mouse, and monitor. The first
three items are long past the point of being commodities and you know
Dell didn't actually build the monitor either. All they do is assemble
components; no different than any "white box" mfr or roll-your-own
hobbyist.
They build decent machines for a good price. Works for me.
Rod
Robert Derman replies: I am no software expert, but I am a computer
hardware expert. I suspect Rod, that the Dell you are describing above
is several years old. Dell used to build very good computers, (USED TO)
what they are building now are the most proprietary designed systems on
the market. They do not use ATX standard cases, (ATX is to case designs
what OASIS is to document formats), nor do they use ATX standard
motherboards. All Asus motherboards are ATX, therefore Dell no longer
uses Asus. Many of their power supplies use ATX connectors, but they
are not wired in the ATX approved configuration, so that if you connect
one of them to a standard non-Dell motherboard, you will destroy it. I
have heard from many Dell owners that their consumer level (as apposed
to enterprise level) service has deteriorated to the point where they
say that Dell is the last brand they would ever buy again. If you want
to find out about Dell today, just Google phrases like "Dell sucks", I
hate Dell, etc.
Getting proprietary Dell parts is like pulling teeth, besides they
are usually over priced. I say that the best way to repair or upgrade
one of today's Dell machines is to throw the motherboard, case and power
supply in the dumpster, wipe the hard drive, and then salvage the rest
of the system to build a decent computer with. By the way, if any
repair of a Dell computer which is out of warranty, (and they only
warranty them for 90 days now,) requires the replacement of the
motherboard, you will have to buy a new copy of Windows!
For these and several other reasons, I now advise people to avoid
all brand name computers and get a generic machine. Unlike with all
other products, in computers, generic is almost always better than brand
names.
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