Power Supply - any reason Dell has to make this a proprietary part?

For those who might face a similar situation, you can find these adapters here:

http://www.centrix-intl.com/

do a search for "Dell"

And may I recommend Antec for thieir excellent power supplies?   350 watts with two temperature controlled fans for about $65 and you can get them at places like Best Buy..... and with the $10 adapter from Centrix you're home free. 

Dennis,

Say it isn't so. I have a 3 1/2-year-old XPS-T600.

One does have to wonder why Dell persists with these nonstandard connectors. I have been aware of it for some time. It ticks me off so much that I would not consider a Dell replacement power supply if mine were to fail. I'd either get a pcpowerandcooling supply or an adapter for a standard supply. I wonder what twisted logic went into Dell's decision.

Just out of curiosity, do you leave your computer running 24/7?

Dell isn't alone on this.  Compaq also has proprietary motherboards and power supplies.  IBM also uses proprietary motherboards (and probably power supplies).  There are probably others.   

It ticked me off to.......I just paid my Dell dim 4100 (proprietary) (dead in the water for upgrading) computer off ,,,,,,After 2 years of monthly payments,,,,,, pay off was still,,,,,,,,$600,,,,,,,,

Whats left of it is non proprietary now,,,, and completely upgradeable. And soon will go into a nice roomy ATX case.

Dell Dimension 4100 (incase upgrade) AsusP4PEgl / Intel(R) P4 2.4(oc 2.7)
Intel(R) App Acc Win's XP oem home/ 2000pro IE 6.0
Bios:Award Medallion v6.0 1gig ddr pc2700
MaX30gig,MaX80gig,Wd20gig Generic Floppy dr SamSung DVD rom
CyberDrv CD-R/RW IDE Intel(R) 8201 Ultra ATA Controller
IDE Intel(R) 8201 Ultra ATA Controller Raid IDE ATA/133/Serial ATA
Trios II Drive selector Antec Rd Data cables Video:NVIDA gf4 Ti4200
Audio: SoundMax ADIAD(1980 6chan audio CODEC) AOpen 56k v.92 Fax
Antec TrUE 330w DuAL fAN Ps 3 Case exhaust fans 1 frt/pan intake fan
Dell E770s [Monitor] Logitech QuickCam Express Lexmark Z22-Z32 Series Microsoft Keyboard Lodgitech Optical cL

Can't just the fan be replaced? I've ended up replacing the power supply fan in just about every computer I've ever owned. Much cheaper than replacing the whole power supply.

> Dell isn't alone on this.  Compaq also has proprietary motherboards and power supplies.  IBM also uses

>  proprietary motherboards (and probably power supplies). 

> There are probably others.   

 

True, but whats really annoying here is this is nearly a stock Intel 440BX series motherboard that someone had to deliberately go in and re-wire just to make it non-standard.  Compaq's stuff and some of IBM's are so weird the moment you see them you know you're in uncharted territory, but up until now it appeared that Dell was doing the smart thing of using good, select already exisiting hardware and building on that.

I guess it just annoys me that someone appears to have deliberately done this just to insure that you would have to return to Dell for replacement parts at an outrageous price.  

And yes, the fan could just be replaced but in the 3 1/2 years this box has seen a lot of added equipment and it just feels safer to give it a new supply with a little more headroom.  The Antec one I saw had an addiitonal fan in it as well to help out with case cooling and a lead to run to the motherboard fan controller, which would allow the system to control the fan as necessary.  Nice touches that you would not get in a Dell replacement supply.

 

Yes it is, but there is still another solution.......

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/power_supplies/selector/index.htm

these guys sell properly wired supplies for the Dell mongels..

and to answer your question, no I don't leave the system on 24/7.  There are some times it sits on for a day or so, but not on a regular basis

when the power supply dies most people probably just scrap their 3 year old computer and call dell for another one.  Dell is very smart to use alot of propietary equipment, they are trying to make money after all.  If you don't like this than build your own PC or buy one that can be fixed easily.          

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@talmy wrote:
Can't just the fan be replaced? I've ended up replacing the power supply fan in just about every computer I've ever owned. Much cheaper than replacing the whole power supply.

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You miss the point  talmy,,,,,,,its not the fan,its not upgrading his power supply, its not cost verses costs,,,,,,,,,,its the pain in the but,,,of proprietary, non ATX practice's of pc  manufacturer's

rustymt

 

 

Dell Dimension 4100 (incase upgrade) AsusP4PEgl / Intel(R) P4 2.4(oc 2.7)
Intel(R) App Acc Win's XP oem home/ 2000pro IE 6.0
Bios:Award Medallion v6.0 1gig ddr pc2700
MaX30gig,MaX80gig,Wd20gig Generic Floppy dr SamSung DVD rom
CyberDrv CD-R/RW IDE Intel(R) 8201 Ultra ATA Controller
IDE Intel(R) 8201 Ultra ATA Controller Raid IDE ATA/133/Serial ATA
Trios II Drive selector Antec Rd Data cables Video:NVIDA gf4 Ti4200
Audio: SoundMax ADIAD(1980 6chan audio CODEC) AOpen 56k v.92 Fax
Antec TrUE 330w DuAL fAN Ps 3 Case exhaust fans 1 frt/pan intake fan
Dell E770s [Monitor] Logitech QuickCam Express Lexmark Z22-Z32 Series Microsoft Keyboard Lodgitech Optical cL

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@rustymt wrote:

You miss the point talmy,,,,,,,its not the fan,its not upgrading his power supply, its not cost verses costs,,,,,,,,,,its the pain in the but,,,of proprietary, non ATX practice's of pc manufacturer's

rustymt

I do get the point, but offered a possible solution to the original problem. I believe this is a support forum as opposed to a rant forum.

From what I've read (an offical Dell document online somewhere I've forgotten) Dell went with the proprietary connectors because they felt the standard design at the time was inadequate to carry the current. They have switched back to standard connectors with the 4300 and 8200 models because the industry standard changed to provide a third motherboard power connector. In any case the only way to get a system without any proprietary parts is to build it yourself.

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@talmy wrote:

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@rustymt wrote:

You miss the point talmy,,,,,,,its not the fan,its not upgrading his power supply, its not cost verses costs,,,,,,,,,,its the pain in the but,,,of proprietary, non ATX practice's of pc manufacturer's

rustymt

I do get the point, but offered a possible solution to the original problem. I believe this is a support forum as opposed to a rant forum.

From what I've read (an offical Dell document online somewhere I've forgotten) Dell went with the proprietary connectors because they felt the standard design at the time was inadequate to carry the current. They have switched back to standard connectors with the 4300 and 8200 models because the industry standard changed to provide a third motherboard power connector. In any case the only way to get a system without any proprietary parts is to build it yourself.

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I dont consider any ones opinions or comments ,,,,,,rants""" even your reply.

However a solution would be more like a fan part number, a site link selling Dell power supply fans. Where did you buy all the fans you said you replaced? You might provide that link. to the person who opened this  thread.

rustymt

 

 

Some of us maybe cant affford to own 4-5 computers and buy a new one every 18 months,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

 

I buy the fans locally. Usually about $10, so mailorder would be more expensive and take longer to repair. And I don't buy new systems every 12-18 months, I just replaced a whole bunch of much older systems (youngest was 4 years old) at roughly same time. If I replace systems that quickly, I'd never need to have purchased a fan!

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@talmy wrote:
I buy the fans locally. Usually about $10, so mailorder would be more expensive and take longer to repair. And I don't buy new systems every 12-18 months, I just replaced a whole bunch of much older systems (youngest was 4 years old) at roughly same time. If I replace systems that quickly, I'd never need to have purchased a fan!

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I wished there was a computer parts supplier near here,,,,I live in a small town in mt. 275 miles from even a Walmart store. I have to buy everything on line.I have been really lucky on fans. I didnt want to list them all in my 4100 revamp........ shsssssss  lol Counting the cpu & ps I think  I have about 8 fans in my toy box. The origonal Dell rear case ( very quite and running great)and all the rest are from here and there. And Lo and behold I can barely hear any of them,,,,,,I believe I could almost keep my sodas's in there,,,,,,,lol That is if there  was room for one,,,,,,with all that Stuff ,IT IS full,,,,,LOL Ill be glad when I get a new case.,,,,,,,,take care,,,,,later

rustymt

 

Message Edited by rustymt on 03-11-2003 03:18 PM

To the gentleman who insists that I should just buy a new computer every couple years maybe you would like to write the check?   Some of us who have kids in school, a mortagage and car payment and other expenses can't just take lightly the large price tag of a brand new Dell every few years.

My original hope here was to get some input from Dell, as I see their moderators do prowl the forum and answer some questions, apparently this one wasn't one they were interested in answering.

Interestingly enough, the gentleman's last suggestion to just build my own system is one I am currently researching and surprisingly I have found that I can populate a state-of-the art machine for nearly $1000 less than I could buy the same box from Dell for, and it would be completely user-servicable with over the counter parts instead of this silly proprietary stuff.    Hopefully my tax return will have enough left over to allow me to pursue this and then I can turn my Dell over to my son for his school work, after replacing the power supply with one from  PC Power and Cooling.

If you read this Dell, please consider this a complaint not only about your choices of proprietary hardware, but the attitude that your tech people take toward someone who calls with a question about an out of warranty computer.   I felt like I was being told to take a hike instead of being helped with a problem.  

Its unfortunate, I really used to like my Dell Dimension, until this.      I also have a Dell laptop and the situation has been completely opposite with it, apparently whatever department handles the laptop service is much more on the ball.