One reason I don't buy brand name PC's

acidosmosis

Posts: 1,310   +0
I am working on a PC for a friend of my brothers. It is a Compaq Presario. This kind of insane job is one reason I stray from buying a brand name PC (other than the fact that it's much funner to build one yourself and many other reasons).

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Now, tell me something. WHAT is wrong with this picture!?

Damn Compaq, bunch of embasils.
 
embasils?

Clever word play or really bad english, either way, the imbeciles are the ones who actually consciously purchase these machines on misinformation. But, always remember, many users do not have technical expertise of any sort, nor the time to learn it. And, like a car, they wish to be able to find one that does what they want it do with a nice big fat warranty behind it. I'm not giving any love to Compaq, but they do have their place! Not everyone can be a hobbyist :)


Q: What is wrong with that picture?
 
Originally posted by Soul Harvester


Q: What is wrong with that picture?
I think what may be wrong is that rectangular prism that occupies the bottom third of the case. Although why that is so terrible I don't really know, but I know if one appeared in my case I'd be pissed.
 
Ha.. I didn't even notice that at first.

What IS that used for?

I have an older Presario case that has a horrid design - The PSU is right in the center of the case, and the PSU is an elongated design - it runs almost the entire length of the case. The only way to remove it is to "un-bolt" the case in the back, remove the bezzle, and then unscrew it from there. Not to mention it is a beefy 145 W powerhouse.

I think I will take it outside and shoot it.

Or, wait, I will just take it to downtown portland, where passing motorists will shoot it for me.
 
Originally posted by Soul Harvester
Ha.. I didn't even notice that at first.

What IS that used for?

Or, wait, I will just take it to downtown portland, where passing motorists will shoot it for me.

LMAO... where do you live exactly? The bronx? lol

As far as what that box is for.. hell if i know.. that is my point though. Even if it's not a techie buying that PC what happens if they try to upgrade it themselves? Even if they would be successfull that stupid little box is going to be in their way and I know that most people like that would be like "omg. what do I do? I'm so confused! Hey! Maybe they left this box here to use as an ashtray! how nice!"
You would be so suprised.
 
I've never seen anything like that before, but I do know that users buying brands like compaq, are unlikely to get anything approaching a standard PC.

These companies just seem to have their own way of doing things, and often use non-standard/modified components just to make things difficult for those that want to upgrade.

I guess these PCs are not targetted at the enthusiast market, but are intended for use by the non-technical crowd, who don't know any better. :confused:
 
my friend has a dell dimension 8250 but it does not look quite as crazy inside like that pic of that compaq presario. sure it still got its problems like other OEMs, but at least there is some room to work on inside and looks something like a normal atx case. if i looked like that compaq, i'd go nuts. :eek:
 
Well, thats basically the only good thing about brand name PC's. The major market is in computer illiterate consumers so obviously most of them are never even going to open the case. These PC's just give them an already working system with a warranty. Something I could care less about because no one fixes my computer but ME ;-). The bad thing is though it makes us techies job's harder when we have to work on a PC like this.

Hmm, is Packard Bell still around? I know their systems were REALLY bad like this and they were very un-upgradable.
 
I've worked on the insides of hundreds of PCs, and I can honestly say I have never seen that before. :)

I have seen some equally disheartening things though... But I've also seen some very good case designs by Compaq and Dell (It's true!). Their case designs change more often than.. Well, something that changes a lot.

It is very disappointing to see such a large, usless contraption in a case. A real waste of space, and probably bad for airflow. I cannot imagine a purpose for it other than to stun and astonish computer enthusiasts with shocking horror and disbelief.
 
I've worked on many PCs in my day and I've seen some pretty funny and not so funny things done by builders but I don't think I've seen that before, maybe it is meant to equal out the displacement of unused space to keep the box from tipping over<Sarcasm>

What is behind it? At first glance I would assume that the mobo is positioned so the CPU is behind that and that a fan might be positioned to blow air directly accross it. But I have problems with that as well. I am curious to know what is behind it though.

As for upgrading things like this, you have to be careful because many times the PSU has been matched to the requirements of the system, so upgrading it can sometimes require upgrading the PSU as well.

I sometimes think that brands like HP, Compaq, and a few others, were created with the sole purpose of driving PC technicians insane. If that is the case then they did a very good job.
 
Well, the processor, Intel processor fan, cards, memory etc are behind the box on the bottom and the hard drives and psu is behidn the box on the top.

Crazy Compaq nuts :)
 
My brother bought a Packhard Bell a couple of years ago, and it was close to top of the range model back then.

Recently he asked me to upgrade it for him and when I opened it up I found that the hard drive was mounted directly on the front vertical panel of the case.

There was no drive bay, and it was impossible to add a second hard drive. The motherboard was a 'custom' model and had all the features on board (i.e. no expansion cards required) to keep costs down.

Almost all the components were custom versions so trying to track down suitable drivers for an upgrade to WinXP was near impossible, though I did manage it in the end.

I guess these companies have to keep costs down due to retail mark up, which direct suppliers don't have. What I saw definitely put me off ever buying any brand name PCs. Quality costs, and there are some good brand names out there (e.g. Alienware, Mesh, Evesham, etc.), so as long as you do a little research first you can avoid buying a donkey. :)
 
Originally posted by Nic
there are some good brand names out there (e.g. Alienware, Mesh, Evesham, etc.), so as long as you do a little research first you can avoid buying a donkey. :) [/B]

True :) but they cost a lot more than a custom PC. For example mine was about $1200. And the fact is you can't buy a PC with the high quality components that mine has like Enermax PSU, and other things. Most come with crappy PSU's. A retail version of this sytem would cost about $3000. :) Yet another reason that I dont buy brand name PC's :)
 
You're absolutely right, and I always assemble my own (I'm very picky with components), but for those that don't know much about PCs and need the tech support, they don't have an awful lot of choice.
 
Just for reasons sake,the pc maker sells more variations and upgrades for the same box to cut cost.Working for HP Im not defending what they do but it just like cars you can get full power options or the same car with hand cranked windows.The reason I build my own PCs (besides cost) is the bios and settings are set on the very MILD side,and do not allow for too much adjustment or the ability to add anything reliably.Personaly just like automobile makers these comp makers want you to take their stuff back to them for service.PLEASE dont bombard me with tounge lashings,as you can see from my profile I build my own.Im just trying to explain the second story apartment with no stairs to the first floor.he,he.I really hope your able to fix your problem though.Peace
 
Spun_1: Yea I understand why they do it. I don't really have a problem, I just wanted to point out how bad of a job Compaq did with that case and how pointless it is to have those metal boxes in there. I can still install the CD Burner like the guy requested, no problem. That won't get in my way. If I went to install some new RAM or hard drive or something like that, then I would have a small headache on my hands. Either way it can be done pretty easily but Compaq sure makes you go "WTF?" when you open their cases.
 
OH!!COMPAQ does more than make me say WTF.I hope no one important is watching but uh,I wish this HP/Compaq wedding would have never happend.HP products are VERY expensive but MOST of those products were far better than anything Compaq's ever made.i.e CDRs,printers,scanners.Those days are gone.Rest in peace HP.
 
Packard Hell, Comcrap, IBdaMned... There's many names for things like these. :)
 
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