# Dell & HP/Compaq dropping parts support for systems after as little as 24 months.



## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

When one does business with a big-name company he/she expects support for that system, including availability of parts.

*You can expect it; but, you won't get it.*

*First Case*: I attempted to order a main board for a Dell Dimension 8400 on 10/21/2006. This has a Pentium 4 3.2-Gig processor that, when it was purchased twenty-four months ago, was a top-line system costing $2000. Ship/purchase date was 09/23/2004 and Dell no longer sells either a power supply or a main board.

*Second Case*: Another customer with an HP Pavilion a265c with 2.8-Gig processor, date of purchase from Office Depot 02/02/2004. No main board or power supply available.

I'm sure I am not just having a run of bad luck. These cases are most likely typical and I think it stinks.


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## Fidelista (Jan 17, 2004)

No supprise there!. There is no $$$ in stocking and warehousing parts. 
Just time to buy new unit in a couple or 3 years. 
With some search , you can usually find what you need , but factory support ? no.
I NEVER expect any kind of support except refund or 1 year warrenty, and even that can be a pain. I have had no problems , but know of cases.
I am supprised that not even power supply is available from Dell { esp a 8400 } or HP , guess I am right --we are on our own after 12 months  >f


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## Kalstolyn (Oct 28, 2006)

Dell does not stock parts at all, it has third-party suppliers deliver the parts to the assembly line on an as-nneded basis. If the supplier stops manufacturing the part, Dell does not necessarily have a back-supply of that part unless they've got a refurbished or otherwise used component.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Alex Ethridge said:


> When one does business with a big-name company he/she expects support for that system, including availability of parts.
> 
> *You can expect it; but, you won't get it.*
> 
> ...


Hi Alex 
Are the new branded computers so proprietary, that in the situation of the Dell motherboard/psu going bad, replacements from the aftermarket/enthusiast suppliers would not fit?


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## Kalstolyn (Oct 28, 2006)

I don't see why any psu wouldn't do for a dell, the motherboard has a strange setup because of how the airflow runs through the case, but the power supply itself is pretty standard.


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

> Dell does not stock parts at all, it has third-party suppliers deliver the parts to the assembly line on an as-nneded basis. If the supplier stops manufacturing the part, Dell does not necessarily have a back-supply of that part unless they've got a refurbished or otherwise used component.


My gripe goes exactly to that. Why do business with a company like Dell or HP in the first place if the support for the product is dropped after such a short period; and, seeing the support that is offered is from people who are difficult to understand and use high-pressure tactics. Case in point: I recently ordered a part for a Dell system that was 17 months old according to the invoice. The person who took the order, someone in Mayaysia I guess, said if we "didn't get it now", it might not be there tomorrow as this was the last one.

Just as a test, when we did order two days later, I told the person who took the order that we may need as many as ten of the boards as spares for a large number of computers of this same model and they said they had many more than that in stock and would have no problem filling such an order.

It seems Dell has turned it over to a bunch of shnooks.


> unless they've got a refurbished or otherwise used component


Refurbished? Refurbished is a joke. Can you imagine someone sitting down and extensively testing and diagnosing a board with an intermittent problem to determine which of the one thousand parts on that board is bad and then with a soldering iron desoldering a bad capacitor, diode or resistor and soldering in another? I don't believe it. These "refurbished" boards run a high rate of intermittent problems of freezing up and failures to perform certain tasks.

Look up "refurbished" in the dictionary and you'll see one of its definitions is "to polish". I don't need Dell or HP to blow the dust off someone else's problem and put into a new antistatic bag and send it to me. When I know the definition of "refurbished", I understand why they chose that word over "repaired".

My opinion: There is no such thing as a repaired board

I have one in my shop from Dell, installed last week, returned with an intermittent freezing problem. We thought we were getting a new board. It came marked "refurbished". They didn't say anything about "refurbished" when we ordered or we would not have ordered.


> Are the new branded computers so proprietary, that in the situation of the Dell motherboard/psu going bad, replacements from the aftermarket/enthusiast suppliers would not fit?


The Dell branded software will run on only a Dell branded board, resulting in a cost of $125+ in addition to the cost of the board, itself. In the case of HP, the only software supplied is a system recovery that works on only that HP system. This puts the cost of repairs beyond what is prudent for an out-of-warranty system.

Another thing I've noticed: When doing tech support with these people is that when the tech support results in an obviously successful session, they want us to answer a evaluation questionnaire. When it is obviously unsuccessful, they never offer that opportunity.

So, the good reputation these companies enjoy is based largely on hype.


> I don't see why any psu wouldn't do for a dell, the motherboard has a strange setup because of how the airflow runs through the case, but the power supply itself is pretty standard.


Sometimes, they will not fit.


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