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Turning my Dell into a real computer

MichaelD

MichaelD

Lifer
Ouch. Nice title, if I do say so myself! My Dell PIII 550E is a nice little machine. Quiet too. One fan in the PS, that's it. Amazing. But anyway, in it's current state, it's not "moldable/modable/changable" however you want to word it.

The Extremely Evil Dell Bios will let you set the time of day and boot device and nothing else. Sheesh, and I thought I was a control freak!

Is there some way to flash the bios to another bios? It's a baby AT mobo. The mobo has the 815 chipset (pretty sure...not looking at it right now; going by memory) if that matters.

I dunno what I want to do with it. Maybe see if I can get it to 700MHz or so just for fun?

Maybe do what others on this forum are doing and just let it crack code or something. Or, use it as my "download box". I just want to be able to have more control over what its' doing.

Any suggestions? NO, I'm not gonna use it for shotgun target practice! It's got 256mb of PC100 ram and a 20Gig Maxtor. No CDR....I pirated it into my current box. 😀 But hey, it's got a floppy! On board audio and video to boot! Rock on with my little DEll! Suggestions?
 
ok, im sorry but its not going to be possible...everything connected to that dell is propriatary, and wont be able to:

1. the bios will not let you overclock...not sure about flashing but i doubt it...
2. You cant use any other PSU or else the dell mobo wont work...
3. you can take the chip and move to a new mobo (thats what i did to get my smp going)
4. if you swap to a new case, the power on/reset and goodies are on some propreitary cable requiring you to start splicing.

hope this helps...my rig below use to be a dell...only thing i took with me was the p3, dvd drive, and hdd.
 
You can also swap a new processor into the motherboard - although the Dell power supply tends to be JUST enough, so I had a few power managment problems.
 
Hehe.Thats why Dell, for many years, has had the top rated computer.....
He didn't want a bunch of gameboyzzzzzz fooling around with something and then coming back and bashing his product for something they screwed up !
Smart guy . Mike Dell !
Keep in mind he was a gameboy too ! He's the one that started all this build it custom lifestyle !!!
He just happened to be very successful because he is damn good at it.
Yea, Yea, I like my machine better too but you must admit...If you had to buy a "generic" brand..........Dell is the only game around !
 
Ugh.:disgust: That's exactly the kind of answer I thought I'd get. I haven't been in the system building game long, but I see a lot of PCs at work (PC & CrApple) and thought the mobo in my Dell looked "different". Darn. Well, I don't want it "moldable" bad enough to basically build a whole other system. I'll just slap a NIC in it, reformat the drive (20gig...decent size) and be done with it. It's a nice little box. And yes, to those in my office who are computer-phobic, I recommend nothing but Dell. Very dependable, if a bit pricey.

Oh well. Thanks for the info, everyone. (Thread is dead)
 
Get a good exorcist!!!!


Chalk this up to learning about computers...maybe you weren't ready to build it yourself when you originally bought it so it was probably the best route. Better then my packard hell days (p75), which is when I switched to building my own rigs.

I avoid proprietary now, but back then I didn't know better or assumed upgrading was difficult anyways.

I build some systems for people (as a side thing, wife says its an excuse to play with my hobby) and I love to market my systems as upgrade friendly and they now all the parts (quality brands) before they buy . Since I often can beat a dell system with my comparable system by several hundereds of dollars, it is just a matter of how much they people are willing to pay for tech support they may or may not need. Most parts are warrantied by manufacturer anyway. Dell offers great phone service and delivery of replacement parts.

I am actually thinking of devising a service policy of my own. Since I have built systems only my relatives bug me relentlessly with tech issues, mostly caused by a total lack of experience and willingness to learn. Most of the others I never hear about any issues. So I could charge a 100-150 still be lower then dell offer service or call back within 24hrs and I would come out quite ahead.
 
Duvie with the money-making-plan! Good morning, DuvieTech...this is Duvie, how may I help you? 😀 😉

Back when I bought the Dell the only thing I new how to do was install software and surf the net. The interior of the computer was "Stricly off Limits" due to "voiding your warranty" reasons. Then, I bought a vidcard. My trusty Voodoo3000 PCI. What a neat little card. Runs hotter than bacon grease on a campfire stove though. Anyway, when I installed it, I said "this ain't that hard at all!" In my younger years, I built little AM radios out of kits. So I was semi-familiar with PCB's and assorted electronic components. After the vidcard, I put in some more RAM. AFter that, I got the performance itch and quickly found out that Dell highly discourages you from upgrading your processor or anything else besides buying a whole new system from them.

In my eyes, Dell is the AOL of the prebuilt computer scene. It offers lots of customer service for those types who "can't find their program"...because they minimized it and it's now in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. You get my drift. Dell is still the best prebuilt you can buy though. Later.
 
duvie - you include software in that price? any difference usually evaporates when you go fully legal. you're also doing service for free right now, when that costs money. i find it a headache to help family over the phone with computers, i should tell them to call the maker (dell and crapaq). it would be even worse if i built the thing. at least if a part fails they go to the manu and not me. and its really nice only having 1 phone number to call and no companies trying to blame each other for sh!t happening.

MichaelD - dell doesn't void your warranty when you open the box. in fact i think that practice is illegal now since its "fair use" to add cards and RAM. but everyone is right, the mobo, case, and ps only work with each other so it limits. the only BIOS i could think of using is an intel bios, and those don't OC. there was a program that would OC intel boards from windows, not too many FSB options though, i couldn't make the jump from 104 to 124, and a 28MHz OC ain't worth it. if you've ever dealt with AOL you know that their support isn't anywhere near as good as dell.
 
Yes...Software is included. OS, all the other software that comes bundled with the cd-rw and dvd-roms, vid cards...plus I have made a utility disk of freeware and shareware programs that I install for them.

I do leave it open to the fact they may also have a legal copy from their old computer (they no longer wish to use), because they are going to be using the monitor and maybe the hdd as a backup...Many people I have built for also have their own copies of MS office.

Even legally one can beat Dell, Micron, Alienware, and Gateway quiet convincingly...

As for service I know the added time and cost...Like I said my family has been the only pain in my arse cause they just figure I am there for everything...Dell is not going to cover tech support questions on software you didn't get through them or hardware you added later like a printer or a scanner (most of my parents questions).

I am definitely thinking about coming up with a flat rate plan and a reasonable service rate for things outside of the plan...I don't build enough that I can't handle it...I have some orders now and most are people that have basic knowledge but just don't have time to do the research on the best components out there.

PLus I ask them far more questions when customizing so I can tailor the computer to their needs.
 
ElFenix,

You're right about the warranty thing...I didn't know much (obviously) when I first started.

RE: the customer support thing; well, I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. Going by what I have seen of the average AOL user....well, most AOL users don't know a CDrom from a floppy. Grandma and Grandpa, 8 to 13 year olds and folks like that. There's nothing wrong with this...I'm getting to my point.

AOL tech support is geared to the lowest common denominator.

Here's a typical AOL customer support call:

AOL, this is Joe, what's the problem?
I can't get into the internet.
OK. Is the computer on?
Yes.
Have you tried to login?
What's that mean?
Have you tried your username and password?
Yes, no, well, what's that?
Your username and password. Did you type them in at the prompt screen?
Yes.
Did you click OK?
Oh, THAT'S WHAT I FORGOT!

OR
My AOL is gone.
I'm sorry, I don't understand what you are trying to say.
My AOL was on the screen and now it's gone.
Is there an AOL icon at the bottom of the screen?
Icon? A camera?
No, an icon, a little picture of the AOL symbol...is there one at the bottom of your screen?
Yes, there is.
Click it please.
Oh wow! It's back! Thanks so much.

And the hapless AOL user goes on his/her way. Now Dell tech support is much the same. When I called them to find out about upgrading my P550E, the 16-year old on the other end of the line knew substantially less than I did about my pc. I had already read my entire owner's manual and looked at all of Dell's tech docs pertaining to my system on their website. All I wanted to know is "can I put a faster PIII in my mobo?" I know the answer to that now...seems simple, but back then, i was so afraid that I'd put in a faster process and kablooee, no more Dell, no more warranty.

It took Mr. Tech Kid 90 minutes of reading back to me everything that I'd already read, to get to the final answer of "I can't really say for sure, Sir, if you can put a faster processor in there, but i can tell you that you'll void your warranty if you try." Whether that is true or not, I do not know. But I did have lots of personal experience with Dell Tech support. While they are very polite, they are not very "well armed" as far as info goes.

So that my intelligent (hopefully, I tried) respectful debate on AOL and Dell customer service in the real world. I have to thank them though (especially Dell). Because if they hadn't pissed me off enough about the whole upgrade thing, I never would've investigated building my own pc..would've never gotten into this great hobby that I dig so much! Ok, Mike out. Have a good evening! 🙂
 
I got your point MichaelD...

I totally agree...I went back through my invoices of all the p3 450-500's amd k6-2 400-450's I built in 1998-9 and I know personally all the systems are running today and that the only call I got was from a friend who need me to help walk him through adding a printer/fax machine to his system and removing the old one....I am pretty sure dell is not going to help a person with something they didn't buy from them...I did it out of courtesy and it took 5-10 minutes. If I had marked everything up let say (200bucks...pc were expensive back then...ram...ouch!!!!) for a 1year onsite and 3year tech support I would have pocketed 1400 dollars and that was my one phone call...1400 dollars for 5-10minutes of work...That what I need to get paid at my regular job for dealing with blue collar union workers (j/k).

I am thinking my plan sounds beter and better...Ofcourse I will only build local so pickup and delivery is minor, but I compare my prices against dell's before S&H is added.
 
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