Dell hints At new tech

[Durrthock]

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/xps?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Just Found that
I think is cold fusion :p

[.Maleficus.]

Perhaps a Dell computer cooled with a watercooling setup with a Black Ice rad?

[Crimson Sky]

sounds like they are just ripping off the Black Ice (radiator) name and offering a proprietary watercooling system. Remember, this is Dellianware stuff we are seeing now ;)

[Omega]

If I was the people who made the Black Ice rad, I'd sue Dell xO

[DaveW]

Dell innovation to me just means "We're going to go away from standards amd make computers that are impossible to upgrade...unless you send them back to us. Bwahahaha!"

-Dave

[Airbozo]

Dell innovation to me just means "We're going to go away from standards amd make computers that are impossible to upgrade...unless you send them back to us. Bwahahaha!"

-Dave

Compaq did this when they started out. Try and replace a floppy drive on one of those old systems and it would have set you back $130, when you could pop on over to any computer store and pick one up for $40 (at the time). Dell charged us $40 for floppy's, but they included the mounting rails.

[DaveW]

Do Dell still use those crappy custom PSU+Mobo combos?

-Dave

[Durrthock]

The xps computers are easily upgradeable its the other ones that are bad

[Airbozo]

Do Dell still use those crappy custom PSU+Mobo combos?

-Dave

In most of their systems, yes. We supply a large amount of the precision 690's and precision 380's to a customer that _wants_ dells, but cannot deal with their support (government related issues), so they pay a premium on the systems to have us verify the correct parts, power them on and verify operation before shipping them out. On the 690's I reload the OS to win2003x64 because Dell won't. Nor will they support it. When a power supply goes out (the most common failure), We can not just run down to Fry's and pick one up, we must order it from Dell and wait for it to come in. We stock several of each model just to pick parts from in case our customer has an emergency. Dell hates this because it mixes up the parts, and confuses their east Indian support center...(not that hard to do I might add)

Next time I open one of the 690's up for parts verification I will take a bunch of pictures and post them in the "system of the week" thread (although I should change the name to "system of the month" because I have been too busy to take any pictures (and I am still banned from the camera)). (I end up posting here while I am either on hold or waiting for a custy...)

Dell sometimes ship the wrong parts in the systems and it will screw up any of the acceptance tests for the gear the Dell is attached to. They usually send us a lower grade memory stick or lower grade video card, but once or twice they ship us extra stuff. Like the 380 that came with 2 sata drives, a scsi 320 controller and 2 15k rpm scsi drives. OOPS!

The main issue with our customer, is that according to federal law concerning medical devices, if a vendor gets an order wrong they MUST provide a letter of intent stating why it happened and how they intend to fix their system so it will not happen again. If it happens 3 times that vendor is no longer allowed to provide any parts or systems. "." Dell refused to even answer the letter from our customer. Now we make money just buying in a system, opening it up to check for the correct parts and powering it on to make sure it works (can you believe my company made me make a checklist for that?).

[Redundant]

I found some more info on the black ice thing:

Link to Page (http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/06/dell-xps-710-h2c-with-black-ice/)

From Engadget:
Turns out that "Black Ice" is a "two-stage thermoelectric/liquid cooling solution" that is up to "9 degrees celsius cooler than the [regular] XPS 710 air cooling solution."

Sound like they might use peltiers...

[Durrthock]

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsdt_710h2c?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

[DaveW]

That's a pretty nice computer, especially for a Dell.

-Dave

[Crimson Sky]

"Then a fluid chiller takes yet more heat away, using ceramic-based thermoelectric cooling modules, such as those used in NASA's space shuttle. Internal sensors regulate the temperature to keep the CPU at healthy level."

source
(http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/003490.html)
NASA space shuttle my arse. Peltiers are also used in cheap USB cup warmers for cripes sake. Geeze. Post-it notes are also used at NASA. That is just gross inflation (not sure if the writer is quoting Dell, or just too lazy to do research) of simple technology. Peltiers have been around for decades.

Hey look..they also have THESE (http://www.theplumber.com/crapper.html) at NASA!!! WOW!!

http://www.slowtheflow.com/images/toilet-about.jpg

[DaveW]

What? You mean when i take a ****, i take a **** on NASA technology?

Can i get a sticker like that? Used at Nasa? It's the equivalent of having a Vista Ready sticker on your chair. Seriously, we aught to get those printed and stick them stuff like pens and wheels and ductape.

-Dave