Opening Dell Cases

Spacedog

What is Dells policy on the validility of the guarentee once you have opened the case. The Dimension series are practically begging to be taken apart with those seductive "open me up and see inside" buttons. If I lash a stick of ram into a dell pc will it void the guarentee for the rest of the system?

deckie27

From all the Dells I've seen (alot) there is no physical seal on the box.
But there is a switch which once the machine is opened will be triggered in the bios telling you the case has been opened. This can be disabled but not reset.
you could reset the bios but then the service tag would go from the bios so they would know the bios was reset.
As a corporate customer I have no problem opening a box and if I identify a faulty part dell will normally send the part out. They may have a different policy for home users

Dec

p.pete

Had a problem with our Dell within a week of getting it (home user).
rang tech support not really keen to touch it - didn't want to ruin the gaurantee within a week for something easy to fix.
They basically don't want the hassle of me sending the computer back to them to have it fixed - so basically it was logged that they advised me to open it.
If your just opening it up without telling them then there could be a problem, I don't know.

aidan_dunne

But be careful opening up a Dell. I've cut my hands TWICE opening up Dell cases (once pretty badly) and they're the only PC's I've ever had this happen to me with. I don't know what it is about them but some of the Dell case designs can be a right b!tch to try and open up and, when you do, some of the bare metal parts on some of the Dell cases can be lethally sharp. What the hell do they make them out of, old razor blades?

Then again, maybe that's just another deterrent by Dell to stop people opening up their cases so you have to go back to them for support, particularly if it's out of warranty and they're going to charge you lots of money for it?. Eh?

Pimp Ninja

You could use the "if they dont know it wont hurt them" policy. Go ahead and open it up, if there are problems then you could just "forget" that you opened the case at any stage.

Just be sure to remove any hardware extras that you are adding if you ever need to call their support line.

I cant speak for Dell, but I worked for another PC manufacturer, and their stance was, while there is something not supplied by their company in the machine it got no support. If the customer removed it then it was fine.

Only the really hardline tecchies, or the guys that were having a bad day made an issue about this, the rest of the time nobbody really cared.

parasite

Originally posted by aidan_dunne
But be careful opening up a Dell. I've cut my hands TWICE opening up Dell cases (once pretty badly) and they're the only PC's I've ever had this happen to me with. I don't know what it is about them but some of the Dell case designs can be a right b!tch to try and open up and, when you do, some of the bare metal parts on some of the Dell cases can be lethally sharp. What the hell do they make them out of, old razor blades?

Then again, maybe that's just another deterrent by Dell to stop people opening up their cases so you have to go back to them for support, particularly if it's out of warranty and they're going to charge you lots of money for it?. Eh?

funny you should say that, i cut my finger yesterday on one,i was taking out a pci card the other day, and the metal started peeling away with the card, so i pushed the metal back in
owwww ...
on a differenet note, is it possible to gut a dell case( get rid of the big ass extractor) and put in a standard form mobo ?

Inspector Gadget

Originally posted by parasite
on a differenet note, is it possible to gut a dell case( get rid of the big ass extractor) and put in a standard form mobo ?

The "big ass extractor" is meant to keep the CPU cool without making a whole lot of noise - a good thing, if you ask me.

Bear in mind that Dell PSUs are not wired as "standard" ATX supplies, although they look identical - if you change the mobo, change the PSU or you could end up with problems, either of the not-switching-on or "what's that smell?" kind...

HTH,
Gadget

[CALIBUR]

Dell cases are asshòle cases!

if anyone is buying a pc for the first time do not buy a dell. get someone to built ur pc and also if ur dell modem goes bust ya cant get a other modem. that happed to me and I was off the internet for a full year. thank u dell!


ps. i'm in cafe and theres a child next to me crying & screaming. feel like kicking the childs head in!. (sick I know 0_o)

parasite

yeah i know what it's for, and it is very quiet in fairness, but you do have rip it out if you want to replace the mobo, no ?
..just planning ahead

Inspector Gadget

...I'd imagine it has a lot to do with the design of that specific cooler, where the CPU socket is on the proposed replacement board, and whether you're replacing like with like (the duct for a "slot" CPU won't fit a "socketed" chip, and the size of the passive sink is important too)?

Gadget

ozt9vdujny3srf

If opening up the case voids or changes your warranty in any way, then there is something wrong. How exactly am i supposed to upgrade my pc?

Thats ridiculous tbh, i wouldn't bother worrying about warranties. If a part fails, and its not your fault, and your still under warranty, then whether u opened the case or not, the part must be replaced.

Spacedog if you got that dimension recently, there is a good chance it came with rd ram, which must be installed in pairs.

Mac daddy

I bought a dell last september, it was around two weeks old.
And the dvd-Rw went did not work not detected in the bios, rang dell up they said open the case i asked about the warrantee it does not void if you open the case.
Problem dvd-rw broke down, they told me to remove it, and they would send out replacement. :ninja:

elexes

ye ive a problom with a dell atm basicly i took the thing apart trying to find the problom and put it on my desk.

rang to find out how long the warrienty on the parts last and was told it was still fine even though i did explain that i had it in its most bariest parts .

maxheadroom

If I remember correctly, (I used to work for them), they have an open case policy, but in order to qualify for support, the machine must be in the configuration it left the factory in.

Occidental

Dell are quite happy for you to open the case, and tend to prefer returned components to complete base units. Most of the recent cases are not too bad to work on, though the clamshell design on the 4400-4500 is a bit of a pain in confined spaces (they've changed back to a side panel with the 4600).

Was told recently by a Dell techie that they were changing back to standard PSU pinouts. Anyone confirm?