Couldn't a cheap diode fix that polarity reversal problem?
I havre experienced power supply problems with E-Machines of the 1999/2000 vintage but I never seen the polarity chenge in the motherboards for them.
What does this problem have to do with Dell?
Oh for crying out loud ... a class action suit? Sheesh. A replacement power supply can be ordered online and at a reasonable price if you search. Instead of complaining, they should be opening up their own storefront. And I’ll bet most problems could be solved with a replacement of the fan so it might be worthwhile including a pre-paid return label for the old one. It suxor when entrepreneural spirit is replaced by lawyers.
I recently lost the PS on our older e-machine. Haven’t had it fixed yet, so I don’t know if the other problem exists or not. Maybe I should look into it.
Please get the title changed if this has nothing to do with Dell.
I would get a second opinion about the motherboard, from an independent pc repair shop. Geek Squad is a part of Best Buy, well known to lie for any reason that will make more cash.
I never heard of that before.
It happened to mine too.
I used to fix PC’s for a living and I’ve seen a great many of times a Faulty power supply to be the cause of many PC mystery problems. we would change the memory, motherboard, processor, various cards only to find out a seemingly working PS being the culprit.
Put in a nice ANTEC 600W when I built my new PC.
Didn’t want to take any chances.
I bought a dell 4550 in 2002 that had a non standard powersupply case, it didn’t fit in standard atx cases because it was upside down.
There was also a non standard case fan that had inverted the power connectors, so that yhou had to either manually pull apart a replacement fan and resolder the wires, or go without the fan fault protection and fan monitor at the motherboard bios level..
Dell has been doing this a long time.
Our business sells a lot of Dells but we stay away from the lower end machines. Actually, we stay away from the lower end machines of all brands. If you cut corners on quality, someone pays the price ultimately.
Still I’d be talking to Dell customer reps about this situation. They may do something just in the interest of preserving their reputation.
This does not make sense.
The MB doesn’t change polarity — I suspect that the new supply had its polarity switched, and when you plug that onto the MB, THEN you blow the MB.
Always verify the outputs when doing power replacements, or get someone to do it for you.