The Pot Belly Stove

[Concentric Eyewall]

Hell yea they're a ***** to work on!  They contain all these parts that are supposed to be standard but have their own special characteristics it drives me insane!

[lfmusiclover]

Hell yea they're a ***** to work on!  They contain all these parts that are supposed to be standard but have their own special characteristics it drives me insane!

LOL, yeah but before you can worry about the parts you've actually got to GET INTO the computer, which, especially with Compaq's, HP's, and Dell's is often a task in and of itself. I don't know how more modern HP's and Compaq's (Dell's too) are, but the older one's used what was called a riser board to house the computer's PCI and ISA cards instead of seating them directly on the motherboard itself. So basically all the cards were in there horizontally-good luck unscrewing and removing them. And if you had to go all the way to the motherboard, you needed to remove all the cards and the riser board first. Very complicated computers to work on indeed.

[Gil]

HP/Compaq cases drive me absolutely insane. Whenever i need to take out or put in memory, or change out a cable, i always end up with bloody knuckles...

And thats why I drive a Macintosh

[lfmusiclover]

HP/Compaq cases drive me absolutely insane. Whenever i need to take out or put in memory, or change out a cable, i always end up with bloody knuckles...

And thats why I drive a Macintosh

Oh bloody knuckles. Yes, I've ended up with those many times.

[Mike M]

HP/Compaq cases drive me absolutely insane. Whenever i need to take out or put in memory, or change out a cable, i always end up with bloody knuckles...

Really? I've never had that problem when I was working inside my Compaq.

A 2005 computer is considered ancient? So you're telling me I should get a new one already?

[lfmusiclover]

HP/Compaq cases drive me absolutely insane. Whenever i need to take out or put in memory, or change out a cable, i always end up with bloody knuckles...

Really? I've never had that problem when I was working inside my Compaq.

A 2005 computer is considered ancient? So you're telling me I should get a new one?

Nope, not at all. From a functionality standpoint your Compaq is just fine. Technologically speaking, however, its yesterday's news.

Mike, if you've never had that problem its because your wet behind the ears when it comes to computers.

[Gil]

Technology changes, but that doesn't make a computer useless.

Heck, my 1995 Power Macintosh boots faster than my 2006 notebook running XP!

[lfmusiclover]

Technology changes, but that doesn't make a computer useless.

Heck, my 1995 Power Macintosh boots faster than my 2006 notebook running XP!

Exactly.  :sunglasses:

[Mike M]

Not necessarily, Gary. I may not be an expert with computers, but I do have enough experience that I can replace parts on them. On my computer, I've installed a tuner card and replaced a CD drive on my own, which wasn't too difficult.

[lfmusiclover]

Not necessarily, Gary. I may not be an expert with computers, but I do have enough experience that I can replace parts on them. On my computer, I've installed a tuner card and replaced a CD drive on my own, which wasn't too difficult.

Those are novice jobs. Anyone with two eyes and two hands can do them. Have you ever tried removing a motherboard entirely from an HP or Compaq? How about a hard drive (I've seen them put in some of the most illogical spots inside HP's and Compaqs and Dell's)? That's where you run into difficulties. Replacing a CD-Rom or putting in a TV-Tuner is run of the mill in any computer.

[Gil]

I've replaced capacitors on several motherboards.

[lfmusiclover]

I've replaced capacitors on several motherboards.

That's extremely difficult work. Even moreso in a Compaq, HP, or Dell.

[Gil]

Actually, It was on a Macintosh, which makes it the easiest thing in the world to do.

[Mike M]

My G3 is pretty easy to replace things. The case is easy to open, and we haven't had much problems with replacing the parts (we've replaced the harddrive and the optical drive in it among other things). My iBook on the other hand (as with most other laptops) is difficult to even add memory to it. You have to take off the keyboard, and unscrew several things to access the memory slot.

[beanboy89]

Back in 2005 I replaced the motherboard and hard drive on an old HP machine. It was so tight working in the case, that I hardly had any room to move around. Also, I looked at my uncle's Gateway before, and it took us nearly 10 minutes to figure out how to open the dang case. I hate those OEMs who make it next to impossible to even get into the case to do anything.