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Sean Snyder

Dell's Design Oversight

As we enter the age of a multimedia internet at Design News, we are preparing ourselves in everyway feasible to deliver the best content to our viewers within the multimedia spectrum. One way we are doing this is though the use of audio and podcasts; we want to provide news and information to designers and engineers on the go.

Part of this effort is building a computer sufficient for producing podcasts.  In the process of this we have ordered a PC from Dell, as well as a soundcard form Creative and a few other parts from various audio and computing retailers.

The soundcard has two main pieces, the card itself which fits into the PCI slot in the back of the machine, and an internal break-up box which fits into the front of the machine where a CD/DVD drive would go (the break-up box contains all the various types of audio I/Os including RCA, 1/4 inch and optical).

In the process of installing the break-up box component of the sound card, we were stopped due to a design oversight on the part of Dell. We found that the power cord from the Dell’s power supply couldn’t reach the box in the front of the machine… it was too short. 

We called Dell to see if this was a mistake, or if they could provide us with an extension cable. Their response was no and no; this was the way it was supposed to be, and they could not provide us with a cable.

…?

Now I was a little confused, how could they stand by this poor design? The internal power cord was obviously too short, and they basically agreed and said good luck. Why?

The only foreseeable option for us, without voiding any warranties is to exchange the soundcard for the external version of the same model. Personally, I prefer an external breakup box because you can have your audio I/O interface on the desk and the CPU on the floor, but this seems like a ridiculous solution for the problem.

I wonder what has prompted Dell to make the cord so short. Would it be longer if we ordered the soundcard through them along with the rest of the computer? Is this design flaw intentional to maintain their user’s dependency, or is it purely an effort to keep extra cord out of the way. If it is the later, I would prefer a few wire ties to contain wire overflow rather than being limited by a short cable. 

Just keep in mind the next time you need to set up a work station, that if you are going through Dell, you should make sure all of your third party hardware will be able to plug in