Where my nice white collar gets dirty...
Here is a good look at one of my recent projects.
This one I am calling the knuckle-scraper 5000. :P I placed a diskette at the left side of the image to give scale to the computer. This is a shining example of when the engineers and the technicians don't get along. Sure everything is nice and neat and compact, but if you have to work on one of these; it can be a living nightmare. In addition this design encourages the unwary to shove the computer into some dark unventilated hole, where the computers lifespan gets shortened considerably.
Where to start? With a computer as compact as this one is, there is no real easy way to get to the insides; so something as simple as replacing the RAM or a hard drive becomes a monumental task. I love to give the analogy that - it's like replacing the oil pan on a car by dismantling the engine first to get to the oil pan!
I usually end up having to poke, prod, pry, and unscrew; all the time hoping that I don't break something that is terribly fragile and irreplaceable. Some of these computers are fortunate enough to have detailed instructions on how to dismantle; but most of them don't. This beauty was made by some obscure company in South Asia, and there was no documentation online or available. If I broke something, it would take weeks to replace, assuming I could even order a replacement.
All of the metal that you see is usually very sharp, as the manufacture never bothers to file down the edges. Why would they? They won't be working on it again! And then there is the screws that are set into the chassis that are impossible to access unless you take the entire thing apart (Read the analogy above again for clarification). I had to take apart another one similar to this one; and at the very end I had six different Dixie cups filled with about two dozen screws. My knuckles were scraped, and brain was smoking trying to reverse the order that all the components were removed in.
All in all, this beauty is a real treat to work on from start to finish. Nothing can reduce you to cursing and muttering faster, then reassembling one of these; only to discover you have an extra screw / component / do-hickey lying on the counter. I usually end up getting so frustrated that I begin making up curse words as I begin to dismantle the computer a second time...or in some unfortunate instances; a THIRD time.
I suppose there could be worse jobs (I believe they made a TV show on that principal); I just can't think of one at this moment. :P
This one I am calling the knuckle-scraper 5000. :P I placed a diskette at the left side of the image to give scale to the computer. This is a shining example of when the engineers and the technicians don't get along. Sure everything is nice and neat and compact, but if you have to work on one of these; it can be a living nightmare. In addition this design encourages the unwary to shove the computer into some dark unventilated hole, where the computers lifespan gets shortened considerably.
Where to start? With a computer as compact as this one is, there is no real easy way to get to the insides; so something as simple as replacing the RAM or a hard drive becomes a monumental task. I love to give the analogy that - it's like replacing the oil pan on a car by dismantling the engine first to get to the oil pan!
I usually end up having to poke, prod, pry, and unscrew; all the time hoping that I don't break something that is terribly fragile and irreplaceable. Some of these computers are fortunate enough to have detailed instructions on how to dismantle; but most of them don't. This beauty was made by some obscure company in South Asia, and there was no documentation online or available. If I broke something, it would take weeks to replace, assuming I could even order a replacement.
All of the metal that you see is usually very sharp, as the manufacture never bothers to file down the edges. Why would they? They won't be working on it again! And then there is the screws that are set into the chassis that are impossible to access unless you take the entire thing apart (Read the analogy above again for clarification). I had to take apart another one similar to this one; and at the very end I had six different Dixie cups filled with about two dozen screws. My knuckles were scraped, and brain was smoking trying to reverse the order that all the components were removed in.
All in all, this beauty is a real treat to work on from start to finish. Nothing can reduce you to cursing and muttering faster, then reassembling one of these; only to discover you have an extra screw / component / do-hickey lying on the counter. I usually end up getting so frustrated that I begin making up curse words as I begin to dismantle the computer a second time...or in some unfortunate instances; a THIRD time.
I suppose there could be worse jobs (I believe they made a TV show on that principal); I just can't think of one at this moment. :P