My old but trusty Dell notebook needed a new AC adapter - a faulty wire leading to intermittent power loss. The original one is no longer in stock, but since Dell sells Targus adaptors and Targus on their website state that their adapters are compatible with Dell I went to the nearest shop and got one.

Upon which my computer's BIOS told me that it didn't recognise the adapter.

On the phone to Dell "Support":

ME: [stating the problem as to above, asks what to do next, maybe trying to upgrade BIOS?]

SUPPORT: Since you didn't buy your Targus adapter from us, call Targus.

ME: But you sell the same adapter as a fitting accessory and BTW it's a Dell laptop that gives me the error message.

S: It could be that you've got another adapter from the one we have in stock.

ME: It's exactly the same product number, so I find it unlikely?

S: That could still be the matter since you didn't get it from us.

ME: Pardon, but do you really find that line of reasoning convincing? Remember, the product number is exactly the same? Do you open up the package and convert the adaptors?

S: sticks to the "You bought it from a third party, don't blame us" line.

ME: Well, thank YOU.

Looks for BIOS upgrade. Dell website recommend latest upgrade. Download, run, get the message "Unsupported system"

After furious googling I discover that I need an old BIOS upgrade to bridge the gap between original Phoenix and new Dell BIOS. A bit tricky since it involves fixing a CD to boot from.

Upgrading BIOS in two steps, tounge in cheek.

And whoa! My notebook accepts the new adapter...

...but wait - why isn't the AC LED gleaming? Windows power manager says "On AC Power" but no green light?

After half an hour or so of more googling it turns out that BIOS upgrade also change the scheme for AC/battery LED. So everything is fine now, I hope. CPU fan a bit more active than before, but maybe that's perfectly normal.

A more helpful (knowledgeable) member of the support team would have saved my day, saying: "No problems, just upgrade the BIOS but remember to..."

As it is, spending at least four hours on this I have only one hour left at work before I'll have to leave to pick up SWMBO... which means I'll have to bring a lot of stuff home for my personal evening shift.:thumbdwn:

I'm glad my boss decided to go from Dell to in-house built PCs (via Evesham as it goes) while I was doing the IT for my old office... The best one I had was that the Mobo NIC wasn't compatible with the standard Windows 2000 drivers (so going back a bit). Therefore when doing a clean install, I'd be left with a PC that couldn't get on the network. It was extremely comforting (not) to know that the necessary driver was 'just a few clicks away' over the internet when I couldn't get on the frikkin' internet!

You want to try Fasthosts; actually don't they are dire.

7 days ago a dedicated server failed, won't boot up past bios.

Hardly any activity, in fact I'd go so far as to say they didn't know there ar5e from there elbow.

Needless to say we piped all actiivty that was on that box to another, so now it's a job for the legal boys!

I would have just bought a dell power supply off ebay. Worked for me.

To be fair I must say that my (personal) Dell notebook has really been troublefree and trustworthy - in daily use for more than 4 years now. The Uni (were I work) has used Dell for ages and I know that our IT techs are happy with it - by and large. But of course they don't have to approach Dell's customer support department!

auroan: I seriously considered ebay, but of course I wanted to get the problem sorted ASAP not risking having to look at a completely dead box while waiting for the new adapter to arrive.

And of course if it had been possible to open the old adapter case I could have had the wires cut off at the offending point and resolder them but of course that would have been a too easy option

I nearly bought a Dell lappy this year. Then the horrible memories of Dell support came back plus the horrible tales of Dell sales from neighbours.

I bought my HP business laptop instead. Faster then the Dell of the same price, less junk preinstalled and a 1 yr warranty that even covers the battery. It's a lovely bit of kit.

Sod Dell, never again. I'll build my own desktop again next time it's due even though it costs more.

the main issue with Dell seems to be getting through to the right person. First line just try to fob you off.

I recently had an issue with my company Latitude 630 -nothing complex, just no sound. i got through to support, and just kept saying, "tried that" as they went through their menu. Finally, they fell off the flowchart and sent an engineer to fit a new speaker. I've had the same thing when my DVD drive went.

Phil

Lol Dell, don't get me started on their support people