Dell Inspiron 3050 SATA cable #HTPCGeek

By far the most popular ATXGeek post of the past year has been "Dell Inspiron 3050 Micro Teardown" which kicked off an active comments-based dialog concerning upgrade and modification options for Dell's nicely-priced, micro-sized system.  The comments for that post now exceed 350 entries so it's time I waded through all the great contributions to summarize some things we've learned in the 9 months following the 3050's launch.

I won't attempt to include all new info in one post.  Instead, I'll begin with the top item of conversation these past 9 months: that elusive SATA cable.

What new thing do we know?  We know that Dell *does* offer a SATA cable that works for the 3050 and we now have photos and the Dell part number for that very special cable...

Dell Inspiron 3050 Micro Teardown #HTPCGeek

This post has hundreds of comments on upgrades, Linux installation, Windows 10 and more. Thanks to all who have contributed their knowledge and experiences!  Be sure to click the "Load More" link at the very bottom of the comments to see the latest comments as only 100 comments are loaded at a time.
Looking for the 3050 SATA cable?  Click here for my post with photos and part number for that cable.

This week Dell responded to HP's recent release of the HP Mini Stream with a palm-sized Windows 8.1 PC of its own: the Dell Inspiron 3050 Micro Desktop.  Like the HP Mini Stream, the 3050 is a tiny desktop system under $200 providing a great step up for those getting their streaming media via a Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire USB stick or the like.

Although all the usual media outlets dutifully reported on the 3050 Micro's release, none that I've found have included any breakdown information on this new system or how it might be upgraded.

In this post I'll answer a number of common questions such as "Can I add more RAM?" and "Is the 3050 fanless?" and "Does the Inspiron 3050 Micro support VESA mounting?" and "Is there room for a secondary drive like in the HP Mini systems?"

Read on for the answers and even a few breakdown photos...

Soluto: Acer, Apple, Dell top Windows reliability #PCGeek

A new report for PC reliability is now available from Soluto. This ratings system considers factors such as system crashes, non-responsiveness and boot up times to determine the most reliable PCs. Topping Soluto's first list of reliable Windows PCs is Apple (!) closely followed by Acer and Dell.

Plenty will be made of this ratings scheme but a few things stand out...

Unplugged...again! (Spiceworks and AMD)

I've been tapped to sit on the next Spiceworks Unplugged panel, this time for a private AMD event.  The last panel I sat on was a *blast* and the Dell folks I talked to afterward seemed pretty pleased with the event.  Looking back at my post following that Unplugged event, however, I now realize that I never actually got around to mentioning what Spiceworks is...

Had a *blast* speaking at Spiceworks Unplugged

Yesterday I had the pleasure of sitting on a four-person panel of SMB IT pros at Spiceworks' headquarters for their third ever Unplugged event.  This was a private event for Dell where our panel spent 90 minutes doing nothing but giving straight answers to point-blank questions from the Dell folks (marketing, sales and online brand management). There were no set agendas and no restrictions other than the time allotted for the event....

Great turnout for Austin SNUG "SAN 101"

Austin SNUG enjoyed a nice turnout for the annual "SAN 101" lunch presentation on March 31 at Chez Zee. This is always a popular presentation and this year we managed to land a date that avoided both Spring break week and SXSW Interactive. David Morales from Compellent presented and did an excellent job of keeping the presentation material "vendor neutral" as SNUG requires...

atxgeek, the next generation

While I still prefer to build up my "main" personal PC piece-by-piece, I've come to enjoy a certain freedom in using reliable off-the-shelf systems around the rest of the house. A few years ago I determined that a $120 off-lease Dell Optiplex small form factor desktop PC made a much better HTPC (home theater PC) than similarly-priced "media box" devices...