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hidden front usb ports 400sc
I just received my new poweredge 400sc and it has hidden front usb ports along with and audio out port. My question is how you are supposed to use these ports when you can't get at them? They are behind the front bezel and there is no access.
alzali
He's right, the audio cable isn't included with the 400SC. However, I'd like to ask, and maybe this would be a good question for a Dell Rep to answer. Why on God's Green Earth (tm) would you ever put front USB and audio headers in a system and then make them basically unusable because of the bezel? Couldn't you at least have redesigned the bezel slightly to accomodate for the front USB ports?
I can understand not connecting the audio, it is a server after all. Putting front USB ports and then covering them up is wasting money. You save the electronics and the cabling to hook them up to the motherboard, all while being able to sell the system for the same price as I doubt many would care about the unusable front USB ports considering the price these systems are selling for.
I am not the Dell's rep, but the answer is obvious: economies of scale. It is not a secret that the 400SC is a rebranded/redressed Dell desktop. All they did was the redesign of the front panel. It is a quick and dirty way to make another model. I think most of 400SC users should not complain as we bought the 400SC exactly because of its rebranded origin.
I bet that the chassy is "generically" pre-assembled on the same floor, and then part of the lot goes to the Servers division and the other part -- to the Desktop division where the plastic panels make the differentiation during the final assembly. Then they put BIOS, CPU, drives, memory, etc. "to order."
Hope this makes sense,
- Max
eskimoquin
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Posted December 4th, 2003 19:00
That board with the USB and Audio jack is also necessary for the power button to work. It's a stepping point, so they HAD to put it in or you couldn't turn on your system. The cable that goes to the USB/Audio front board has USB pins AND power button pins. The Audio cable is separate, so it wasn't included.
joebobcedar
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Posted December 7th, 2004 02:00
I have found pics of a bezel to accommodate the ports ,but not a part number . Any ideas?
dvpatel
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Posted October 21st, 2003 15:00
The idea is that since this is a server sold as a server by Dell, it is probably going to be in a server room so you don't need front ports hence the front bezel does not have access to those ports. Besides, the audio out port is not even connected to the mobo from what I hear.