Jim Huggins (jkhuggins) wrote,
Jim Huggins
jkhuggins
  • Mood: old

When did that happen?

So, I've had a FireWire card sitting on my desk for about four months now, waiting to install it in my brand new Dell XPS 400 system.  I've had a lot more urgent stuff to do, so I haven't bothered with it.  Besides, I know how painful it is to install new hardware.

At least, how it used to be.

So I set aside 90 minutes to work on this.  First, unplug everything ... yeah, no big deal there.  Then, I gotta find the twelve screws I need to take out to open the case.  Hmm ... where are they?  No screws?  You mean I just pull this handle up here and the whole sidewall just pops out?  Cool.

Ok, so then I head down to the backplane and figure out what screwdriver I need to remove one of the slot shields.  Hmm.  What's this blue thing in the way?  You mean I pinch these two things together and the whole side pivots out?  And all the slot shields are just sitting loosely on pegs, so all I have to do is lift one out?

I installed a freaking FireWire card and never had to use a screwdriver.  When did PC hardware become so simple?
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