back to article PC OEMs are sitting on 10 weeks-plus of DRAM, says Trendforce

PC OEMs are holding 10 weeks or more of DRAM inventory thanks to hesitancy of procurement departments to stock memory chips, says market intelligence firm TrendForce. Trendforce said this is all attributable to the pandemic: supply chain issues impeded the ability to produce and sell consumer electronics. Since companies …

  1. Binraider Silver badge

    While I'm sure they are sitting on piles of DRAM, the chances are it isn't DRAM you would actually want; knowing the average OEM's terrible part selection mostly driven on what's cheapest today.

    Hell, an awful lot of OEM BIOS don't enable XMP or equivalent by default, if not missing the option to change the setting entirely.

    This is of course not a new phenomenon. Commodore were notorious for modifying their systems to accomodate whatever chips were cheap on any given day. Some variants being rather survivable than others.

    Unfortunately in consumer-land, I would never expect average joe to be able to discern the difference buying good kit makes. If they could, certain outlets would be long since bankrupt.

    1. Korev Silver badge

      Unfortunately in consumer-land, I would never expect average joe to be able to discern the difference buying good kit makes

      Sometimes suppliers make it difficult even for us nerds to work out what's going on. Look at the WD Red drives for an example.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Moan Time

    If i look at the capability of the Raspberry Pi 4, it has an SD Card slot, 4 USB ports, 2 HDMI ports, processor and 8GB of DRAM, bluetooth, ethernet port, and wireless capability - all on one board. Costs £60

    When i look at a 17inch laptop from HP using AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB RAM, 512GByte SSD Drive, 3 USB ports, 1 HDMI port, bluetooth, wifi, AMD graphics, keyboard, 1080 screen, battery, speakers and headphone and microphone port, PSU - all for £650.

    The specification of the processor and DRAM, with the keyboard, battery and PSU etc., is not worth the extra £590.

    They really are taking the piss. This is the same for other manufacturers too. There is no DVD drive, no ethernet port, no expansion capability such as a mechanical hard disk for local storage, despite that there is space for it in the footprint.

    For something that costs 10x more, you really are not getting good value for money, compounded by the reduced connectivity of the laptop. Complete w*nkers.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Moan Time

      I disagree on the benefit but not the cost. Until there is a RPI based keyboard with an attached monitor, the gleaming benefit of a laptop/2-in-1/etc. is the fact that there is a keyboard attached to a monitor which help things stay physically stable for usage. Of course if there was quality keyboards and quality monitors powered by a RPI, the price would be around $350 (guesstimate). Most likely cheaper yes but, nobody is doing it.

      P.S. I'm still waiting on tablets that can take video-in so they can be used as monitors independently of their underlying operating system... seems very doable but again nobody is doing it.

    2. Smirnov

      Re: Moan Time

      What a nonsense complaint. For a start, a single core of that Ryzen processor in that HP laptop eats the weak ARM processor of the RasPi for lunch, and so does Ryzen's GPU for the Pi's and the HP's SSD for the Pi's SD card storage.

      And the 8GB Pi4 is no longer £60 but £75. Which, ironically, doesn't even include a power supply, a battery or a case, but that HP laptop does.

      Don't get me wrong, RasPis are great for what they are, but it's idiotic to put it next to a much faster standard laptop that also runs all the standard software that is out there and then complain that it's more expensive.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Moan Time

        "...then complain that it's more expensive."

        Yeh, but generally people complaining in that manner are not complaining that it's more expensive but that it's too expensive.

        1. Smirnov

          Re: Moan Time

          "Yeh, but generally people complaining in that manner are not complaining that it's more expensive but that it's too expensive."

          Is it? Looking at it, £75 is still OK if you need a SBC for a hobby project. But if one wants a portable PC with a large screen that runs your standard software then a measly naked PCB with an underpowered ARM processor doesn't look that great even if it was still only £60. And yes, you *could* add all the other stuff that's missing (a screen, a case, a battery, a power supply, a keyboard, a touchpad, a SATA port, a SSD) and you might end up with something resembling a laptop, but it's still an underpowered ARM processor that doesn't run most of your standard software out there.

          £650 retail for a big brand Ryzen laptop with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD (and which most certainly will also come with a Windows license) doesn't really strike me as excessive, even more so when we're still in a major component shortage and the price of most goods has gone up notably since it started.

          It simply was an idiotic complaint.

          1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

            Re: Moan Time

            Use cases are subjective. To me, a Windows license has negative value, standard software comes with any mainstream Linux distribution and the system only needs to be fast enough. The huge step up in performance that comes with Intel/AMD/nVidia has far less value to me than the cost. Other people have different priorities.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Moan Time

        The key phrase from me was "The specification of the processor and DRAM, with the keyboard, battery and PSU etc., is not worth the extra £590."

        I paid £450 for a 17inch laptop with more connectivity and DVDROM than the current HP version. I understand that chip shortages etc., are an issue, but to reduce the interface number for the same footprint is taking the p!ss.I can forego the DVDROM, but SD card reader, no ethernet port, no 2.5inch internal disk capability etc ?. Very poor value for money.

    3. david 12 Silver badge

      Re: Moan Time

      The single most expensive part in my early high-end Mac workstation was the injection-molded plastic case, top half.

      For you, the case and screen aren't worth most of the cost of a laptop, but apparently the vast majority of users have different priorities.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Moan Time

        "the vast majority of users have different priorities."

        Most users don't really get a say. Most users who do have a say these days are choosing iThings or Android unless there are specific reasons to stick with Wintel (e.g. the IT department).

        The vast majority of **PC box shifters** (high street, "channel", wherever) have different priorities. Intel Inside on the adverts and the boxes gets handy "market development" monies, for example.

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