dionb wrote on 2023-02-13, 11:03:
Trust didn't actually manufacture anything themselves, they just bought up overstock odd lots in Taiwan and Shenzhen, slapped their sticker on it and sold it at low but for them profitable prices. Mostly it was complete crap, but sometimes they were actually decent and overstock for other reason. It was completely random.
That said, I would never trust a Trust PSU without finding out who actually made it and what model it really was first.
Regarding testing by weight: in the absence of anything better, it's a good rule of thumb, but some very unscrupulous vendors knew that too and PSUs with a layer of cement in the bottom to increase weight of complete trash have been spotted in the wild. Not saying that would be the case here, but it's always a good idea to look for more info of remotely available - particularly given the Antec problem: good heavy design let down by caps with poor lifespan.
I knew about these 'cement' (or concrete, whatever it was they used) extra weighted PSUs even back then. Didn't know it was a layer at the bottom. I have 'unfortunately' never ran into one such PSU.
For some reason back then I had the thought on my mind of some very unscrupulous PSU designers potentially replacing the passive PFC with a block of cement as that seemed like a good spot to hide it.
Yes, it's always best to look up the part number 🙂
And yes, back then it was usually a good rule of thumb that heavier PSUs were usually better quality, if only because the weight differences were sometimes really very noticeable. The very first PSU I ever bought (I knew hardly anything about retro computing back then) was a Premier and it weighted significantly less than the second hand FSP PSU that was supposedly the same wattage (both 300W).
Even had a nice sticker on it, yep I fell for it. But thankfully only once and I didn't pay an arm or a leg for it at least.
Sorry for being off-topic now for a bit, but since you're also from The Netherlands, did you also notice that back in the days when ATX was new and PSUs went from 235W to, say, 300W, that the most commonly used better quality PSU in old PCs was FSP?
I either found PCs with an FSP unit, or a gutless wonder, and only occasionally a PSU from a reputable manufacturer (of course I also found a lot of non-standard PSUs used in Dells and such). But of all the ATX PCs I found on the streets, the most common PSU I ended up with were made by FSP (and maybe some by Powerman and a few other brands like that).
Do note that I'd usually not bother to take home a PSU of crappy build quality so the brands I found (especially in the beginning) may be somewhat scewed. But FSP seemed to be a relatively big player back then (or at least here in The Netherlands).
I am also guessing that most people who did end up buying a quality PSU from another brand (like Antec for instance) ended up reselling their PC instead of throwing it away, since these owners would probably also be more knowledgeable about the true value of the parts they used. Or at least that's what I'm thinking because back then I didn't have any money, nor any real computer experience when ATX was brand new.
