Why are OEM PSU's such low wattage?

Why are OEM PSU's such low wattage?
Because it is one area OEMs save money on?

Err, let me rephrase I meant HP, Dell, IBM, and ECT...
I mean my manual tells me about upgrading but never mentions PSU's wouldn't it hurt a company's reputation if you toasted your PC?

I think the OEM's give just enough power to run the system as they sold it. Maybe a little more so you can add a stick of ram. After that it wont usually just fry your system, but will damage it over time. Hopefully within a year or two your HDD might start having problems. Or your ram might start having errors. Or better yet you get tired of messing with it and just by a whole new system from them. ;)

That's my thoughts on it anyway.

I think the OEM's give just enough power to run the system as they sold it.
I think that is close to reality, just enough to get it out the door and working until the warranty expires, not enough to upgrade anything.
I don't think IBM should be lumped in with the others, they sold pretty well built PCs, just pricier. HP has some good PCs too, just that the BIOS limitations drive some of us crazy.

To be fair, OEM's rate their PSU's based on sustained wattage, not maximum wattage like standard PSU's. So a 230W OEM PSU is more like a 300-330W max PSU. This helps a little bit in upgrading, but PSU quality is such a sore spot for me. OEM PSU's have some headroom but they still suck a$$ in quality! Like most other standard PSU's out there. :rolleyes: Which is sad because of the importance of having a good quality PSU.

Even so, I do believe that OEM's give "just enough power" in their PSU. While most of us are running 450W or more in a new rig, OEM's are still in the 250-350W range. Sad... Pathetic...