Category Archives: dell

On The Hunt for Productivity

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ProductivityRemember the netbook “fad” from a few years ago? According to Wikipedia, “netbook” as a generic term came into widespread use in 2007. By 2011, manufacturers such as Dell exited the netbook market due to declining sales.

Were netbooks really a fad, or was there something more to it?

Before proceeding, let’s get one thing out of the way. Netbooks were cute little notebooks with small price tags that helped to turn them into impulse buys. That cuteness also helped them grab shelf attention in the stores.

Cuteness alone could not explain their popularity. Let us not forget that netbooks actually disrupted the existing larger notebook sales.

It might be helpful at this point to take a look at overall computer sales and how markets have evolved over time. At one time, desktop machines dominated the sales figures. Then, full-sized laptops disrupted the dominance of the desktop PC sales. Netbooks disrupted laptop sales. Next, tablets and smartphones disrupted the netbook sales.

I believe that netbooks inadvertently dangled the carrot of a small, lightweight machine that happened to be a full PC, where real productivity could happen. Of course, the reality did not quite match up to the promise. Most netbooks were sorely underpowered. The worst aspect of the netbook was the smaller keyboard. Typing on the average netbook-sized keyboard is not an enjoyable experience.

Whether we realize it or not, many of us are always looking for productivity devices. With every computing device I’ve ever purchased, in the end I’m always looking for ways of putting the device to work. How useful it is ends up determining if it is one of my most-used devices, or if it ends up given away, or forgotten on a shelf or in a closet somewhere. Once the novelty and the emotional hype of having the new device is stripped away, the question is always what can this device do in terms of productivity?

So rather than being seen as just a fad, the relatively brief popularity of the netbook should serve as a lesson. We are on the hunt for productivity devices. The more portable the better, but without sacrificing usability or performance.

Dell Laptops Smelling Like Cat Urine?

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Dell-6430u

If you own a pet, you know what the urine smells like. Apparently, so do Dell Lattitude 6430u users. They started complaining the smell on the messageboards. Turned out, Dell confirmed the smell is real (but not really urine).

“The smell is not related to cat urine or any other type of biological contaminant, nor is it a health hazard,” the BBC reported that Dell support technician SteveB said online. Further, a Reddit post explains more

The palm rest is the origin of the smell. It was suggested the polymer in the plastic emitted a smell similar to cat urine.

Dell has implemented a replacement program for those 6430u users.

Others on Reddit joke about hanging their cat over their old laptop to get that “New laptop smell”.

 

Michael Dell on Taking Dell Computers Private: Says Success will be Seen in 10-20 Years

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Dell LogoMichael Dell took the stage of Oracle World to keynote the event. Of course, this is the first time he spoke since Dell announced they will be buying back all shares and privatizing the company.

On September 12 – after a lengthy battle with investors (including Carl Icahn), Michael Dell convinced the majority that Dell should become a privately held company once again. The $24.9 billion buyout will happen in Q3 of Dell’s Fiscal Year 2014. Stockholders will get $13.88 plus a .08 cent dividend until close.

Forward to Oracle OpenWorld – an event being held in San Francisco. Michael Dell gets on stage to give people an idea of where he plans to take the company, starting with a new extended partnership with Oracle around data management.

“Our success won’t be measured just by short-term results, but also our ability to help our customers succeed five, ten and twenty years from now,” Michael Dell stated in his keynote. ” We need to be looking not just at the quarter ahead, but the decade ahead. Investing to create value for customers as long-term relationships with a long-term vision.”

One thing to remember from Dell is he took his PC building company out of his dorm room and turned it into a major company in 1984. 30 years later, Dell is looking to re-create the same magic. Dell has been one of the top 5 in PC marketshare since 1997. Dell’s Enterprise services also make up the computer giant. With the renewed partnership with Oracle, they can go after HP and IBM Enterprise. “We’re unencumbered by old legacy” Dell stated.

New Dell Windows 8 Tablets Outed

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Dell LogoDell showed off a new 8″ Windows 8-based tablet at the recent IDF conference earlier in September, promising further announcements on the resurrected “Venue” line at a press event on 2 October in New York City. Geek News Central has obtained advance information that Dell will be presenting three tablets; the already seen 8″ plus two 10.8″ tablets.

The three devices and specs are:

1) 8″ 1280 x 800 screen, Intel Bay Trail CPU, 8 hours battery life, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB SSD. Office Home and Student 2013 will be bundled. This is the one that was seen at IDF in San Francisco.

Dell Venue 8"

 

2) 10.8″ 1920 x 1080 screen, ARM Qualcomm CPU, 10 hours battery life, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB SSD. Office Home and Student 2013 will be bundled.

Dell 10" Pro

 

3) 10.8″ 1920 x 1080 screen, Intel Bay Trail CPU, 10 hours battery life, 2 GB RAM, 64 GB SSD, 4G / LTE built-in.

Dell 10" RT

 

The documentation seen by GNC suggests that the devices will be running Windows 8.1 out of the box but it’s not totally clear. There’s also no information on pricing or availability so we’ll just have to wait until next week for the press conference to learn more.

Laptop, Netbook, Smart Phone, Tablet – An Interactive Graphic

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A new interactive infographic posted today gives a quick overview of the features of four different devices – a laptop, netbook, smartphone, and tablet.  If you are shopping for one of these devices this holiday season, and wondering which you should get, then the infographic linked below will give you a good starting point.  To get a general overview of what features are included with each type of device you can just hover your mouse over a device and the features it includes will be highlighted.  Hover over a feature and see which device it requires.

The infographic was posted by Chris Byrd, Corp Comm Social Media Team to the Dell blog.  Dell, of course, has a horse in this race – they make devices in all four categories.  However the graphic isn’t brand specific, but just gives an overview of features.  This by no means will tell you exactly what to buy, but it’s a cool, fun way to get you started in your shopping research.

Laptops, Netbooks, Phones & Tablets Interactive ComparisonLaptop, Netbook, Tablet, & Smartphone Comparison Interactive by Dell

Dell Tablet Roadmap Leaked, 10″ Streak Pro in June

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There have been rumors circulating on the internet for a while now about a Dell Streak 10″ tablet that would be called the Dell Streak Pro.  Now the folks over at Android Central have come up with the proof.  They have published a leaked tablet roadmap from Dell that lists, not just the Streak Pro, but two other tablets.  The list features photos, release dates, and product specs.

The Streak Pro will pack an NVIDIA Tegra T25 processor and run Android Honeycomb.  The 1280 x 800 resolution is standard for a 10″ device.  There is no mention of memory or storage capacity.  There really aren’t any surprises here other than the release date of June, which is earlier than what had been rumored.

More of a surprise were the other two listings – Latitude ST tablet and the Latitude XT-3 convertible tablet.  The ST is another 10 inch tablet, but pack a much stronger hardware punch than the Streak Pro.  The ST will come with 1366 x 766 resolution, an Intel Oak Trail 1.5 GHz processor, 128 GB of storage, and 1080p output.  The XT will, supposedly, ship in October.  That’s far enough away for a lot to change.

The XT-3 is a 13″ convertible with Windows 7 and a list of impressive hardware that includes an Intel i3, i5, or i7 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 1080p output.  The target date is July of 2011.

There were no prices listed and the dates are probably tentative at best.  Of course, while all of this looks legitimate we can’t write any of it in stone since it’s a leak and there has been no confirmation from Dell.

Dell Inspiron Duo – The Best Of Both Worlds?

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News broke today of the new Dell Inspiron Duo – a combination netbook and tablet.  Does it look cool?  Yes.  Will it actually be cool?  We’ll see.

Here are the specs. A 10.1″ screen, Intel dual-core Atom N550 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 250GB hard drive.  Those are especially good for a netbook.  It will also run Windows 7 Home Premium – another step up from the normal netbook OS.  Like any Dell PC it can be customized with such things as a larger hard drive.

The next most important thing, after specs, is looks.  Here, of course, it’s all up to personal tastes.  If you wanted a closer look you can find a hands on with plenty of closeup pictures over on Engadget.  It’s available in three colors – blue, black, and red.  As you have probably guessed from the picture above, the screen rotates around to transform the netbook into a tablet – just flip the screen 180 degrees and close the lid.  The touch interface for the tablet was designed by Dell and looks clean and simple.

So, is this the best of the netbook and tablet worlds combined?  It has promise.  The hardware specs are good.  The box seems to have a nice look and the choice of colors, while not uncommon in the laptop world, is new to the tablet business.  Windows 7 may not be the best tablet interface, but it’s standard for netbooks and probably perfectly usable for the tablet.  It seems like a good alternative for those who want to use a tablet while traveling, but need a real keyboard to get some work done.  At $549 it’s a bit pricey, but not prohibitively so.  I’m intrigued, but not entirely sold yet.  I certainly plan to try one out though.