May 2008 - Direct2Dell

A few months ago, Lionel blogged that Dell had added the NVIDIA Dual 8800M GTX to the XPS M1730. This raised a lot of questions from existing M1730 owners, as you can see from the comments to the post, mostly regarding the possibility of an upgrade program. Given how absolutely amazing this card is, I’m surprised it didn’t generate more churn than it did.

As the gaming/consumer liaison for the Dell community, I was able to take some of these questions to those in the know and get a few answers.

First thing’s first: an upgrade solution is in the works, and will hopefully be released later this month. From what I’ve seen, there will be two options, one with an installation package, and one do-it-yourself kit for those die-hard techies. Considering the number of screws holding this beast together, most people will probably want the installation, but the do-it-yourself kit will be appealing to people like me that like playing with computer innards. The price of these upgrades is yet to be determined.

So what’s taking so long? The core issue is that MediaDirect 3.3 is not compatible with the driver for the NVIDIA card. This incompatibility means that the Media Direct software needs to be upgraded. Unfortunately, the upgrade will require a reformat and reinstallation. Beyond that, it will also require you to repartition the hard disk to make room for the new version of MediaDirect, which is a bit larger. Data loss has been a major concern for the engineers working on a solution. At this point, it would appear that there’s really no way around wiping the drive to make the upgrade work with every feature.

Since this card is obviously “the r0x0r”, I would think people’s inner gamer would be perfectly fine with a reinstallation in order to make this card work. This card is just that cool.

I know this upgrade has been long in coming, and I know it's caused some frustration. We're sorry this is taking so long, and are working to get this card into your hands as quickly as possible.

We recenty introduced the Dell Service Partner Program (SPP) for independent service providers who manage local or regional computer repair needs.  These are smaller service provider businesses - sometimes just one employee big.  And, like larger, multi-national computer repair companies, Dell Service Partners provide essential consulting and repair to their customers, so we're here to provide support that will help them answer a customer's needs fast. 

In an effort to offer more benefits to these smaller service provider businesses, including discounts and training programs, Dell has created the Service Partner Program because we know your business succeeds when you offer value, efficiency and reliable service to your customers.  When their computer breaks, you are there to fix it fast, so Dell wants to back you up on your customers' needs.

Before I jump into the FAQ, you can also find more details about the Service Partner Program at www.dell.com/servicepartner.

Who can join the SPP?

Service Providers in the United States are eligible to join the Dell Service Partner Program.  We plan to offer the Service Partner Program globally at a future date. 

What type of discounts can I get as a member of SPP?

• Discounts on Replacement Parts = 7% for telephone orders when you call this toll-free number 1-888-925-4528.  We will offer online discounts in the future. 
• Discounts on Service Warranties = 10% when you call 1-877-277-9723.
• Discounts though Dell’s Employee Purchase Program (EPP) = 7% on laptops and desktops.

How do I get these discounts?

By calling our toll-free, Dell Service Partner sales representatives, you can opt-in to receive discounts on Parts, Warranties or EPP system purchases.  Tell our sales reps that you would like to be a member of the Service Partner Program by providing your email and receive information on future promotions at Dell.  

What if I need a part late in the day or the Next Business Day for my customer?

You need a part, Dell has it for you.  Order parts as late as 7 p.m. CST M-F when you call our parts sales queue for your order.  This beats most industry shipping cut-off times that range from noon to 4 p.m. CST. 

Dell also reminds everyone that Next-Business-Day delivery (NBD) is always an option when you call one of our parts sales representatives. Our prices for NBD are also some of the best across all computer vendors and our competitors. 

Can I give Dell feedback on the Service Partner Program or Dell products and services?

Yes.  We hope that our customers and partners continue to provide ideas or suggestions about how we can improve things.  You can give your feedback here here on Direct2Dell  or at IdeaStorm.  We've implemented programs based on suggestions from businesses and customers, including Dell's participation in Red Campaign.

I think Dell products and services are great, but sometimes I feel I need more training on how to best use them for my customers?

Dell offers some great training for service providers, technicians and anyone interested in knowing more about how to get the most from our products. 

Folks who keep up with this blog have heard me mention it a couple of times. Today, we're launching Direct2Dell in Japanese. I think it's worth noting, not only because it is the fifth language that we've added to the Direct2Dell family, but because it's one of the most important ones: according to Technorati, Japanese is the most common language in the blogosphere.

Japan leads the world in Internet download speeds (check out the report from speedmatters.org—note that Japan's average broadband speed is 30 times faster that of the United States). And that kind of leadership also extends to the mobile phone space thanks to technology like NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service and competing technologies. That translates into millions of users who routinely use text messaging, access video and other multimedia content on mobile phones. That's one reason I think that services like Twitter—despite the fact that they just launched service in Japan—are really taking off there.

Today, Michael Dell will mention the Direct2Dell Japanese blog in a speech to students and media at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, part of  Hitotsubashi University.

So why is this important to Dell? Because we want to enable more direct conversations around the world. We understand that social media is global. Other recent studies like this one from Universal McCann show just how global it is. Click here for the PDF of that report.

If you are interested in following our Japanese blog, go here: http://japanese.direct2dell.com

Konnichiwa - こんにちは。 デルが、日本語のブログワールドに参入します。

過去の私のブログでも、他言語の追加について言及したことがあります。本日、日本語のDirect2Dellがオープンします。Direct2Dellに5番目の言語として追加されるということはさておき、もっと重要なのは、Technoratiによると、日本語は、ブログワールドで最も多く利用されている言語だということです。

日本は、インターネットのダウンロード速度 においても世界をリードしています。（speedmatters.orgのレポートによると、日本のブロードバンド速度の平均値はアメリカの30倍に匹敵するそうです） NTTドコモのi-modeのようなテクノロジーに代表される携帯電話の世界でも、日本の先進性を見ることができます。何百万人もの人が日常的に携帯電話でメールをし、携帯電話から動画などのマルチメディアコンテンツにアクセスしているのです。Twitterのようなサービスが、日本語でのサービスを立ち上げたばかりにもかかわらず、非常に人気が高いのも、こういった理由によるものでしょう。

本日、マイケル・デルが、一橋大学大学院国際企業戦略研究科の学生へのスピーチの中で、日本語のDirect2Dellについて言及することになります。

ところで、なぜ、このことがデルにとって重要なのでしょう？それは、デルが、今まで以上に、ダイレクトな会話をグローバルでできるようになるからです。ソーシャルメディアは、グローバル規模のものです。ユニバーサルマッキャンの最近のレポートでも、ソーシャルメディアが如何にグローバルであるかが示されています。このレポートのPDFフォーマットは、こちらからどうぞ。

日本語のDirect2Dellに興味のある方は右記URLにアクセスしてみてください：  http://japanese.direct2dell.com

I’m speaking today at Merkle’s 5^th Annual DbM (database marketing) Executive Summit here in Austin, where marketing leaders from the Fortune 1000 are discussing how to connect with customers in what is arguably the most challenging, but most opportunity-rich era in the history of marketing.

On one hand, people in the U.S., for example, are bombarded by around 3,000 marketing messages every day – how does a company break through the clutter? On the other hand, it’s easier than ever to talk directly to customers. Every day, 175,000 new blogs are created and consumers post and consult millions of product ratings and reviews. Companies that tap into these avenues and connect with customers in a meaningful will earn customers’ trust (and business) in this Connected Age. 

As I see it, the secret to doing this successfully centers on five basic principles, which I’ll detail in my keynote today:

1. Location, location, location! –As in the physical world, customers have to know where to find you. And we’ve learned that they don’t always look where we think they will. We can’t assume they’ll type www.dell.com into their address bar to find Dell. We CAN assume, though, that they’ll type “Dell” into their Google, Microsoft or Yahoo toolbar. Your home page becomes a search result, and your site search better rival or better the experience in public search.

2. Everything online, real-time – Services such as  Jott.com exemplify that in the Connected Age, it’s all about getting what you want or need… NOW. Very soon you’ll be able to point your phone at something – a house, a restaurant, a car, a book, a grocery store item – and your phone’s screen will be populated by relevant information about the item, including perhaps where you can get it cheaper close by. The winners will be companies that can tap into customers’ digital DNA… that figure out how to marry offline customer data (say, in their databases) with this real-time data to reinvent marketing so that it’s more informational, and thus, more relevant to customers.

3. Market to an audience of one – Today’s consumer expects personalization. They watch TV on their schedules. They get their news when, where and how they want it. They choose the color of their notebooks. They also want to personalize how we market to them. Have you seen what we’re doing with Twitter? Customers can have conversations with a number of Dell folks, get some help from Dell, read the latest posts @Direct2Dell or see the current specials @DellOutlet or @DellHomeOffers.

4. Participate –Did you know we now have Dell blogs in five languages?  We get so much insight and goodwill from customers by not transmitting information to them, but by participating in conversations WITH them. That’s why it shocks me that only 11 percent of the Fortune 500 is blogging.

5. Listen – Our customers are our ultimate source of inspiration, and listening to them is at the very core of Dell’s direct model. Through tools like IdeaStorm, they’re telling us exactly what we can do to be the best possible technology partner. Customers have provided us nearly 9,000 ideas that have been voted on more than 600,000 times. It’s like a customer-driven, open-source R&D lab.

Video of my keynote will be posted later today. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to check it out.

Thanks to Notebook Review user nexas for pointing out an issue with the XPS M1330. When a user presses the eject button on the optical drive, the system may hang for a few seconds.

Dell Community Forum users like Vishnu M. issue reported this issue. We've identified the issue and corrected it with the latest BIOS revision posted yesterday, version A10, which will correct the symptoms.

Again, users that have encountered this issue can click here to download the BIOS.

There have also been reports of this issue on the XPS M1530. The next BIOS revision is being tested now, and will also correct the symptoms. That revision is slated for web posting in June.