August 2008 - Direct2Dell

For Direct2Dell readers interested in Dell's Q2 financial results, take a look at Rob William's blog post over at Dell Shares. Michael Dell and Brian Gladden, Dell's CFO will take part in a conference call to discuss Dell's Q2 FY09 performance at 4pm today Central Time. Click here for more details about the conference call.

If you're like me, Google Maps has made so many things in my life easier. But, wouldn't it be great if you could have all the addresses you need mapped on one page? Free mashup service map a list grabs addresses directly from a Google Spreadsheet in your account and plots them out over a customized Google Map. The combination of its easy grabbing from GDocs and its step-by-step creation wizard make plotting out your daily sales calls, or any other data, easier than ever. Maps update automatically with the spreadsheet and can be shared publicly.

Today we're rolling out two new laptops and desktops that are designed to meet the specific needs of small businesses, government and educational facilities operating on a limited budget in the worlds top emerging markets. Take a look at either Steve Felice's post or Kara Krautter's post on the Small Business blog for a bit more context on that front.

Note: Click on any of the images in these post to see larger versions of them. You can also see these photos and more by viewing this photo set at the main Dell Flickr page.

One thing of interest to a lot of our readers is that we will offer Ubuntu Linux as an option on all four of these machines worldwide. Regular readers of Direct2Dell know that we already support Ubuntu on select systems several countries.

These new Vostro systems will be introduced in more than 20 countries over the coming months—including Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. They will be available primarily through authorized channel partners worldwide and also directly from Dell. Pricing for the products will vary by configuration, region and country. Additional Vostro products designed for emerging markets and high-growth economies will be introduced in the coming months.

Update: I apologize to Direct2Dell readers. I made some mistakes in some of the following tech details. In those cases below. I used strikethroughs with updated text to correct them. Again, my apologies for the errors.

Today, we're offering two pre-configured laptops--the Vostro A840 and A860, and two pre-configured desktops—the Vostro A100 and A180. Both the affordable notebooks feature a sturdy compact design. The A840 weighs in at 5 lbs 4.48 lbs while the A80 weighs just about 5.7 lbs 5.42 lbs. 

Both offer features like The A860 features an HD screen with an anti-glare coating and Intel Celeron or Core 2 Duo processors. Both offer all kind of connectivity features including wireless, Ethernet and modem capability. Bluetooth is an option as well. The 15.6" Vostro A860 notebook will eventually be available globally, including the United States.

On the desktop side, both the Vostro A100 and the A180 are meant to tackle everyday business needs. The entry-level Vostro A100 comes standard with Intel's Atom processor. The A180 supports Celeron and Core 2 Duo Pentium dua-core processors. Like the laptops, both of these systems tha Vostro A180 can be ordered with Ubuntu or Windows Vista Home Basic as well. The A100 will be offered with Ubuntu and supports up to 80GB hard drives and a 16x DVD drive. Both systems The A180 supports up to 160GB hard drives, and either DVD or DVD+/-RW optical drives.

If you're interested to learn more about these products, take a look at this vlog with Kirk Schell from Dell Commercial Products Team. Besides giving an overview of these systems, he provides some insight into why products like these play an important role in reaching these rapidly-expanding economies.

Over the past year, the BRIC countries have been a focus of much business and economic discussion. Not only do they represent 85% of the world’s population, but they continue to shape the business world, especially for global companies like Dell (BRIC+10 countries account for 12% of Dell’s revenue).

Approximately 500 million new businesses will launch over the next five years, most of which will be from emerging countries (ICSB forecast). From thousands of conversations with small businesses and channel partners in emerging countries, we found that these business owners battle a barrage of issues when it comes to incorporating technology. The prohibitive cost of technology (especially when it comes to mobility) and the ease of set up and maintenance plague small businesses trying to grow in emerging countries.

Because of these specific requirements, we’ve extended our Vostro product line to provide customers in high growth economies and emerging countries the technology necessary to meet their unique business needs. The new Dell Vostros include two laptops and two desktops designed to address the computing needs of small businesses, governments and educational institutions in the world’s high-growth economies and emerging countries. These systems are part of an affordable, quality technology solution that small businesses can rely on to meet everyday basic computing needs. With the new Vostro products, small businesses will be able to deploy and maintain technology while still having easy access to Dell support and services, without costly non-essential components. For more product details, check out Lionel’s post and related vlog on Direct2Dell.

Most of the products announced today will be sold through local Dell solution providers, distributors or retailers. Over the next two months the new Vostro products will be available in more than 20 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

The Vostro A860 (15.6in laptop) is the only new system that will be offered globally and will replace the current entry-level Vostro 1000 starting in late September. Pricing and availability of the new Vostro products will vary by country. For details on the dates go to www.dell.com/newvostropresskit.