May 2009 - Direct2Dell

With all the speculation and  interest being generated by the Dell Inspiron Mini line and netbooks in general, we’ve taken a couple of steps to augment how our product developers listen to customer wants and needs.

First, we’ve posted to our crowdsourcing site, IdeaStorm, this Lightning Rod question: “What would you like to see in future generations of Dell netbooks?”

• So what would you like to see in future Dell Minis? (Things like form factor, new features, personalization ideas, operating system support, etc.)
• What features are most important in a netbook? (Things like HD capability, network connectivity options, battery life, usability, etc.)

Share your ideas plus vote and comment on others via IdeaStorm in the Netbooks category.

Beyond IdeaStorm, members of Dell’s netbook development team also will be listening and responding via a new Twitter account, @Dell_Mini. If you’re into micro-blogging, give the team a follow and share your thoughts on what you would like to see in the future.

We recently created a new lifestyle destination on Dell.com to showcase our most stylish and innovative products, and connect primarily with women. It’s generated a fair amount commentary and a good deal of feedback – lots of it positive, but much that wasn’t.

Given that we’re a direct company, everything we’ve heard is valuable. It helps us better connect with a diverse range of customers, from Gen Y to digital nomads to people who run big data centers, as examples. There are endless possibilities on how to bring Dell to people who have all kinds of interests. The site was created for those who value a certain combination of technology, style and personalization – women especially, but not only women, and certainly not all women. So far, people are going there and buying things at a rate higher than we expected. For those who don’t find this convergence of technology, style and personalization appealing – well, there was obviously no intent to stereotype or otherwise offend anyone.

That said, we can do better and are already making changes based on what you’re telling us. For example, we’ve made the "tech tips" section, well, more technical. We’ll be incorporating more business-oriented products and information. And there’s less pink. We are listening.

Thanks for the feedback. It’s essential to how Dell does business.

Dell has been selling systems at Best Buy for over a year now and to say that there has been some confusion on support is putting it mildly.   Many Dell customers, like brlfqq and Ron Schenone, show examples of customers who were bounced around between Dell and Geek Squad when looking for support on their systems.  There were many times were both Dell Techs and Best Buy’s Geek Squad members were confused  over which company was to provide the limited hardware warranty and tech support on these systems so I can imagine how frustrating it must have been for our customers.

Thankfully, that’s all ended.

Customers that purchase Dell systems or monitors at Best Buy can get limited hardware warranty support from either Best Buy’s Geek Squad or Dell’s Technical Support.   If it’s easier for you to contact Dell via telephone, email or online chat, then that’s the option for you.  If you prefer to take your system into a store and have a Geek Squad Agent work on it then you can get support that way as well.  You can even switch between Dell and Geek Squad as your needs change.   Here’s a little more detail into the kinds of support options you have between Dell and Best Buy:

• Tech Support (based on our Limited Hardware Warranty)
• Payment Issues
• Returns
• Wrong / Damaged Parts

• Tech Support (based on our Limited Hardware Warranty)
• Missing Parts
• Reinstallation Media

System returns will be handled by Best Buy according to their return policy.  Normal Dell limited hardware warranty limitations such as data recovery, advanced software support, accidental damage, and out of warranty still apply.  For more details, go to http://www.Dell.com/warranty.  

One of the easiest ways to get support through Best Buy is to carry your system into one of their stores or you can take a look at their Contact Us page.  You can reach Dell’s Technical Support group by calling 1-866-955-2251.  Techs are available 24/7 to help you.

If you do purchase a Dell system from Best Buy you will want to register your system with Dell as soon as possible to make sure there are no delays in the event you need to contact Dell support teams.

• Go to the Internet and visit Dell’s Product Registration website at http://www.Dell.com/register
• Select the language, country, and retailer from where you purchased and fill out the online form.
• Once the form is complete, click Submit.

If you are unable to register your product online you can call us at 1-800-624-9896.  We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For customers purchasing a stand-alone Dell monitor from Best Buy you will need the PPID number for support.  That number is a 20-digit alphanumeric identification code printed on a sticker attached to the back of the monitor.  They normally begin with two letters and look like this:

Dell Technicians will be able to identify your monitor using that PPID code and determine whether your monitor is still covered by our Limited Hardware Warranty.

What do (PRODUCT) RED™, Passion Purple, Spiderman and Digital TV all have in common?  The Dell Inspiron Mini of course! Today we are adding a few more goodies to the Mini family or specific family members. Let’s start with the updates that impact the entire family (Mini 9, Mini 10, Mini 10v, and Mini 12.).

As of today the Mini is now Mighty in that the purchase of select Dell Minis can contribute directly to saving lives. Ideastorm posters like 22Cactus22 will be happy to hear that  all Cherry Red Minis are now part of the Dell (PRODUCT) RED portfolio, and Dell will contribute $5 of the purchase price of a (PRODUCT) RED Mini to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.  To date, Dell and other (RED)™ partners and events have helped to generate more than $130 million for the Global Fund. 100% of that funding goes directly to AIDS programs in Africa, with an emphasis on the health of women and children. Like the campaign says: Buy Dell. Join (RED). Save Lives. Update: Been getting some questions about global availability. The (PRODUCT) RED Mini 10 is available today for customers in the Americas; it will be available tomorrow for APJ customers in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Singapaore and Malaysia; it will be available in EMEA countries within the next several days.

Next on the list is a Dell exclusive that should get some Spidery-senses tingling. For a limited time we are including a 2GB USB key with the Spider-man movie pre-loaded, a $12.99 value, with the purchase of select Dell Mini Deals. This is Plug & Play and doesn’t require any special handling, connections, etc. I personally like the potential of entertainment content on a flash drive and it’s a perfect pairing for the Mini class of product. USB keys are certainly easier to carry and more durable than DVDs.  According to my “sources” we can look for more than meets the eye in the future. Dell is on the leading edge of a growing trend and I expect to see an expanded selection of these “Movies in a Flash” in the second half of the year.

The popular Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is also getting a few additional features and options added today.   First we expanded the external personalization options on the Mini 10 to an even dozen with the addition of a seventh color option, Passion Purple. Individuals can give their Mini 10 a distinctive signature look with a color option or one of the five unique Design Studio works of art by Tristan Eaton. The next new option makes the Mini 10 a bit more businesslike – we are offering Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 ($149) preinstalled. This means the Mini 10 is ready to take on mainstream productivity tasks like Word, Excel and even PowerPoint while you are on the go. (hint – consider upgrading to the HD display (1366x768) for $35 so you can view more content on the screen, e.g. more spreadsheet columns, the entire PowerPoint slide, etc.)..

Finally, today Dell is the first to offer one of the most exciting features to hit the netbook category yet – an optional built-in digital TV Tuner ($50) that will receive over-the-air live digital TV signals. You know all those commercials you’ve been seeing “Are you prepared for Digital TV?” Well, your TV may not be ready, but the Mini 10 is and will pick up most of the local TV stations digital broadcasts.  So why would you want a TV tuner on a Mini 10? If you’re a sports fan, imagine taking the Mini to the local ballpark and catching the color commentary and instant replays while flipping to the last round of the PGA match on another channel. Or, catch the local evening news while sitting out on the deck. Or, watch the latest episode of your favorite show while taking a study break at a local coffee shop. True story –a colleague was carrying a Mini 10 with the TV tuner for the last week or so and tuned in one of the NBA playoff games while at a local coffee shop. At one point he had about a half a dozen people standing around watching it with him. I saw this in action last week at our Urban Meet up event in New York City, and I’ve got to tell you, go with the HD display, the built in TV Tuner and the 6-cell battery and you’ve got a sweet deal for ~$450. To be clear, you will need to stay in one place to catch the broadcast signal – for now. You can’t be commuting on the train, or in a car and watch TV on the Mini 10. We need to wait for a “mobile” digital TV broadcast standard to be certified. Some of you “gadget gurus” may have caught that Dell Mini 10 was instrumental in a technology demo of the ATSC M/H candidate standard with LG and Roundbox, Inc. at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB2009) show last month in Las Vegas. I don’t know a lot about this but it’s the next step that will allow you to watch mobile television channels while moving from point A to point B – should be ready sometime next year.  But enough about the future – the Dell Mini 10 has the features mentioned above available today, and www.dell.com/mini is standing by to help guide you through your order. Have fun! 

You may have seen some speculation that we would launch a new Dell netbook in time for the back-to-school season. Starting today, customers in the Americas and Europe can order the sub-three pound Latitude 2100 netbook at a starting price of $369. These netbooks will be available in Asia and the Pacific in the next few days.

Latitude 2100 netbooks come in five fun primary colors: School Bus Gold, Chalkboard Black, Ball Field Green, Blue Ribbon and Schoolhouse Red. To see pictures of these colors and more, take a look at this Flickr set on our Dell page. We'll offer with several operating system options, including Ubuntu 8.10, Windows XP Home or Vista Home Basic. 

The Latitude 2100 utilizes Intel's 945GSE chipset. Here's other important specs and options:

• Intel Atom N270 processor
• Up to 1GB fixed RAM; Additional memory slot to accommodate up to 2GB RAM total
• Display: 1024x576 LED screen, optional touch screen
• Storage options: standard hard drive options up to 250GB; SSD drive up to 16GB
• Battery: 3 and 6-cell battery options
• Wired Connectivity: 10/100/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet
• Wireless Connectivity: 802.11g standard, option 802.11n
• Ports: 3 USB, VGA, headphone/speaker out, mic
• Expansion slot: SD/ MMC card reader

So what makes these netbooks suitable for education? Simply put, the Latitude 2100 was designed for students in the classroom. The Latitude 2100 netbooks feature a rubberized case for easier handling and increased durability, a clean vent-free bottom that helps avoid intrusion from spills, an optional carrying strap to make them easier to carry around. The netbooks have a network activity lights so that wireless connectivity can be monitored by educators and a webcam option. Another option is touch screen, that should be most useful for classes with younger children.

Beyond that, two notable benefits are the remote management capability and Dell's Mobile Computing Station. All Latitude 2100 netbooks can be managed over the network: Wake-on-LAN, Alert Standard Format and Systems Management Server can be supported. The Mobile Computing Solution which will be available to customers soon, makes it easy to store, charge and manage up to 24 netbooks at one time using one Ethernet and power cord. It allows administrators to push software updates to any of the systems connected to it. It's initially available to customers in the United States.

This video gives a pretty good overview of both the Latitude 2100 netbooks and Dell's Mobile Computing Station.

Over the next several days, we'll write several posts dedicated to the topic of our technology initiatives related to education. Enrique's post is here on Direct2Dell. To see other posts later this week, be sure to check out Dell's Education blog or the blog area of Edu4U. 

Personally, I sure wish we had these netbooks when I was in school. In my time, we used TRS-80s in the first computer science class I took and we liked it. Technology improvement is a cool thing.