Talk:Dell/Archive 1

Inspiron Link
Removed link to Dell Inspiron as it was in an incorrect statement and led to a stub. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Quiffhanger (talk • contribs) 21:42, June 1, 2003.

Largest Manufacturer
From the HP History Page:

On May 3, 2002, HP completes its merger transaction with Compaq Computer Corp., the largest tech merger in history. The new HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and business. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services, and imaging and printing.

From the WP article on Compaq:

In 2002, Compaq engaged in a bitterly contested merger with Hewlett-Packard. Numerous large HP shareholders, including Walter Hewlett, publicly opposed the deal. [Compaq] CEO Michael Capellas left the company soon after, leaving HP CEO Carly Fiorina in charge of the combined company. Many Compaq products were re-branded with the HP nameplate, while the Compaq brand remained on other product lines.

So it seems to officially have been a merger, but perhaps the decision to use the HP name more predominantly had to do with the Compaq CEO leaving soon after the merger. Compaq.com redirects to h18000.www1.hp.com and says at the bottom, "© 2004 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P."

--Wasabe3543 16:52, 1 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Dell changed name in 2003
Dell changed its name in 2003 from Dell Computer Corporation to Dell, Inc. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.97.82.206 (talk • contribs) 15:07, October 22, 2004.

Main Image
The main logo takes forever to load, might want to replace it with a smaller image. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.22.18.227 (talk • contribs) 00:00, November 2, 2005.

"Diversity"
It's a pity that the coverage of diversity in this article didn't extend to acknowledging the existence of the six billion non-Americans in the world.Philip 04:44, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Kevin B. Rollins
I suspect the information at Kevin B. Rollins is not accurate; at the very least, since it can't decide if his name is Rollins or Rawlings, it's not reliable. Would someone look it over? -- Antaeus Feldspar 04:13, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)

The Kevin Rollins link is definitely NOT for the Dell Kevin Rollins. Seems like some guy trying to have fun.

Reasons for deleting most of Dell Dude in this article
I deleted: " This ad campaign ceased abruptly when authorities arrested Curtis on drug-possession charges." because that is not true. It contradicts Wikipedia's article about Benjamin Curtis which contains true information. Dell was starting to get rid of the Dell Dude ad campaign when he was arrested for weed. Proof: Ars Technica's 2002 article about Dell Dude commericals are going away. He was caught buying weed in 2003. In addition, the Dell Dude getting arrested external link that appeared in this article doesn't add anything to the corporation. One of "Wikipedia is not," it is not a link site. --Anonymous Cow 18:09, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Dell PR
So... all the truth about dell has been replaced with this crap from Dell public relations? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.186.1.77 (talk • contribs) 12:52, October 22, 2005.

recent edit
I removed the branding section which includes software and operating systems, due to the fact that listing such items is more of advertising than being unique innovations of the computer industry. it also levels the playing field, as other companies such as Alienware, Gateway, Sony, Toshiba, etc do not have their brands listed.

Removed a POV external link

Cleaned up advertising section -- if we had to list every commercial made we'd have to do that for every other company, which is not nessecary for a general reference.

removed financial information because there are links to this data already.

Other things which appeared as POV have been removed. moved many items to history. --Fsdfs 06:47, 13 October 2005 (UTC)


 * I restored the info about the "Dude, You're getting a Dell!" campaign... for many people, that campaign may be the single most notable thing about the company. Other than that, I agree with the changes you have made - Although the "Timeline" format, with a bunch of one-sentence paragraphs is a pretty grating style. Bunchofgrapes (talk) 15:04, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

Competition Section
Alienware should be removed from the competition section. Hay Meadows 13:57, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Reasons for my Edits
The first part of this article has been edited and revise. IMHO, it is much easier to read now.

First off, there was a lot on Michael Dell towards the end of the first section that seemed to be randomly placed there and not fit in with the article at all (why are we going from Dell computers to Michael Dell as a child?). Second off, there were a lot of tiny POV phrases there, such as "the revolutionary", and those are all deleted. Also, the article was condensed into paragraphs, instead of a collection of lines. --THollan 15:25, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

an answer to this if we're talking about the story about Dell as a newspaper carrier, it appears in a great many marketing case studies of the company and is a good lead-in to the company's use of target markets to succeed where other companies have not. I am in here looking for information on why this company has managed to make the virtual store succeed when other companies have not, and am not finding this well addressed. I am not sure right this moment how this should be fixed, so I for now I am simply raising the issue. I may come back when I know more about the answer to this question. Elinruby 05:32, 3 December 2006 (UTC)elinruby

Possible misleading 64-bit comment
Hello,

Regarding this sentence: "This has cost Dell some sales of higher-end desktop systems, especially in the content-creation field, where benchmarks show AMD processors function better for most render intensive 64-bit applications." Is this misleading because Intel don't actually have desktop 64-bit CPUs? The only 64-bit Intel chips are made for servers.

Regards,

Joe —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 134.226.1.136 (talk • contribs) 00:41, February 18, 2006.


 * Incorrect Intel has EM64T chips for consumers (mostly just enthusiasts at this point)... and in theses "higher-end desktop systems" that the contributer is talking about I assume he actually means "workstations" which would use Xeon (Intel) or Optheron (AMD) processors anyway...so kinda a moot point --Pboyd04 05:24, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Link removed

 * Sample of Customer Reviews/Complaints

I don't know what the supposed authority of this site is, and I'm not sure what all the arguments in the URL are - tracking IDs? What? Combined with an edit stating that complaints have "soared" and satisfaction "plummeted" I am suspicious. Meanwhile my orders continue to arrive consistently within five working days. Just zis Guy you know? 22:30, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

"Personal tragic stories"
A section was removed becuase "this is not the place to share personal tragic stories of poor customer service".


 * The Maxtor batch fault is a known issue and affects many hundreds of machines
 * The D6xx series battery recall was global in scope
 * The GX270 logic board batch fault appears to affect a very large number of machines, we have had about a one in three failuyre rate here and we have several hundred of them.

I don't especially care if these go in or not, but they are not "personal tragic stories" in the sense suggested. Other in the deleted content might have been. The point about batch faults with third-party components is, I believe, valid, if not restricted to Dell. Just zis Guy you know? 14:49, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject Texas?
I'm just curious as to why this is part of the texas wikiproject? Besides having its headquarters in Texas, what umbrellas Dell under that WikiProject? → &ensp; J @  red &ensp; 20:03, 27 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Dell is considered a major part of texas' economy and community, providing work for thousands of hardworking Texans. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.238.67.186 (talk • contribs) 02:49, May 16, 2006.

Exploding battery
This article needs a link to the exploding battery in a Dell laptop, http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550 Jedwards05 02:29, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Information on the exploding battery is already mentioned at the bottom of the criticism section along with Dell's response on their blog.Jvandyke 13:06, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Moved the criticism section on batteries to history since it is an event right now and not really a criticism since that will take time to develop. Once the criticism about the batteries coalesces into something (like fines, lawsuits, court action, legislation), then it could be put back in criticism. And yes, making sure the Sony connection is cited is important so the potential larger problem can be discussed. Claymoney 15:13, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Again, there shouldn't be a double mention of the exploding batteries in history and criticism. I really think it belongs in history... Claymoney 03:48, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

why is the battery thing in the criticism section?
If Dell is the first company to respond to an issue with batteries that were malfunctioning industry wide, how is that a criticism? shouldn't that be viewed as a good thing?

Problems with meeting earnings and growth expectations and resulting stock fall
From reading this article, you'd never know that Dell has struggled substantially since Mr. Rollins took over as CEO and especially over the last year (lowered expectations 4 of 5 quarters, losing market share, stock price now in the low 20's, etc.). Someone should add a section on the company's poor recent performance, especially as it's traditionally been such a high flyer. 68.94.233.24 04:03, 24 August 2006 (UTC)


 * That sounds like an opportunity for you to be bold and help improve the article!


 * Atlant 12:37, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks - but considering that EVERY SINGLE EDIT I made earlier today was removed by Dell syncophants, I doubt it's worth the effort to even try. DJ Ditty terminated - removed. Struggles due to Intel exclusivity - removed. Loss of funds from Intel due to Dell selling AMD impacting latest quarterly results - removed. Apparently you can only add things saying what a great company this is. 68.94.233.24 20:30, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * A few comments:
 * I re-added the NPOV portion of your previous DJ Ditty termination sentence with the reference you provide above. Thanks!
 * I had previously deleted a *portion* of your prior posting regarding the Ditty, specifically: "However, the hype did not translate into substantial product sales, and.." as the phrasing seemed POV and didn't seem to add to the paragraph. Feel free to try and write something NPOV (maybe actual numbers?).
 * If you want to add negative comments about Dell, I'd strongly recommend including 1) some information in the edit summary 2) references like you did here with the PC World article to the material you provide. A actual username would probably help as well as it would reduce fears that someone was trying to sneak edits anonymously.
 * The loss of funds due to Dell selling AMD is speculation that Dell hasn't confirmed as evidenced by the Dell Q2 2007 Earnings Conference Call transcript. I tend to agree that co-marketing probably impacted Q2 earnings, but that's my opinion.  If you want such a supposition, then crafting a sentence that says "Critics say.." and including a reference would probably help.
 * In my opinion, Dell's struggles are more complicated than simply the lack of an AMD offering. For instance, Dell has traditionally been strong in large corporate/government in developed countries- and relatively weak in consumer and emerging market.  Given the slowing sales in Dell's traditional strong areas, Dell has struggle to compete in the consumer and emerging market segments where the competition is strong and Dell is relatively weak - in US Consumer in particular following Dell's well publicized customer service stumbles. As another example, many commentators point to the transition in product mix in the marketplace to notebooks (from desktops) causing Dell's direct model to lose advantages because a) all the major players share outsourced manufacturers reducing Dell's margin advantages b) customers desire to "see and touch" a notebook before purchasing (see HP's "The Computer is Personal" ad campaign, etc.)  Whew.   Now find some sources for the prior and then we'd start to have a truly valid criticism!  In any case, my point remains: AMD alone probably doesn't describe Dell's troubles.
 * Thanks again.Jvandyke 22:25, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Board of Trustees section
is this enumeration of board members usual for business entries? it's extremely boring. Kind of like reading the Policies and Procedures manual. It may all be true, but so what?? Elinruby 10:53, 3 December 2006 (UTC)elinruby

Cleanup
Sections of this article read like proganda for dell. Dell cuts costs by making an unreliable product and then refusing to honor warranties. Calls to tech support are met by 2 hour long waits, just to talk to someone followed by a month of waiting for them to fix it. after all that you get your computer back and they haven't touched it, coming up with some B.S. to avoid honorind their warranty. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.134.135.252 (talk • contribs) 06:07, July 18, 2006.
 * I can't speak to all of your points, but Dell's new customer service leadership has acknowledged problems with new customer service "We were transferring, and still today, are transferring close to 45% of calls. That's out of a half a million calls from consumers a week. That's a lot. That's terrible." and invested dollars and attention as detailed on Dell's blog: "We’re spending more than a $100 million — and a lot of blood, sweat and tears of talented people — to fix this.". I'll try to post something like the former into the criticism section.Jvandyke 13:15, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Removed DJ Ditty marketing paragraph
Given the discontinuation of the DJ Ditty (noted in the product section), the follow paragraph seems unimportant and I moved it here: ''In late 2005 Dell launched its Internet ad campaign for the Dell DJ Ditty. Numerous websites (such as GameFAQs) featured ads which linked back to DellDitty.com, a flash-enabled site containing various video clips. The clips featured skits in which Mitch Ferrence taught air-guitar, lip-syncing, and various dance moves, with the help of the DJ Ditty. After the success of DellDitty.com, Dell followed it up by releasing the "Rockstar" clips, various clips where Mitch talked to participants of the television show Rockstar INXS and taught them how to become successful celebrities. On August 23, 2006 Dell announced it would terminate production of the Ditty line. '' —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jvandyke (talk • contribs) 23:23, August 25, 2006.

Language
" It is thought that this is due to the marketing department becoming aware of alternate meanings of "FTW", including "Fuck the World." "

Do we really need to include that? It's not very appropriate and even more unnecessary. STufaro 21:55, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Accounts probe delays Dell filing
From BBC, here. I don't have time to edit, so this is just a heads-up. 86.136.249.116 16:39, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Tychon Dell
I moved the following from external links. The link isn't very good, but digging it appears that the point is a trademark dispute in Europe. If someone feels this is important, then please do a writeup but a bad external link seems silly:* European .E-battle of ideas: Tychon-Dell since 2000  Jvandyke 15:48, 5 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Mr Tychon is adding this link all over Wikipedia at the moment. See Articles for deletion/Complexxon. I thought I'd go around to do some cleaning up and try to stem any confusion. Glad to see everyone else is ahead of me. GDallimore 22:06, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
 * PS Interesting article - good work, guys :) GDallimore 22:10, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Removal of 1 criticism item
While its true Dell hasn't used AMD CPUs, they also haven't used XGI graphics cards in their machines either. Unless the criticism can be documented as coming from a reliable source, it doesn't belong there.--Crossmr 20:01, 22 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Lousy reasoning, there. AMD chips are low-cost, high-performance direct competitors to Intel's chips, and for Dell to not sell systems with AMD chips is something that isn't in the customer's best interests. It's a fair criticism. 87.82.13.2 13:55, 16 December 2006 (UTC)


 * It still needs to be sourced. It doesn't matter if its a fair criticism. The source isn't to be about whether or not AMD is a better chip but whether or not there are reliable sources which represent a non-trivial viewpoint which criticize dell for not using AMD cpus.--Crossmr 15:16, 16 December 2006 (UTC)