02-05-2013, 06:02 PM | #16 |
Guru
Posts: 733
Karma: 3593438
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Glo. Galaxy Tab S 8.4
|
We used to buy Dell laptops and desktops in the last company I worked for, they were usually very good quality and had a great support/returns policy too.
I hope Dell does well whatever they do.. Even if I would never buy a Dell PC for home purposes. |
02-05-2013, 06:35 PM | #17 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,068
Karma: 23867385
Join Date: Nov 2011
Device: kindle, fire
|
What I'd like to see is venture capitalists be rewarded with lucrative buyouts so that the innovators are released to innovate.
|
02-05-2013, 08:57 PM | #18 |
Guru
Posts: 944
Karma: 1490348
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Norman, OK
Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One
|
Frankly, to me it seems a desperate move by an individual who, in the words of the WSJ, is "increasingly concerned about his legacy".
Dell did well with PCs. Unfortunately for Dell, PC shipments, according to the same WSJ article in print today, are down 13% year-on-year. As pointed out above, this is only 'traditional PCs' - no smartphones, no tablets, etc. But that is exactly where Dell is absent. In his own admission, Michael Dell failed to see the transformation in the industry coming - or, at least, underestimated the speed and depth of the shift. It's not just shipments. The real problem is profit margins. So the question is - once they take the firm private, where do they go? The plan seems to be to become a 'business solution provider'. Which is a higher-profit margin niche than PCs. But it's not what Dell has expertise in. Are they positioned to be the new IBM? I think the market does look upon that as unlikely - which is why the stock price took a dive. Mr. Dell seems to think it's possible - and he is betting his own money on it. Perhaps that's why he is a 'visionary'. But the market disagrees. Is taking firms private a new trend? On the margin, the benefits of public listing have decreased. SOX has made compliance and disclosure more expensive, while the crisis has led to a lack of liquidity that negates the primary advantage of a public listing - quick access to cheap capital. So yes, more firms are going private than ever before. Is it a good idea? The way I see it, most of those firms are going private because someone feels the market is 'not understanding true valuation' and mispricing. More often then not, that is not the case. The share price of Dell is down because it's outlook is gloom. Micheal Dell thinks he knows better than the market. I believe in (weak) market efficiency. My bet is that it's a bruised ego, an emotional response - and a big mistake. By the way, I am typing this on a Dell ;-) |
02-05-2013, 11:33 PM | #19 |
Guru
Posts: 612
Karma: 7511929
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: New York, NY
Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2
|
We need the equivalent of an Apple or Samsung in PC hardware.
|
02-05-2013, 11:46 PM | #20 |
Guru
Posts: 973
Karma: 2458402
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: St. Louis
Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook HD+
|
PCs are just fine as they are, hardware wise. The trouble is that people are simply preferring tablets.
This is why Windows 8 is what it is - Microsoft is preparing for a possible PC-less future, trying to turn Windows into a tablet OS. A future where the OS takes up half the storage space on the tablet apparently, but that's their goal. And in turn, Valve, a big deal in PC Gaming, is trying to prepare for a future where PCs run on Linux, since Windows will be Tablet based (or focused). |
02-06-2013, 01:52 PM | #21 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,230
Karma: 7145404
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Southern California
Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+
|
markbot, in what way do you not consider Sony to be the PC equivalent of Apple in laptops? The higher-end Vaio series has been as wickedly impressive as it is wickedly expensive. Or for desktops what about Falcon Northwest or Alienware or Voodoo (now HP)?
Last edited by Penforhire; 02-06-2013 at 05:06 PM. |
02-06-2013, 01:55 PM | #22 |
Wizard
Posts: 4,742
Karma: 246906703
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: USA
Device: Oasis 3, Oasis 2, PW3, PW1, KT
|
Windows is only tablet focused to make the transition from Windows to tablets easier. It is more like that PCs turn more into the tablet features with more and more big touch-screen all-in-one computers showing up. With the right tablet (powerful enough) you could add mobility to your desktop-games. Sony tried something similiar with the PS Vita, but failed to make the Vita fully PS3 compatible.
|
02-06-2013, 02:52 PM | #23 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,068
Karma: 23867385
Join Date: Nov 2011
Device: kindle, fire
|
I think Microsoft agrees with you. With the Surface, MS was letting people know what their software was designed for. I would not be surprised if MS continued to manufacture high cost, low volume reference hardware going forward.
@Penforhire, Sony produced very well balanced systems. They gave you enough hardware to run the software they felt was best to do the things people wanted to do with a personal computer. This produced very high customer satisfaction, but the machines were not amazing. Apple's always been pretty amazing. Microsoft will amaze as well. When I used to describe television brands, I would tell people that... 1) Pioneer was the best and priced as such 2) Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony were the second tier 3) Sony was priced between the first and second tier I think Sony thinks that they add value at any given price point in everything they do. |
02-06-2013, 03:04 PM | #24 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,068
Karma: 23867385
Join Date: Nov 2011
Device: kindle, fire
|
BTW, it would not surprise me one bit if Dell ends up being Microsoft's Showcase Brand.
|
02-06-2013, 07:07 PM | #25 |
Surfin the alpha waves ~~
Posts: 24,309
Karma: 459220161
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New Jersey
Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids
|
I suspect the commercial server and server support side of Dell's business is becoming the most important segment of their business -- if it's not there already. I'm guessing that's the biggest reason for Microsoft to be interested.
|
02-06-2013, 07:08 PM | #26 |
Evangelist
Posts: 438
Karma: 3409790
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Maui
Device: kindle
|
Most of us will have a lot of gadgets. I don't intend to give up my HP desktop, which is the easiest way for me to write, or my Kindle, which is the easiest way for me to read, or my tablet which serves other purposes, or my laptops which I use it other situations. I need all this stuff, not to mention the four TVs in my room.
|
02-07-2013, 02:37 AM | #27 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
I currently have 4 Dell PCs - a 12-year-old XP desktop which is still going strong and which I now use as a file server, and three laptops, two of which are in daily use. Far and away my favourite PC brand.
|
02-07-2013, 04:02 AM | #28 |
Scholar
Posts: 1,008
Karma: 3999312
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Denmark
Device: Kobo Libra H2O + iPad Air 4
|
|
02-07-2013, 10:16 PM | #29 |
Well trained by Cats
Posts: 29,820
Karma: 54830978
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The Central Coast of California
Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A
|
4 Dells here (one has a blown PSU. The reason it is not closed back up, is the PSU has a odd/small form factor and I have a normal one hanging outside the case). most are 10 years old
I always bought Optiplex: the 'business' quality line. |
02-08-2013, 02:22 PM | #30 | |||||
Grand Master of Flowers
Posts: 2,201
Karma: 8389072
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Naptown
Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
But I think that a lot of the idea behind this is that Dell is very undervalued (which I can sort of see - $24B for a company as ubiquitous as Dell does seem surprisingly low (without doing any research)). Quote:
Dell really was a leader in the configure-on-the-Internet-and-order model of buying computers; I think their ultimate problem is that they basically turned into - on the consumer side - a purveyor of commodity laptops at the $500 level, and their attempts to take their laptops upscale or to expand into other consumer goods failed. Quote:
But I think that's largely true of their consumer computers, too - Dell didn't run into problems because the computers weren't reliable; they ran into problems because their computers were perfectly functional low end laptops: somewhat clunky, somewhat heavy, with and indifferent (but functional) keyboard and a low end (but functional) monitor. |
|||||
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Dell Streak 7 | lglake | Feedback | 2 | 07-24-2011 08:11 AM |
Dell Streak for $199 no contract from Dell. | travfar | Android Devices | 6 | 03-22-2011 10:35 AM |
The Dell Streak | PDowns | News | 10 | 08-13-2010 11:47 PM |
Anyone using the Dell Streak? | HansTWN | Android Devices | 3 | 07-12-2010 09:19 PM |