Dell confirms XPS m1330 and Inspiron laptops -- and 22 other "confessions"

Dell has a new post titled "Dell's 23 confessions" up on their official Direct2Dell blog. The fact that Dell's Digital Media Manager, Lionel Menchaca apologizes for some embarrassingly public missteps made recently makes the piece worthy on its own. However, one of our favorite disclosures has to be confession number 9 where Dell confirms both the new XPS m1330 and Inspiron series of laptops coming "later this month." We must say, Dell's frank, open discussion with the consumer community is certainly refreshing and -- for good or for bad -- stands in stark contrast to the brutal, one-way flow of information out of Apple. Speaking of which, confession number 19 states, "If Steve Jobs ever changes his tune on OS X, we'd probably offer it too." Not that that's going to happen mind you.

[Thanks, CR H.]

[bob e @ Jun 17th 2007 10:16AM]

I'd LOVE that m1330...

[Matt O @ Jun 17th 2007 10:17AM]

that left one is pretty sexy.

[strider_mt2k @ Jun 17th 2007 10:23AM]

I'd hit any of 'em, I'm running a b130 portable.
It's a surprising machine, but it's the equivalent of driving past a new shiny car dealer in a '01 Hyundai.

[Adam @ Jun 17th 2007 10:40AM]

Will there be an m1337 model?

[Zadillo @ Jun 17th 2007 10:44AM]

Bravo on turning a Dell story about them trying to make up for a bad PR fiasco into an anti-Apple story!

[John Doe @ Jun 17th 2007 11:57AM]

Hey fanboi. Get bent. The truth is the truth no matter how ugly it is. At the end of the day Apple's business practices are troll ugly, all based around one madman's super inflated ego.

[Zadillo @ Jun 17th 2007 12:01PM]

Yes, Apple's business practices are terrible compared to Dell's. I've seen the light. And Steve Jobs is a "madman"; check.

My point of course was that this is an article about Dell's PR fiasco, and it has somehow been turned into an opportunity to criticize Apple even though they have nothing to do with this.

[Mike D @ Jun 17th 2007 1:40PM]

I love Apple: I am typing this response on a MacBook Pro. Having said that, Dell really does seem to do a better job of listening to its customers. They're apologizing for their missteps (even if it is just spin) and acknowledging their customers' needs instead of telling them what their needs are.

[Dan @ Jun 17th 2007 11:16AM]

23 Confessions now, god get it right haha

[Sreyan Sarkar @ Jun 17th 2007 11:08PM]

1 + 22 Others = 23.

[Chuckles McGee @ Jun 17th 2007 11:30AM]

I wish they would confess the specs, price and release date of that ultra slick tablet they showed off.

[Stan Winstone @ Jun 17th 2007 11:59AM]

How is holding some surprises back and releasing products when they're actually ready "brutal?" Longhorn anyone?

[G Allen @ Jun 17th 2007 12:02PM]

Hmmm, I'm skeptical of Mr. Menchaca's post, and his sincerity, and the count of "confessions" he offers. This article reads like it was vetted by a PR agency and perhaps Michael Dell, and I wonder if Mr. Menchaca was a journalist specifically hired to take the heat and quell the Fires of Screwup.

Yes, there's some flavor of Mea Culpa, but nothing that I'd truly call candor - more like acknowledgement that Dell has made customers angry. And guess what: We Already Know That Lionel.

So don't give us fluffy apologies. Give us real details. Calling those 23 items "confessions" is further evidence that the Dell corporation sees consumers as malleable sheep.

Telling us where coupons are posted (#18 and #21) isn't a confession.

Telling us that DellConnect has a 93% satisfaction rate (#7) isn't a confession.

Telling us how to use E-value codes (#17) isn't a confession.

Telling us that you make a mountaineering-ready laptop (#14) isn't a confession.

Telling us that the company promotes environmentalism (#8) isn't a confession.

C'mon, 2/3rds of those confessions really ain't.

It's long overdue that there is acknowledgment of missteps, but this MARKETING RHETORIC is far too little, far too sanitized and far too scripted. This post reeks of damage control, not repentance.

Shame on you Lionel. When you and Dell want to get real, it would be welcome. But when you offer marketing spin in confessional clothing, you hurt your own name and do nothing to improve Dell's.

[Zadillo @ Jun 17th 2007 12:19PM]

Well, of course it's marketing rhetoric........... the "23 Confessions" are basically a marketing response to the original set of "confessions". Not sure why that should be surprising, and it's not like they are making that a secret (the opener explains how it is Dell's own set of "confessions" that they want to make).

[G Allen @ Jun 17th 2007 12:57PM]

My complaint isn't exactly that his confessions aren't really confessions. The problem is that he starts with "I'm Sorry" but then degrades into pure advertising. That's really beyond disingenuous.

[Brian @ Jun 17th 2007 1:36PM]

It would be better if they confessed to actually doing what they confessed to say they were doing.

I see no evidence that they learnt from this as they are still requesting a takedown.

A case of PR, Legal and bum fluff all in the same mouth.

[Richard @ Jun 17th 2007 1:31PM]

Eric,
ben didnt send the post. Google and technorati tools work fine for me. We, Dell, proactively follow conversations and posts about us and join to the conversations to learn more and keep up to speed with customer feedback, or offer our point of view. I appreciated yours and wanted to fill you in on where we were at on the issue

[LTM @ Jun 17th 2007 5:00PM]

The only thing I give two monkeys about is are these new models a big improvement over the previous generation and will there be any dell value coupons going for the 1330 as well as the new 1420 inspiron model because I need to update two laptops. Everything else to me about the above story is nothing more than fodder for the cannon, but hey, it's Sunday, and I'm in a selfish fathers day mood.

[Roger Anderson @ Jun 17th 2007 5:32PM]

I'm still working off of a 10 year-old Lattitude! (See http://www.modernmagellans.com/2007/06/10_years_and_it_still_runs.html) Dell may not be very friendly but their laptops have been durable. My son's HP went down after 9 months a and a friends Mac Laptop after 10 months.

So, a product that works, to me is the best customer service

[Ami Schreiber @ Jun 17th 2007 5:51PM]

Any info on internal optical drive? I know it's an ultraportable but I would love to see the 1330 come with a slot-loading DVD-RW or BlueRay drive.

[twocargar @ Jun 17th 2007 6:20PM]

I don't think Apple's gonna license their OS, especially to you, Dell! Don't you remember? You said Apple should fold up shop and give the money back to their shareholders back in 1997 (http://news.com.com/Dell+Apple+should+close+shop/2100-1001_3-203937.html)

[John Doe @ Jun 17th 2007 12:58PM]

1997 isn't 2007 you idiot. Apple was sucking ass back in '97. OS X was still a buggy piece if crap beta back in '97.

[Sparks @ Jun 17th 2007 2:31PM]

More to the point, Apple's unlikely to license the OS to third-party hardware manufacturers without some seriously strong restrictions. Part of the whole reason Apple can make an OS which crashes less often is that they rigidly control the hardware.

On a PC, you can have all kinds of cheap random hardware from all over -- random generic $4 sound-card from Taiwan! -- and the drivers can be of really, really varying quality. This is a headache for Windows, because there's no way Microsoft can actually do a really intensive code-review on every driver out there. And plenty of drivers do have issues, especially in combination with other hardware. It is better than it was, but still a mess.

On a Mac, Apple controls the hardware so they can do far, far, more work on ensuring the drivers are really solid. It's easier to keep, say, 14 different sound driver options straight than 14,000 or whatever.

So even aside from the fact that Apple is a hardware company themselves, I don't see Apple licensing OS X to *anyone* without some serious restrictions on what hardware can be involved. And that wouldn't fly on desktop PCs, to say the least! It might be workable on laptops, but I can't imagine it would sit well with most laptop manufacturers.

[twocargar @ Jun 17th 2007 6:29PM]

John Doe: OS X didn't wasn't released until 2001, and was in beta in 1999. (http://www.kernelthread.com/mac/osx/history.html)

Get your facts straight before you call anyone an idiot.

My comment was simply saying Dell has changed its tune toward Apple in the last 10 years. Did I strike a nerve or something?

Sparks: You are right on.

[Joshua @ Jun 17th 2007 7:59PM]

I think I'm going to try to get an XPS m1330 for college in the fall. I was originally going to wait for the next (the real) Macbook update in the fall, but this Dell seems to have better specs sooner, and will be out during the fall. The design is really what got me interested in it, though.

[Joshua @ Jun 17th 2007 8:06PM]

Tch...I meant the Dell will be out during the summer, not the fall, so I'll be able to get one before classes start up again.

[Mohamad @ Jun 17th 2007 11:15PM]

I bought my first Dell in 1996 after working all summer, not playing with my friends, and saving everything I earned when I was 14 years old. It was a Dell Dimension XPS P200s- it was beautiful and it was worth every penny. Just like many of your other customers I became a Dell salesman to other members of my family because of the QUALITY of your products. I probably made you tens of thousands of dollars.
Sadly, Dell became a greedy Fortune 500 corporation and lost its way.
My biggest complaint: You outsourced AMERICAN jobs to INDIA (At a time when Americans need new [non-minimum wage] jobs). As a result you screwed your loyal customers just to save a few bucks. You delivered an INFERIOR product - and look what it cost you, you are now number two behind HP (I started buying HP around the time you started to suck hardcore).
When I call Nintendo (you know, the Japanese Corporation, Nintendo) the tech support is polite, well spoken AMERICANS. They don’t mind paying Americans 20 dollars an hour, because they respect their customers. Can I just ask what the hell is wrong with you people?
Let me digress briefly - your greedy and deceitful policies speak to a larger problem in this country:
I grew up in Dearborn, Michigan; as you may all know, the once almighty Ford Motor Corporation is centered here. The Rouge plant was once the largest factory on the planet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Rouge_Plant.
It was a testament to American ingenuity and vision. Ford invented the 5 dollar day and invented the American middle class. The same American middle class that is now under siege.
I am aware that the poor management of the Big Three after WW II is responsible for their fortunes. However, let me say that every other greedy corporation that outsourced hard working American labor and EXPLOITS the impoverished people of INDIA AND CHINA, erodes the American middle class. Why? All so that Michael Dell can be worth 15.8 billion rather than what? 12 billion? 10 billion? How many billions does he need? How many millions of loyal Americans must he RIP-OFF? How many thousands of Dell employees must he LAYOFF?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18967391/
When we call tech support and can’t understand the person we are being robbed; we are not receiving the quality of service that we paid our hard earned money for. All potential Dell customers should remember that. Dell management including Lionel Menchaca, Digital Media Manager is just a bunch of thieves in suits. Digital Media Manager = Minister of Propaganda
PS I doubt that fat pig Michael Dell ever considers anything that doesn’t make him a profit. And before you talk about all the millions he donates to charity…THAT’S A TAX WRITE OFF.
I’m not a very good writer, but I hope people can see my point of view

[Mohamad @ Jun 17th 2007 11:18PM]

Thats what I posted on the direct2dell website but it didn't post because of censorship. If I'm so wrong, why won't Dell let the people decide?

[EagleEyez @ Jun 18th 2007 2:56PM]

how about we get back on topic and bass in the glory that is the xps1330

[Austin @ Jun 18th 2007 1:45AM]

Dear Apple and Dell Enthusiasts. perhaps we can find common ground and not break out to bitterest emnity by realizing this universal truth and bonding through it: HP, Compaq & Lenovo Suck!

[Lionel M. @ Jun 18th 2007 2:25AM]

G Allen: I respect your opinion, and wanted to take a couple of minutes to respond to some things you said. I'm not a journalist. I've been running Direct2Dell since we launched it. In the blog post, I was simply trying to react to a negative situation that we inadvertently created. It was a mistake and I tried to admit that as clearly as possible.

As far as the confessions, I tried to make a least some of them interesting to our readers. Some may not have been worth your time, but I hope that some of them were.

I'm sure many Engadget readers are already familiar with E-Value codes and coupons. I included things like that since some folks in the blogosphere felt that we were trying to hide those things from customers, and that's simply not the case.

I also tried to lighten things up just a bit. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't.

Thanks,

Lionel Menchaca
www.direct2dell

[Coder @ Jun 18th 2007 7:08PM]

Dell sales reps need to be read up on Mr. Dell's comments. Even before I knew about this latest drama at Dell, I tried to purchase a laptop and was told to look elsewhere.

I called Dell today to see if I could order a laptop with Linux instead of a of a Microsoft OS. I was told no, Microsoft was the only choice of operating systems. I asked if I could buy a laptop without a OS and I would load my own. Again I was told, I can not purchase a laptop or any PC or server without a Microsofdt operationg system loaded from Dell. I told the Dell sales rep if I could not order Microsoft free product I would purchase elsewhere. He said "then look elsewhere". So I ordered a MAC Pro laptop a few minutes later. I think Michel Dell would be interested in knowing their sales reps are not up to speed and costing sales.