Dell further clarifies how and where it's dropping AMD

So we just got off the phone with Dell's reps, and they told us that Dell remains committed to AMD -- which has been their message for most of the day, following the graphic above popping up yesterday on Dell.com that said AMD machines were only available at retail. That's still pretty murky, so we pressed a little harder and got some more details:

• It's not at all clear why the AMD graphic went up -- Dell's still trying to figure it out, but they've pulled it for now.
• That said, AMD-powered consumer machines will only be in stores from now on, except for the Energy Star-compliant Inspiron D531 desktop and the soon-to-be-canceled Inspiron 1501 notebook.
• AMD-powered business machines in the OptiPlex, Vostro, and Latitude lines will still be available online.
  
• Dell is "sincere" when it says that this is all the result of trying to figure out the best product mix for consumers -- it's only been in retail since May, and it's trying to find "the best way to get products to people in the way people want them."
• They wouldn't explain why consumers wouldn't want to continue to get AMD-powered machines online, but told us that "anything could happen." That seems pretty duplicitous to us, actually -- they've clearly taken choices away from their customers with this move, and trying to patch things up with vague future possibilities doesn't change that.
  
• The Inspiron 1526 laptop was specifically cited as proof of Dell's commitment to AMD, since it's a mainstream laptop that's basically the same as the Intel-based 1525. Of course, it's almost impossible to find a 1526 for under $800, while the 1525 starts at $499; wait, isn't AMD supposed to be the budget option?
  
• Dell is selling AMD machines in 10,000 stores worldwide, which they also cited as proof of their commitment. However, when you search for AMD models like the 1526 on Dell.com (cap below), there's zero information available, which doesn't seem like real commitment to us -- but what do we know?

• We asked if Dell would ever use a more powerful AMD chip like the Phenoms, and got a "no comment."
• Of the laptops being pulled from the Dell site, we were told that "we're talking about one desktop and two laptops here," which seems like a pretty dismissive way to downplay what's clearly a net negative for Dell's customers and a totally bungled product reshuffle.
  

So that's that -- we're still half-convinced that something deep went down yesterday, but for now all you really need to know is that Dell basically botched the execution in deciding that AMD will be de-emphasized and made part of its lower-end offline sales. Maybe things will change if AMD ever gets its house back in order, but we'll see how that plays out in the future.

[Kasi Viswanath @ Feb 8th 2008 8:15PM]

AMD's with Dell were a very good low cost options! I would guess that, they (Dell) would continue to offer customers this choice,

[Michael Nelson @ Feb 8th 2008 10:44PM]

Well said.

[Toadlet @ Feb 8th 2008 8:25PM]

I suspect (if they aren't ditching AMD completely, that is) that they diverted so much of their AMD inventory to cheap retail sales, (hello = brand awareness) that they are unable to stock online as well. No matter what, though, they still screwed it up.

[Allen @ Feb 8th 2008 8:32PM]

Or maybe the AMD products have proven to be unreliable and are creating too many support calls?

[Pastry Chef @ Feb 8th 2008 8:45PM]

I picked up a Vostro 1000 with Athlon64 X2 for $400 a few months back and think it's great. I don't think any dual core Intel laptops can come close to this price. I hope they continue to offer products based on AMD's chips.

[Former Dell Rep @ Feb 8th 2008 8:52PM]

What probably happened is the AMD's aren't selling well in the notebook segment. Main reason for that is that the Intel chips were generally an easy Margin Rich upsell and we almost never sold an AMD processor. This most likely is not reflective of quality just reflective of what Dell seemed to push as "the best" or "better" on the website.

[Crystal Watkins @ Feb 8th 2008 10:48PM]

What are you talking about? AMD practically paid us to push their processors over Intel machines.

[Russell @ Feb 8th 2008 8:52PM]

It's business... You don't want to market yourself as the web-order direct sales custom computer maker, and then compete with your exact same models in retail. You also don't want people taking the price in the retail store and getting the same model online for less or seeing it sell for less online after they bought it and taking it back to retail.

It makes sense to partition off the low end pre packaged desktops and laptops as amd only models and only available in retail with their separate model numbers etc.

If that's what you want for that price you HAVE to buy it there on the spot at retail so it should help prop up retail volume. You now lose the customer who goes online to check it out and ends up maybe with a dell or maybe not. Either way it's a lose situation for the retail department/partners.

So yeah, makes sense.

[Maestro @ Feb 8th 2008 9:04PM]

I bought a 531s with the AMD 64x2 (4000 I think) and installed Windows Home Server on it. The machine was under 300 bucks and the WHS was like 160 from New Egg...Built a very cheap, very fast WHS box. Thank you Dell.

[CraigJ @ Feb 8th 2008 11:54PM]

I've purchased many Dells over the years, and just recently an Intel based workstation and an AMD based laptop. Both are decent machines for the money, but frankly, Dell's recent levels (or actually, lack of) of customer service and technical support, as well as their lame support and customer service policies are so horrendous, that I don't really care about their product offerings any longer. For the price I'd be better off getting my components from Newegg and building my own machines, because it's not like you get any help from Dell if you have any "real" problems. What happened to you guys?

[m-p{3} @ Feb 9th 2008 12:02AM]

I have an AMD CPU, and I think it's great for it's price.

[bob @ Feb 9th 2008 12:56AM]

Dell guy: Shoulda gotten a Dell!

me: *Contemptuous stare over ThinkPad's lid.
Sorry, I'm enjoying my MOBILITY, my DECENT batter life, DURABILITY, and ease of HARDWARE access.

Critical Hit! Dell guy -50 HP!

Seriously guys, I've done work on Dells (Latitudes mostly) and I am DAMN glad my machine is a Thinky.

[Thierry Fortier @ Feb 9th 2008 2:22AM]

weird... in all 3d shop and post-production facility I worked, its all Dell workstation. 24h service on site is perfect! they are good computer.

[bob @ Feb 9th 2008 2:23AM]

You try taking one apart...especially a laptop.

[Matt @ Feb 9th 2008 4:46AM]

I have tried taking one apart. My Dell Dimension desktop has neat and well thought out cabling, a hot-swap style drive bay, as well as the case being the easiest I've ever opened-pull on the slider on top and the side pops off. It also has plenty off free expansion slots, both PCI and PCIe, and two free RAM slots. Laptops-they're designed to be compact and light, so making them easy to open and modify inside would add weight and size.

[Nick @ Feb 9th 2008 1:42PM]

i've taken apart my thinkpad T60, it was an exciting adventure to see that beast inside. I manged to get it back together with no 'bonus parts' left over!

[bob @ Feb 9th 2008 3:21PM]

Desktops are very different than laptops. Desktops are designed to be taken apart and upgraded and what not. Laptops aren't. But ThinkPads are very easy to open up and clean or add and remove stuff. Latitudes and whatnot AREN'T. It was a bitch just getting the keyboard connector off, let alone actual work. Not only that, but the keyboards aren't sealed, so there was a bunch of hair and crumbs and whatnot inside the machine, as compared to the Thinkpad's sealed keyboard, where I've only had crumbs and debris in the water drainage system. (Thinkpads have water proof keyboards up to 200 mL or something, any liquid poured onto the keyboard trickles out of the bottom of the machine through several conduits)

[Simon @ Feb 9th 2008 3:24PM]

apple still pwns :p

[Peter @ Feb 9th 2008 5:19AM]

Only available through retail yet Dell is closing 140 retail shops throughout the US!!

[Simon @ Feb 9th 2008 3:27PM]

you can buy a dell in any big box retailer or independent store.

[mojohat @ Feb 9th 2008 11:06AM]

Correction Peter. Dell is closing "140" KIOSKS, not retail stores. This is smart because now they have their product all over the US with Best Buy (Retail). No more need for kiosks. The only thing the kiosks did for the consumer was to let them touch and feel the product and maybe get a "discount" when ordering through the onsite sales rep. And if people want to complain that they cant customize their system at the Retail stores, then tough, go online and do it yourself. Its not the end of the world, right?

[mike j @ Feb 9th 2008 7:33AM]

I am far from a business nor PC expert but here is my 2 cents. It could be that Dell has realized they got into featuring AMD processors at just the wrong time & are now taking steps to rectify the mistake. "PC World" reports in the most recent issue that the new AMD Phenom chips perform only a bit faster than Intel Core 2 Duo chips, though costing a lot more. If Amd CPUs are neither faster nor cheaper, where is the benefit?? So this could be the first step toward returning to being an Inte-only shop. & BTW, I like AMD stuff & want them to succeed, even if just to prevent an Intel monopoly.

[matt @ Feb 9th 2008 8:18AM]

You're joking, right bob?

I've been in the laptop repair business for over 6 years.
Dell laptops are far and away the easiest to disassemble and re-assemble of any brand. IBMs are not anywhere close. Bottom of the list: SONY and Alienware.

As to the article? This guy must have a grudge against Dell or something.

[Wes Palmer @ Feb 9th 2008 6:13PM]

Umm... isn't Alienware from Dell? Or at least owned by them?

[Wes Palmer @ Feb 9th 2008 6:15PM]

Yeah, it is, here's their press release:

http://www.alienware.com/press_release_pages/press_release_template.aspx?FileName=press032206_aw.asp

[Matt @ Feb 10th 2008 10:37AM]

Well maybe Dell will straighten them out then. ;)

[MarvinK @ Feb 9th 2008 11:33AM]

Dell definitely timed their entry into the AMD market poorly. I've been an AMD fan for a long time, and there just hasn't been much reason to buy AMD for quite a while. Too bad Dell wasn't listening to customers back when AMD has some substantial price/performance benefits.

[Ian Greulich @ Feb 9th 2008 12:30PM]

AMD didn't break ATI. They can only fix it.

[Small Biz Tech Talk Blog @ Feb 9th 2008 10:05PM]

Hopefully even as Dell re-envisions its own business model (including the new partner program and its relationships with solution providers and home and business users) it will continue to offer some low-cost options to all types of users. I think the new model is creating interesting opportunities for not only Dell but other computer businesses in the industry, and I would hope this will serve to strengthen and diversify options.

http://www.smallbiztechtalk.com/blog/

[LJ @ Feb 9th 2008 1:28PM]

AMD or Intel, they both are cool. What sucks, is Dell!

[Simon @ Feb 9th 2008 3:29PM]

dells work just as well as thinkpads and they are cheaper. the only disadvantage is that they are not as durable. my school uses dell and they work fine. neither can compete with the macbook pro however...

[Simon @ Feb 9th 2008 3:29PM]

dells work just as well as thinkpads and they are cheaper. the only disadvantage is that they are not as durable. my school uses dell and they work fine. neither can compete with the macbook pro however...

[Steven Lustig @ Feb 9th 2008 7:51PM]

While AMD is a great budget option and a great chip, perhaps their reason for ditching it is because the Intel/AMD option just confuses consumers. There's enough choices already, and most consumers want you to just tell them what to buy.

Perhaps Dell should *only* sell AMD in their budget machines, and *only* sell Intel in their higher end machines...