Dell PCs to be never knowingly undersold by John Lewis this Chrimbo Dell is to go head-to-head with Apple, HP and Lenovo for the affections of computer-seeking shoppers this Christmas - the XPS range will be never knowingly undersold to the middle classes by John Lewis. Sarah Shields, exec director and UK GM for channel and distribution claimed Dell could not afford to ignore the retail …
Very much still a consumer market. Samsung, Sony et al have probably withdrawn because they can no longer sell mid range tat for premium prices...
Dell will hopefully learn lessons here. As someone mentiomed if they sort the pricing out they might do well...
They also need to resolve some quirks with specs. Especially in the 15 inch area.
Dell knows thats the size most dumb consumers tend to want to buy and thats reflected in the generally trashy specs.
Who wants a 1366x768 15" display with 2GB RAM and an i3 for £400? Raise your hands!
A solid 12" Core-M, a reasonable i5 15" and a balls on 17" i7 and consumers are set.
All with minimum 1080p screens.
I was in the market for a laptop a few months back. Dell's XPS 13 was on the shortlist, but I had to discount it, partially because it was expensive and partially because you can't get it in any shops, which means you can't try it out. Unlike with desktop PCs, you really need to get your hands on a laptop to judge the build quality, how the keyboard feels, how good the screen is etc. OK, so the reviews rave about the XPS 13 but for the money I didn't feel tempted to take the jump blindly.
So I bought an Asus UX305 and I've been very happy with it. It has a few niggles, mainly not having home/end/pgup/pgdown keys (yet they keep the rarely used pause/break and print screen keys, not to mention the MS menu key....
As it turns out I bought it in John Lewis. There's something to be said about shops where you can see the product you're about to buy, and as long as the price is competitive, they'll get the sale.
(in the states)
Their pricing is no better here, I'm afraid. Same crap specs for inflated prices.
I recently went through a round in trying to find a good ultrabook at an affordable price.
Big discounter Costco had the new Asus UX 303UB for $1,000 on discount. This was an i7 Skylake, 512 2.5 SSD and 12 GB RAM, coupled with a 950 Nvidia 2GB graphics card, QHD screen.
Unfortunately the build quality was not that great. Screen wobbled, way too much glare for the touch screen and the chassis was uneven. Took it back disappointed.
Ordered an XPS13. i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB HD. Matte screen. $1,000. Upgrading the drive or proc was another $300 each. So I settled for stock.
But low and behold, HP released their ENVY 13T. Customizable in every way for reasonable pricing. Add in a coupon and it was unbeatable. Canceled the Dell order post haste.
ENVY: i7, 128SSD, FHD screen, $932. However, with coupon and after tax, delivered to my door for $850. Either way, a better spec and deal than the Dell.
Just my example, but there is no way Dell is going to beat HP or Lenovo this Winter unless they start lowering their prices.
Verily he was filled with woe. For he realized the error of his ways. His words, whilst ringing true, were misspoken and presented in the manner of an uncultured commoner.
Realizing what he had wrought upon himself, he slopped through the mire and filth, head held despondently, and entered that den of evil to drown his shame in the Devils fire.
With a forlorn look over his shoulder, he beheld The Kings appointed grammar baron and spoke, "I salute you sir! Please look on me with favor upon our next encounter!"
No, the pricing IS much better in the US - you may not consider it to be good, but it's still vastly better than here. I'm typing this on a (lovely) Dell Chromebook 13 but it pained me greatly to have to pay the same figure as the US price but with a £ sign in front.
On the other hand, it's a very nicely made machine with a great screen and quality feel which does exactly what I want fantastically well and is still half the price of the closest Apple product (which it's replacing.) I for one would rather Dell kept their current quality than cut their costs - there are some pretty cheap HP laptops out there right now but they also feel it. (I've also found Dell consistently massively better to deal with than HP on warranty issues on everything from cheap laptops to very expensive servers.)
In summary - just stop the blatant USD=GBP rip-off and I'll be very happy.
As a consumer (are many of us not), John Lewis seem to have pretty good prices (not the lowest, but then at least you know who you are handing your CC over to), seem to extend warranties to make up for part of that, but importantly don't quibble about warranties and get of their arses and collect/fix. Two recent examples, a Sony television (lovely picture, shame it stopped working) and a Lenovo laptop. Both collected, repaired/replaced with little hassle.
I don't have a financial interest, but maybe a little extra cash to get a better service is sometimes worth it?
If you buy a HP, then you like drinking pee.
If you buy a Dell, then people think you smell.
If you use Yahoo, then you haven't got a clue.
If you buy a Sony, then your life is sad and lonely.
Using Microsoft? Then your marbles you have lost.
And if you own a Mac, then the world will love you back.
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