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Dell plans to close its Winston-Salem, N.C. factory and lay off about 905 employees by January, the company has confirmed. The first 600 employees will be released next month, the Round Rock company said. The company said the closure is part of an effort directed at "simplifying operations and improving efficiency."

Dell plans to close its computer manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem by January, and lay off 905 employees. Dell opened the assembly plant in 2005 and was offered a massive incentives package valued at $305 million if it met hiring and investment goals. The project was seen as a major economic development victory by supporters and a huge waste of taxpayer money by critics. About 600 workers at the plant will be let go next month, Dell announced this afternoon. The rest will be out of work by early next year. The closure of the Forsyth County plant is part of...

The Dell V305 printer came with my new Dell computer (Vista Home Premium OS). The printer works okay but there are times when it will not print documents from the computer. I get a pop up that says the computer is not communicating with the printer even though everything is plugged in properly and the settings have not been touched. I have heard that this happens with the V305. It has wireless capabilities but I use the USB option instead. If you had to choose another printer that does not fail you, what would it be? Would need a printer/copier/scanner...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Computer giant Dell announced on Monday it has acquired computer services firm Perot Systems, founded by Texas billionaire Ross Perot, for 3.9 billion dollars. "Dell and Perot Systems have entered a definitive agreement for Dell to acquire Perot Systems in a transaction valued at approximately 3.9 billion dollars," Dell said in a statement. Terms of the agreement were approved on Sunday by the boards of directors of both companies, it said. Dell, which is seeking to buy all ordinary shares of Perot Systems at 30 dollars a share, hopes to complete the deal by the end of...

NEW YORK — Dell Inc. plans to buy the technology services company Perot Systems Corp. for about $3.9 billion as it tries to expand beyond the PC business and compete more aggressively with Hewlett-Packard Co. — which also recently bought a tech-services company founded by H. Ross Perot. Dell said it will offer $30 per share in cash for Perot Systems_ a 68 percent premium over its closing price Friday. Perot Systems' shares rose $11.73, or 65 percent, to $29.64 in morning trading. Dell shares fell 80 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $15.89. Former presidential candidate H. Ross Perot...

<p>Dell's release slipped out about three minutes before the market closed Thursday, giving the company's shares a boost of 98 cents, or 6.7%, to end at $15.65. The stock topped $16 ahead of Friday's opening bell.</p> <p>Really? You sure about that Marketwatch?</p>

I think we can finally put a certain myth to rest that's been circling around the web for a while now. Microsoft often claimed that netbooks running Linux saw higher return rates than those running Windows, but according to Dell, this is utter nonsense. Todd Finch, Dell senior product marketing manager, spoke at OpenSource World, and in his talk he made it quite clear that Dell's Ubuntu netbooks see no higher return rates than the Windows variants, calling it a 'non-issue'. "They are making something of nothing," he said of Microsoft's claims.

This year, Acer appears poised to overtake Dell as the world’s second-largest seller of personal computers, which would put a real dent into one of America’s favorite dorm-to-empire business stories. And if this comes to pass, Acer would trail only Hewlett-Packard; no computer company based outside the United States has ever climbed so high.

Macs are often criticized for the high price of their hardware. This so-called Apple tax is the premium that Apple computers usually cost over comparably equipped PCs. But since the company dropped prices on its laptop line Monday, that difference is now smaller than ever. Of course, Mac enthusiasts might even say the Apple tax never existed, since no MacBook Pro competitor has the aluminum unibody construction or multi-touch track pad that the MacBook Pro does. In any case, I’ve been playing with the numbers, and I’ve noticed something interesting: When the newest 13-inch MacBook Pro is configured with similar...

Dell has seen its latest quarterly profits decline by almost two-thirds as the worldwide recession continues to hit sales of computers. The world's second-largest maker of personal computers made a net profit of $290m (£182m) in the three months to 1 May, down 63% from $784m a year ago. Revenues at the firm fell 23% to $12.3bn. However the results were better than analysts had feared. Dell said the global trading environment remained "challenging". 'Cutting costs' Dell has already moved to cut costs in the face of falling sales, reducing its global workforce by more than 9,000 positions over the...

I jsut yesterday purchased a Dell Studio 17 (S1737) laptop computer with Windows Vista(x64)Home Premium factory installed. Upon starting it for the first time, I went through the usual info entry bits and pieces, and Windows Update wanted to install a bunch of updates... It went through the process quite normally; however, upon restart, Windows BSOD'ed me and the system went through an extensive attempt to do a startup repair... I had to restore Dell factory settings and such and it will now still not allow the updates to work without the BSOD reappearing and having to do the whole...

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Computer maker Dell Inc. (DELL) (DELL), trailing Hewlett-Packard Co. in worldwide sales, could have used a home run at the International Consumer Electronics Show. Instead, it came to Vegas with a model and a mirage. At a news conference Friday, Dell executives said the company would launch a luxury line of computers under the brand name Adamo. A model stood and removed a thin, black laptop from a bag and posed "Project Runway" style for a scrum of photographers. She did not turn on the computer, and Dell gave no details about what's under the hood....

Michael Dell spent the past 21 months cutting employees, slashing costs and reshaping Dell Inc. to make it more competitive in a changing personal-computer marketplace. Now, with a brutal economy forcing customers to cut back on technology spending, he's turning to his workers for more help. In a memo Monday, Dell asked employees throughout the company to consider taking off as many as five days without pay over the next three months. In addition, he said, the company would institute a hiring freeze, scale back some projects, offer voluntary severance packages and cut many of its contract workers.

In a memo Monday, Dell asked employees throughout the company to consider taking off as many as five days without pay over the next three months. In addition, he said, the company would institute a hiring freeze, scale back some projects, offer voluntary severance packages and cut many of its contract workers.

When Dolly Parton speaks people listen. At least that's what opponents to an upcoming Federal Communications Commission vote on opening up "white space" spectrum hope. Earlier this week, country western star Dolly Parton sent a letter to the FCC asking the agency to delay its vote to open up the unused spectrum for unlicensed use. "As someone who uses the white spaces and knows the value of them for the work that I and many of my friends around the country, I ask the FCC to recognize the entertainment industry's valuable contribution to the cultural life," Parton wrote in her...

Excerpt - Dell Inc. is trying to sell its computer factories around the world, a move to sharply overhaul a production model that was long a hallmark of the PC giant's strategy but is no longer competitive. In recent months, according to people familiar with the matter, Dell has approached contract computer manufacturers with offers to sell the plants. One person briefed on the plan said he expects the company to sell most -- and possibly all -- of its factories "within the next 18 months." Other factories could close, this person said. Dell would enter into agreements with the...

From the "who needs a pre-load when you're embedded" files: Dude - if you're getting a Dell then you're getting Linux. No you don't have to order one of those fancy Ubuntu pre-load deals. This is an embedded Linux that will be available on a whole bunch of new Dell Latitude laptops in a feature called Latitude ON. This is a feature that uses an embedded Linux to allow for instant on access to email, calendar and Internet.

<p>Would you pay extra to have an American answer your customer-service call? Dell is hoping you will.</p> <p>The computer maker recently put out a press release announcing “new premium support service.” The plan: For a fee, people get the right to talk to “the same dedicated team each time they have an issue” with a Dell product. The kicker: The service will be provided by “an advanced support team in North America.”</p>

OTTAWA -- Employees at Dell Canada's Ottawa operation learned Wednesday morning that the customer contact centre - once one of the city's fastest growing employers - will close its doors. More than 1,100 employees will lose their jobs. Only about 100 of the site's employees walked out of the morning's meeting with a job. They will remain in Ottawa to support the computer maker's sales division. "It's surreal, but there have been signs along the way," said one employee, who did not want to give his name. Some of the job cuts are immediate, while others will be phased out...

I just got a Dell laptop Latitude. I've never owned a laptop before. Can I literally use it on my lap? I heard the bottom gets hot? Does it get so hot that it can discolor my furniture? When I'm not using it for business, I'll have it connected to my tv. Can I just leave it plugged in with no adverse effect, or am I supposed to unplug it when not in use. (Seems like Dell would ship some kind of owner's manual with it, doesn't it?) thanx

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc (DELL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it plans to save $3 billion annually over the next three years by closing its Austin, Texas desktop computer manufacturing plant and cutting thousands of jobs. The company's shares rose 1.1 percent following the announcement after closing up 1.6 percent on Nasdaq. Dell, the world's second-largest PC maker after Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research), also repeated its goal of cutting 8,800 jobs, or about 10 percent of the work force, and said it will review "ownership alternatives" for its Dell Financial Services business. The company said...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Dell Inc (NasdaqGS:DELL - News) plans to buy $23 billion of components from China this year and $29 billion in 2009, helping it reduce costs while the company's main market, the United States, is facing recession. The commoditization of computer hardware means competition is more a function of price and efficiency than quality and branding, making China a favorite place to source a broad range of goods, including electronic components.

I'm looking at laptops and like Dell. I just bought an Optiplex desktop and like it fine. The laptop I'm considering is the Dell XPS M1530 with the following features: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5450 (2MB cache/1.66GHz/667Mhz FSB) Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch LCD (1280x800) & 2.0 MP Camera Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write) 1GB1 Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms) Size: 120GB2 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS High Definition Audio 2.0 Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery I'm not into...

Round Rock (TX) – Still think that Dell is dropping AMD? Think again: TG Daily got to the bottom of the Dell/AMD rumors and discovered that Dell is far from dropping its AMD line-up. In fact, there will be a surprise in new products scheduled for a global launch next week, on February 19. Dell has developed a new line of AMD-based machines for businesses under the OptiPlex brand. At first sight, you won’t see a lot of changes from the old Dimensions C and E series, which were the first AMD system from Dell. The new features are under...

I may be replacing my computer. The wife's company offers them to employees at a discount. I don't play games. Just word processing and transferring massive amounts of graphics. They come with Vista so I want something with 2 gigs of RAM. What about their video? They say it's integrated (separate video card is an upgrade). Does that work for you? Opinions of Dell? thanx.

Excerpt - DALLAS (AP) — Dell Inc. has stopped selling many computers with processors from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on its Web site, although it will continue selling some through retailers. The news was a setback for AMD, which wooed Dell for years before breaking the computer maker's exclusive supplier relationship with Intel Corp. in 2006. Intel still made the processors used in most computers sold on Dell.com. But AMD raised its profile in the chip field by being inside some Dell machines. Shares of Dell rose 2 cents, to $19.45, while AMD shares fell 25 cents, or 3.8 percent,...

It’s one small step for Dell, and another great leap for Asterisk — the open source VoIP phone system. Dell plans to promote Fonality (a major Asterisk proponent) to small business customers seeking IP telephony systems. It’s a landmark development, folks, that benefits Dell in multiple markets (open source, VoIP, unified communications, and managed services). Here’s why. While most people are zigging, Michael Dell continues to zag. In mid-2007, Dell announced the surprising decision to pre-install Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux on selected desktops and laptops. Red Hat and Novell were the obvious choices for that deal (and Dell maintains partnerships with...

Two Central Texas-based businesses are among the best places to work for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, according to a report released Tuesday by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Round Rock-based Dell and Austin’s Freescale Semiconductor were among the 195 companies to receive a perfect score based on the foundation’s Corporate Equality Index. The index “measures policies and practices implemented to promote fairness and equality in the workplace for GLBT employees,” according to the foundation. Seven other Texas-based companies made the list: AMR Corp., Fort Worth; J.C. Penney Co., Plano; Clear Channel Communications, San Antonio; Brinker International, Dallas; Waste...

December 27, 2007 Something interesting is going on at Dell. The Texas personal-computer behemoth, long associated with boxy, boring machines, has started emphasizing industrial design. And the company, which in recent years seemed to care only about corporate customers, techies and hard-core gamers, appears once again interested in average, mainstream consumers who value simplicity. The most tangible example of this new approach is Dell's XPS One desktop -- an elegant, handsome, cleverly designed one-piece computer. If it didn't have the Dell logo on it, the XPS One might be mistaken for a product of the PC industry's design leaders, Apple...

Dell has shipped close to 40,000 systems pre-installed with the Ubuntu flavor of Linux, according to multiple sources. By most accounts, that's a heck of a total for what remains more or less a fringe operating system.

Excerpt - NEW YORK (AP) -- Dell shares plunged Friday after the computer maker posted third-quarter results, though at least one analyst called the 13-percent drop in the shares a "buying opportunity." "We also see several near-term catalysts, including an aggressive buyback beginning next week, cost reductions and additional retail partnerships," wrote Citi Investment Research's Richard Gardner in a note to clients. On Thursday, Dell posted quarterly results just short of Wall Street's expectations. And in its first earnings conference call in more than a year, executives predicted more restructuring costs as the company reshapes its business through acquisitions, more...

I got a great deal on an Emachine about 16 months ago, so great one of the guys in my office got one the same day. He emailed me over the weekend his power supply went out - not normally a big deal, just a simple replacement - the down side is that when this power supply goes, it changes the polarity of the motherboard - so when it goes, the motherboard goes. He found out from the Geek squad this is becoming a huge problem. Well, today my son's PS went out taking the motherboard with it so now,...

PC system isn't just for 'geeks' anymore Tuesday, November 27, 2007 By Elwin Green, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette At the beginning of November, Wal-Mart gave shoppers a chance to get an early start on their holiday shopping by offering a $199 desktop computer, both in its stores and online at WalMart.com. As desktop machines go, the Everex TC2502 is not particularly powerful, with a 1.5-gigahertz processor, 512 megabytes of RAM, an 80-gigabyte hard drive and no monitor. But consumers judged it powerful enough -- in less than two weeks, the retailer was out of stock. Given the price point, the sellout might...

LINUX runs the Google servers that manage billions of searches each day. It also runs the TiVo digital video recorder, the Motorola Razr cellphone and countless other electronic devices. But why would anyone want to use Linux, an open-source operating system, to run a PC? “For a lot of people,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, “Linux is a political idea — an idea of freedom. They don’t want to be tied to Microsoft or Apple. They want choice. To them it’s a greater cause.” That’s not the most compelling reason for consumers. There is the price:...

Linux users want two things for their hardware: drivers; and easy access to those drivers. The first is finally happening; and now, thanks to a Dell Linux project called DKMS (Dynamic Kernel Module Support), the other is on its way. Spread the word: digg this story Dell and Linux distributors have been working on DKMS for about five years now. Its purpose is to create a framework where kernel-dependent module source can reside, so that it is very easy to rebuild modules. In turn, this enables Linux distributors and driver developers to create driver drops without having to wait for...

DALLAS (AP) -- Computer maker Dell Inc. said Thursday it will reduce more than four years' worth of earnings by up to $150 million after an internal probe found the company misled its auditors and manipulated results to meet performance goals. The struggling company said its net income for the restatement period will be reduced by between $50 million and $150 million, or 2 cents to 7 cents per share. The largest reductions in quarterly profits were expected to be in the first quarter of fiscal 2003 and the second quarter of fiscal 2004, each lowered between 10 percent and...

Dell is developing consumer PCs that can run multiple versions of Microsoft's Windows and Linux software at the same time.Users of the new Dell PCs would be able to simultaneously run multiple, software-generated computers on one machine, using an increasingly popular technology known as 'virtualisation' that allows greater flexibility and computing security.One virtual machine might run Windows Vista and handle every day computing tasks, while another could be used only to browse the internet, limiting any security threats to the parameters of the virtual machine - which could be deleted.A third virtual machine might run a version of Linux that...

Linux for Consumers in the U.K. France, and Germany; Dell/Red Hat Solutions & More I hinted at this before, but today, it's official: Dell announced that consumers in the United Kingdom, France and Germany can order an Inspiron E1505N 6400 notebook or an Inspiron 530N desktop with Ubuntu 7.04 pre-installed. Since we began offering Ubuntu in the United States back in May, it's no secret that we've received many requests from customers all over the world to offer Linux there. This represents another step in broadening that offering. Before Ubuntu, we've offered Red Hat Linux as an option for Dell...

Companies like his privately held Canonical Inc, Red Hat Inc (RHT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Novell Inc (NOVL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) make money by selling standardized versions of Linux programs and support contracts to service them.

Dell knows it won't happen overnight, but along side wanting to ship audio/video codecs, Intel Wireless 80.211N support for Linux, Broadcom Wireless for Linux, and being able to ship notebooks and desktops with Compiz Fusion enabled, Dell would like to see improved ATI Linux drivers. At Ubuntu Live 2007, Amit Bhutani had a session on Ubuntu Linux for Dell Consumer Systems, where he had shared a slide with Dell's "area of investigation", which Amit had said is essentially their Linux road-map. Amit had also stated that the NVIDIA 2D and 3D video drivers were "challenges in platform enablement". Dell wants...

Dell XPS M1330 Commercial

When Dell first announced that it would be releasing Ubuntu Linux-powered consumer desktops and laptops, some people saw it as more of a stunt than a serious business move. They were wrong. Dell has already expanded its consumer Linux line, and now it has announced that it will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux systems outside of the United States and for new businesses. On Dell’s Direct2Dell site, Lionel Menchaca, Dell’s digital media manager, said, "Wanted to be clear that Dell does have plans to offer Linux to more consumers in additional locations outside the United States. More details to come...

It's tough to challenge conventional wisdom, especially when that challenge raises doubts about the wildly popular version of Linux called Ubuntu. But doubts are exactly what I had after finishing my Ubuntu "safari", in which I worked through numerous glitches to get laptop and desktop installs up and running. I'm now mystified as to why Ubuntu has become so widely accepted as the version of Linux for newbies to try. Anyone who doesn't want to become their own one-person support shop would be far better off spending $50 for a commercially supported release like Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10,...

When Dell first announced that it would be releasing Ubuntu Linux-powered consumer desktops and laptops, some people saw it as more of a stunt than a serious business move. They were wrong. Dell has already expanded its consumer Linux line, and now it has announced that it will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux systems outside of the United States and for new businesses.

Responding to customer requests for less preinstalled software on its machines, Dell will now offer its customers an option to select "no software preinstalled" when purchasing Inspiron notebooks or Dimension desktops. While the option would eliminate much of the software commonly stuffed onto new computers, some would still remain. Adobe's Reader and a set of Google tools will still be included, as well as antivirus software. In addition, for those who may have not had the option or did not select it at the time of build, Dell will offer those customers an untinstall program to clear off unwanted software.

Dell Inc. said Thursday that earnings fell slightly in preliminary first-quarter results, but the computer maker planned to lay off more than 8,000 employees over the next year as part of an ongoing restructuring. Dell said it earned $759 million, or 34 cents per share, in the three months ended May 4. That compared with $762 million, or 33 cents per share, in the year-ago period. First-quarter sales rose nearly 1 percent from the year ago period to $14.6 billion. [Snip] The layoffs, which represent 10 percent of Dell's global work force of 88,100 full time and part-time employees, come...

See for example this thread first. A new lawsuit has hit against Dell It's the first that I've heard for a spell The reason for this tort? Well, it's their tech support! When you call them, it's a trip through Hell!

When Dell put up its IdeaStorm community-feedback site, the company was surprised by the strong response in favor of shipping personal computers with Linux. The PC company then announced that it would offer Ubuntu Linux on select systems, and as of yesterday, they are taking orders. So it turns out that not including Windows saves the consumer $50 from the regular list price.

Dell, (DELL) the computer giant built on selling PCs directly to customers, is doing the once unthinkable: It's planning to sell PCs through retail. The Round Rock, Texas-based company said Thursday it would sell two desktop computer models at Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) in the U.S. and Canada, starting June 10. Dell says the move is part of a bigger retail strategy that the company will be rolling out. "This is the first step in our global retail strategy rollout," said Dell spokesman Bob Pearson. He declined to give more details on the rollout. "Stay tuned," he said. "There will definitely...

The day Linux advocates have been waiting for has arrived . Dell has announced three different systems with Ubuntu 7.04 installed: the XPS 410n and Dimension E520n desktops and the Inspiron E1505n notebook. However, those expecting lower prices for their Linux boxes may be disappointed because there is little or no price differential between the Linux and Windows models. In fact, the entry level E520 Windows desktop is significantly cheaper. Related stories * Novell, Microsoft, patents and the EFF * Dell and Ubuntu: why bother? * BadBunny macro worm targets OpenOffice * Has Microsoft violated the GPL? * Microsoft: shades...