...lowered company profits. And more than a few irked investors and torqued consumers (I saw your thread on Dell's forum boards a while back...the number of posts is getting mighty thick.)

Investor revenue warnings. Bad will on Wall Street. Right at a time when there's been a resurgence in domestic retail PC sales (25% growth). Dell's current, myopic focus on enterprise sales--which with all the curtailing and cost-consciousness going on in the corporate world is seriously lagging behind the growth in consumer PC sales--is hurting them in a big way. Aggressive pricing and have-it-now gratification from past retail also-rans like HP and Gateway has compromised Dell's consumer market share. Small wonder Apple is smirking at the way Dell does business of late.

Direct sales is no longer the power weapon it once was; the competition has discovered that stuffing their products with goodies and putting it out there at more-than-reasonable prices (and at the same time, lowering their own production costs since these machines are built all alike) is enticement enough to woo consumers away from the direct sales model of Dell and fatten their own bottom lines. Dell's stumbling, bumbling Redmond-like delays with the consumer-centric XPS 700 is a poster child for its failure to recognize the REAL opportunity in today's PC market.

by make_or_break (See profile) - July 26, 2006 6:31 AM PDT

Again I have sat on the sidelines today. I have read over 100 posts, and thought about each one. I have seen the bickering, the critical tone, the selfish approach, and the naive approach. This thread has one very large and important *******:

"To hold Dell accountable for their treatment of XPS 700 customers, trying to acheive the best possible solution.To get us our computers as quickly as possible. Properly configured. With a very honest and fair price. And with the appropriate compensation that deals fairly with the issues. And to give us honest answers to our questions."

If this is not your reason for posting on this site then you should go elsewhere. Now of course topics that relate to configuration and support fit on this forum, as these are issues related to the delay. We are all having to ask ourselves questions right now, and any information that sheds light on what we should chose is valuable here. Can I get quad in the future, is this mobo K compatible are honest concerns that affect what a person will purchase or what options they will take. But those that got their computer cheap through an EPP discount, and are very content should not be posting on this thread and hammering those that were not so fortunate. No one is asking you to give up your discount. No One!! But you have no right or no business, telling those that are very dissatisfied with the way Dell has treated them, to be quiet and wait for Dell to deliver whatever Dell wants to deliver. Unless of course you are will to give up your discount and share it with the rest of us. There are many that have a wonderful discount, such as SirRobin, that are here fighting for all of us that have been truely mistreated by Dell. It has meant so much to me to have them laboring with us side by side, when they could have said, "I got what I want and walked away."

I am so thankful for the input of people like Avais47a and T3raYon who have brought so much technical as well as business knowledge to this thread. They are helping me to think through serious issues that need to be looked at before spending thousands on a computer. No one would advocate buying a computer without asking questions, and looking at all the angles, especially in the computer market, where things change so quickly. When T3raYon wants all of the questions answered then he is entitled to ask and this is the place to do it. I want to know if the computer that I am getting has the "bugs" worked out. I have suffered through 7 months of delays and "issues" with the xps 600- having had 4 replacements. Sure wish that I would have know T3raYon in January! If you think he is over the top then go somewhere else and complain about him, but this is not the place. He knows what he is asking for, and I am thankful for that. I would be very iffy on making a decision right now, if it wasn't for the input of SirRobin, T3raYon,Avias47a, and others.

NO ONE is criticizing those that got a great discount. And no one is telling them to cancel. I am glad that SirRobin has a great discount. Good for him! But for those that just want to post on this site that all they want is their PC with the Core 2 modification and that they are content, that is fine. But this is not the purpose of this thread. I would suggest that if you feel the need to acknowledge how wonderful you believe that Dell has been, then go to this thread and yell it from the mountain tops. It is the- I AM SO THANKFUL FOR DELL AND THEIR FREE UPGRADE thread. I have started it for you, or if you want you could start your own. All that these kind of posts do, is make those of us that were not so fortunate, feel lousey that we are paying up to twice as much for the same product, and that we are nothing but complainers just for the sake of complaining. That is not what we are trying to accomplish. And even if there was a "GRIPE AND RIP ON DELL" thread, don't go there is you don't agree.

I am not feeling real comfortable right now. After 50 days of seeing Pre Production, and after 50 days of seeing, "You status is not available at this time" and then in a matter of seconds after hanging up the phone with the options rep, the site says CANCELED, then I am entitled to be a bit concerned. I have no order number. I have no confguration page. I have no order date. I have no confirmation. NOTHING!! Just, "please wait and when we know something then we will call you and place the order: Sit by the phone again. And then wait until mid September for an order to arrive. I don't even know what I am going to have to pay. Just wait for Dell to take care of me. I have not liked the way that Dell has taken care of me for 7 months. and now someone comes on to this thread and tells me to "quit complaining' "wait for Dell to come through" "what do you want, you got your core 2" I will not. Please go to the above thread to voice your satisfaction.

Artfulo recently posted that Dell is giving us NOTHING!! Thank you for ... (Read more)

by gbakmars (See profile) - July 25, 2006 8:07 PM PDT