Dell E netbook emerges: what are the differentiators?
Just before nodding off last night I saw Engadget’s post on the new Dell E and E Slim devices. Rather than put up a quick post, I decided to sleep on the news. Now that I’ve gotten my rest and a cup of joe, a couple of points stand out since we have some actual details on the new notebooks. The main one is something we’ve discussed at length on a prior podcast: with the low cost, small notebook market garnering entries weekly, they’re all very similar. So what differentiators are there with the Dell? Two jump out at me, right off the bat.
First and foremost: Dell is offering their lowest costing base model at one of the most competitive prices: $299. We’ve said this before: the original Eee set the bar in terms of price. No, it didn’t have the best specifications, but it was usable and at a price that didn’t make you bat an eye. Others in this market have decided to increase performance or specifications, but lost sight of the low price point that makes consumers pull out their wallet.
Second is the branding. Although my point-of-view is as an American consumer on this front, Dell is a widely known and recognized brand here. HP, who has the Mini-Note, is right up there as well. MSI and to large extent Asus? Not so well known here. You can’t buy the Sunday paper here without getting a Dell flyer in it. They have kiosks in practically every shopping mall around and I can bet you that when these little laptops arrive in August, you’ll see crowds around those kiosks. I’m not suggesting that Dell is the best computer brand here, but it’s among the most well known, if not THE most well known.
In the end, we’ve got yet another 8.9-inch, 1024 x 600 notebook that runs Linux and offers just enough memory and storage to be useful, at least in the base model. There are two higher models expected and I’m hoping that they only increase the price around $50 to $75 for each step up (at most). That will add features like a camera, Bluetooth, more SSD capacity, etc… if you want them. And if you’re a regular reader, I think you’d gravitate towards the higher-end models because you know what Bluetooth is and how to use it, for example. You might want a web-cam because you’re familiar with Skype or another video-calling app.
Here’s the thing: I think that most folks won’t want the higher priced units. Sure, Dell may upsell some folks, but by and large, a consumer’s intent will be to grab the base model. They’ll just want to spend $299 to connect to the web, check e-mail and that’s it. That’s all they know and that’s all they need. Inexpensive Internet appliances. Cost is the big factor here and these folks will already have spent anywhere from $500 to $2,000 for a main notebook or desktop. They won’t hesitate to tacking on another $300 in between hitting The Gap and Macys. I forsee huge numbers of these E notebooks selling. How about you?
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I am a bit disconcerted to see Dell is apparently trying to tag the Mobile Internet Device (MID) moniker on these. This will surely continue to confuse the public and Intel can’t be happy that Dell is putting the MID tag on laptops.
Does Dell still have any sort of retail presence? I thought they shut down all that and is strictly by phone/mail (mail?!!!?).
Good call Mike! I forgot that they announced kiosk closure back in January. Regardless, from a branding and pricing perspective, I still think the low-end unit will be a big seller here. Maybe more so without the kiosks… less chance of a Dell salesperson upselling to one of the two more expensive models.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about these mini-notebooks and how the cheapest ones have Linux installed. It seems to me that the important price point is the XP installed models. Remember that Walmart and Sam’s stopped carrying PCs with Linux because it was too unfamiliar to mainstream consumers and they couldn’t sell them. While geeks may be happy to live with Linux consumers have voted with their wallets that they don’t want it.
I think one of the most brilliant aspects of their marketing is the choice of colors. They are shiny and enticing and everyone in the family can pick their favorite.
At this price, getting a computer for your birthday becomes an attainable goal for most kids, and the main home computer stays free of MySpace and LimeWire!
Dell is a name trusted by schools and parents and they will worry less about giving junior a “cheap” computer than one that is valuable and needs to be well-treated and cared for. Brilliant!
I think the biggest news is the 12.1-inch “E Slim” version. If Dell manages to keep the price down this will be a great success. For many people 8.9 inch is just too small while currently 12.1 inch is unaffordable (Sony has some great Vaios but they are much too expensive for most people).
The 12.1 inch market for cheap laptops is not as overcrowded as the 7 and 8.9 inch market and I therefore I think Dell has made a brilliant move.
If the price is right I am definitely going to buy a Dell E Slim for my wife who travels a lot and only uses Outlook Word and IE.
how is the SSD storage going to be divided?
it has an asterisk & says “important info on page 16″ but i cant find page 16 in the slides.
Regarding the hardware configuration and selling points:
- 1GB/8GB/XP will probably be the most popular configuration.
- With 12GB maximum flash storage, hopefully the data bus to the SD slot will support high transfer rates (~20 MB/s). Many internal card slots max out at 2-3 MB/s, making the slot a slow alternative for supplemental storage.
- If “Always Connected” is a primary product attribute, maybe there’s an opportunity to partner with wireless carriers.
- The Blacktop functionality looks encouraging. Engadget states, “… while it’s not clear if there’s a full-featured Linux OS onboard, there does seem to be an instant-on, Foleo-esque Linux included on all of them called BlackTop.”
The slide “When to Buy” is extremely interesting. Consider the following statements:
- “The MID is not a true notebook, so running XP with Office on a MID will sacrifice performance”
- “While XP can be installed on a MID, if a customer needs the usual XP experience then they should look to Vostro or Latitude”
I’m not sure the 12-inch E Slim is a better buy than a base model Vostro. Is “pro-sumer” really a target market for an entry-level device?
I think Aura Mae is right.
My son has already starting talking about wanting a computer of his own.
If the Dell E (or whatever they end up calling it since I’m sure the Asus folks won’t be happy about the name) can come in at near (or below) the cost of a Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 with Windows XP, I may pony up and get him one for Christmas.
i noticed that to Nomo, it is quite funny. the Atom CPU plus XP will be more than enough for almost all XP tasks (even office). they are only doing that trying to keep the cheap 8.9″ from cannibalizing their other markets. they want the 8.9″ to be sold as a secondary PC to your desktop, they dont want it used as your only device. yet they call the 12″ a “pro-sumer” device even though its using a weak CPU as well.
its ridiculous the lengths the marketing dept goes to in order to manipulate 95% of the mainstream that doesnt know any better.
>>>the main home computer stays free of MySpace and LimeWire!
LimeWire? People use FrostWire now. Or at least did. That whole area has become overrun with fake files and infected files. And there’s a lot less available than there used to be. Most people have moved on and the selection is pitiful. Of course, I know all this for research purposes. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
I consider all the Dell leaked info rumor until final prices are announced. Including those colors (of which I would want red).
I like the look of the E Slim; I hope I can get one with Linux. :)
James wrote “Remember that Walmart and Sam’s stopped carrying PCs with Linux because it was too unfamiliar to mainstream consumers and they couldn’t sell them.”
In answer –
Linux comes in many flavours / distros and some are clearly more practical than others. Also the Linux model of Asus Eee PC 900 is the *top selling* and *top wished for* notebook on Amazon. It may be that the more the manufacturers enhance the Linux system the better these systems sell. Rather than being taken from shelves, the move seems to be to cater for Linux more and more. I’m certainly in favour of improvements to the various Linux systems and think it’s good for the computer industry as a whole. I certainly would like Microsoft to feel a mountain of pressure so they cease from offering up half-finished operating systems with resource heavy features people don’t need or want.
It is wonderful that the 7-10″ laptop form factor has finally gained traction. For quite some time geekdom has missed the mark of what mainstream computer users are really looking for – inexpensive, easy to use, internet access points. Nothing complicated. Too many have attempted to force touch screen, UMPC, MID, linux, tablets etc.. Joe sixpack is just looking for the basic easy to use – out of the box, not something that needs to be hacked, re-configured, overclocked or turbo-charged. Fortunately Dell, HP, Asus and others have correctly interpreted the market’s needs. For mainstream users, this category is more than adequate.