Could We Be Surprisingly Close To Dell's Demise?

image: Baltimore SunThose of us who've followed Apple for years should know better than to write off a technology company when all hope seems lost, let alone at the smallest sign of trouble.

But indulge me for just a minute. Analysis of Dell's latest 10Q filing indicates there could be trouble ahead. Electronista uncovered that the average selling price for Dell's home systems dropped 23% compared to a year ago. At the same time, warranty costs increased $42 million. Oh, and Apple quadrupled its profit relative to Dell.

Dell's fortunes might show Apple's shrewdness in sitting out on the netbook fad. Netbooks mean tighter margins, more repairs, and less profit. Where can Dell go from here? I don't think they have an innovative, groundbreaking, product sitting in the wings, and it doesn't look like consumers are going to decide en masse that they want higher margin laptops and desktops.

If Apple can bring out a new device, in a new category (tablet) they can generate impressive revenue while Dell and other PC makers go further down the high volume, but low profit netbook path.

Dell was once an innovator in internet order fulfillment, but those days are long gone: today every computer maker allows for online customization. Their attempts at a music jukebox (Dell DJ) never really got off the ground. A Dell phone? It's unlikely. Where can you go when your reputation is built on a distribution model everyone else does now, and there's not so much as a hint of a novel product to come?

Dell? We give them five years. You heard it here. (Update: Dell could reveal a tablet at CES, but we're sticking by the prdiction.)

Best Buy Ad: What Do You See?

We want to thank Best Buy for bringing us this tech Rorschach Test of sorts. Looking at this ad page, you will see the MacBook Pro listed at $1999. The second most expensive laptop on the page is a 17" HP for $1299. Right next to the MacBook Pro is a seemingly similar spec-ed Dell at just $629. Same drive size, same RAM, even a slot-load drive.

What are we looking at here? Is this a bad move on Best Buy's part to show only the $1999 MacBook Pro, rather than say, the  $999 MacBook? Is this page proof positive for those who feel the "Apple tax" is alive and well? Does it serve Apple by painting it as a luxury computer?

Yes, there's build quality. Yes, there's Mac OS X. Yes, there's the whole user experience, but how do you get that through to someone who sees they can buy three Dell laptops for the same price as a MacBook Pro. Also worth nothing that after years of the "megahertz wars," ironically the MacBook Pro is the only model with an actual processor speed listed. 

Root Access: By Request, More With the Dell 9 and OS X

Due to popular demand, we've got another look at the Dell Mini 9 running OS X. Today we take a look at some key mac apps running on the Dell, and look at some rough benchmarking. It's really quite remarkable to see iPhoto and other apps so responsive on such a low cost machine. The test unit had 2GB of RAM, but was still less than $450, including a hard drive upgrade.

Enjoy!

Mac Mini, You Break Our Heart.

The good news today was the long awaited update to the Mac Mini finally happened. We only had to wait 18 months, but it finally happened, and they included the much needed 9400m Nvidia, so we are happy. Yea that's the good news....

The bad news is, who the hell is gonna buy these things at their current price?!? 600 bucks for 120GB HD and 1GB of ram in 2009 is joke. The only thing that makes us laugh more is seeing the $200 Apple tax for an additional 1GB of ram and 200GB of drive space.

For comparisons sake we speced out a Dell Studio Desktop. Sure you lose the small form factor, but you gain a 2.8ghz processor, 4gigs of ram, 500GB HD and Nvidia 9800GT for $724.

A few months back Steve Jobs stated that Apple simply cannot make a decent computer for $500. Well it looks like that dollar figure may have moved up a bit. And if that's the case Apple should just kill the Mini once and for all instead of embarrassing themselves and insulting its customers.

Root Access: Hands On with a Dell Mini 9 Running OS X

A few weeks ago, Jamie mentioned he was installing OS X on his Dell mini 9 for the sake of educational purposes. Well, he stopped by for a fresh taping of Root Access, and brought the MacinDell with him. In the first segment he talks about the challenges (or lack of) in installing Mac OS X the Dell. The second segment focuses on the usability of the hack, and what Apple could learn from the performance of the Dell. And finally, we shot b roll of the OS in action, but due to some time constraints, it wasn't edited into the other two clips, so now you can take a look at that unedited in the third clip.