Does Dell want to exit the business-class market?

I've not been paying much attention to these boards lately, given that I've been happy with my four-year-old E6410. But I think that it is time for a refresh, and given that I've also been pleased with Dell's support I'd not planned to cross-shop, but was planning to replace the E6410 with whatever E64** series was current. As was the case with the 6410 I would opt for upgraded specs.

Unfortunately, on Dell’s Canadian site only two preconfigured models of the E6440 are offered. At the high end, you get a I5 4300M with integrated graphics, a 500 GB HDD and a 6-cell. There is no option for a quad-core, or discrete graphics, or an SSD, 9-cell, fingerprint reader, etc. For this they want $1,900 Cdn. (As an aside, I see that Dell has also discontinued the rugged versions of the E-series Latitudes).

I was not going to consider Lenovo given that it was my impression that the screens were inferior. Nonetheless, Dell has forced me to reconsider, and I've now learned the Lenovo has some excellent screens. A similarly-configured Lenovo T440p is almost $750 less expensive. Or, for the same cost as the E6440 I can get the T440p with a I7 4600M, a 256 GB SSD, discrete graphics, a 9-cell and a fingerprint reader. An FHD display is also offered. For $300 more I can upgrade the warranty to 3 years of onsite (which in the case of Lenovo includes accidental damage).

The last time I looked there were several manufacturers offering low-margin consumer-grade laptops, while the business-class market seemed to belong to Dell and Lenovo. Why is Dell developing so many cheap laptops while turning its back on loyal customers who are prepared to dig deeply into their pockets for high-end (and presumably high margin) machines and configurations? It seems to me to be a bewildering marketing strategy.

 

Dell is cutting cost by cutting the configuration options. On a side note I would check the e6450 or wait for the precision m2800 to come out. If you have the money, check out the higher end m3800/m4800. They have better options.

 

I can give you my rep's name and number you can configure a system on line then email her the specs but tell her you want the other features as they can configure things that aren't online like the SSD drives etc.

I got the i7-4600M cpu, 8gb ram, 14" HD 1600x900 screen, 2gb Radeon 8690M video card, 500 gb hybrid harddrive, 3 years complete care warranty for under $1500.00 not as good as people can get in the US but at least better then what is listed on the dell site.

 

IMHO you should be patient and wait until late August/September for the high end Haswell chips to reach Dell. I dont believe Dell is cutting on configurations, but rather following a delayed roadmap for adding configuration options to their laptops.

The top mobile Haswell chips have already been released in January, but you cant see these options on any high end Dell laptops. The Precision m6800 is still offered with tops i7-4800MQ in my country...

I am new in following tech releases but I've got the feeling one is better off waiting until the Intel/Nvidia/AMD current release cycle ends and all the high end options enter the market. Then one can get the high end components of an architecture...and pricing generally stays the same compared with previous platforms/comparable release options.

As to the marketing strategy I don't think Dell's got anything wrong. We need to reference some statistics on global consumer vs business laptop sales for 2012/13 but I would bet consumer was bigger and companies would fight to offer wide range of products to capture all "needs". What does a business want? A brick which does the job - fast. Add some security and you win. No need for flashy casing and variety of models.

Edit: 65% of all computing devices for consumers. A forecast thou.

 

They should quit all together.

 

Well, I didn't have to wait long for the M2800. My biggest complaint with Dell's preconfigured machines is the lack of a 256 Gb SSD. And while the M2800 has an SSD, it's only 128 GB, which is what I have in my E6410. The other issue that I have with Dell is that while most machines on the US site sell for a 30% or 35% "discount", the discounts are less common on the Canadian site. In the case of the M2800, it was announced weeks ago with a starting price of $1,199. Now that it's released the Dell site (USA) claims that the starting price is $1,712.86... which if discounted by 30% works out to $1,199.

In Canada the same model is being offered for the equivalent of $US 2,044... $845 more than the U.S. price.

If I want a 256 GB SSD I'd need to get a M4800 which would set me back almost $US 2.500... if I were willing to settle for an i5 4200M and a low rez 1366 x 768 display (which I am not).

In any case, I'd prefer a 14" machine. But thanks for the reply.

Thanks for that. I may take you up on that offer. Although to be honest I've lost a lot of my enthusiasm for Dell over the past few days, and am looking more fondly upon Lenovo and the T440p.

 

I kinda think that the E6430 was the last of the breed. Solid build despite the slight weight penalty. I do hope the one I am using will last me a few years. Am not so keen on current models sleeker are they mostly are. I still prefer the battery to be removeable and a casing that if more friendly to decent airflow. Ivy runs a lot cooler than the prev Sandy and typing on an E6X30 is as sweet as them machines prior. With the rise of tablets, it is not as easy for them pc makers to shift the same kinda numbers as they used to making cost per unit that little bit more than before. Dell need a big base of users to make warranty service viable at comparable cost.

 

Could you not just order with a regular hard drive and swap in your own SSD of choice?


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I have ordered Dell desktops and laptops for probably almost 20 years, laptops for 10. I have gotten a Precision 6500, 660, and 6700. I gave up waiting for a 6800 with current industry top-end configurations, and I got an HP Zbook 17. It is very well made and has everything I could possibly want (and need) in configuration (for my needs I am blessed to be able to pay for it). It's way quieter and chips run cooler than my 6700 too, even though it has much more power.

I hang here because a future 6900 or 7000 with a renewed focus on being the best workstation laptop is something that would bring me back. I will add I had a disastrous experience with a 3800, multiple problems all documented here; I bought one for my daughter this past Christmas, it was so flaky with drives disappearing and flaky USB connections she tossed it and bought a MBP Retina and doesn't regret it a bit. I spent a ton of time trying to get that laptop right and couldn't - first time ever. Dell's Precision laptops are nowhere near the best competitively or in quality anymore, but they can get back to where they were, if they put their mind to it. Their priorities seem to be different than mine right now.

 

Well, I had hoped to get a E6430 before they were gone. I checked the Canadian Dell Outlet store, but all they have are four-year old off-lease E6410s, which is what I have now. (Arguably those would be a good deal for someone on a tight budget). But no 6430s, nor even 6420s.

If Dell wants a bigger customer base they need to start selling computers configured to meet the needs of those of us needing high-end configurations, and they need to price them at levels which are competitive with Lenova and HP.