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Dell will no longer make XPS computers

arstechnica.com

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Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#101

Post by _DeadFred_ »

registeredcorn wrote: post #59

If it makes easier to describe which are the low end, and which are the high end, that's fine, I guess? I just hate when terms get shoved together like that..."pro max"? What's the next flagship going to be? "Pro Max Ultra"? Then the "Pro Max Ultra+"? Then the "Platinum Pro Max Ultra+ Plus"? Then the ELITE SERIES Platinum Pro-Maximus Ultronic+ Plus Performance"? It's all just smushing a bunch of words for "really goo…

You need an additional 'Elite' tier for sales people or they are going to start whining about needing Macbooks.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#102

Post by numpad0 »

lizknope wrote: post #31
legitster wrote: post #13

I really appreciate when brands just name things like they are. Nothing is less fun than cross-shopping products and there are a bunch of arbitrary brand differences. "Precisions are their portable workstations . Latitudes are their ultrabooks. Duh! XPS is their premium consumer laptop!". Marketing departments tend to get addicted to the smell of their own farts. But I don't think consumers care about particular sub-…

Product names make no sense. Some web sites make a "product selection tool" where you answer a bunch of questions and it tries to direct you to models that will suit your needs. I was recently buying a Seasonic power supply. What is the difference between Prime, Vertex, Focus, or Core series? Then there is Prime TX, Prime PX, Prime GX. I have no idea what all this is. I ended up just picking something in the 800W ran…

Often it's abstraction leakage. Prime and Core coukd be coming from different outsourced design teams. TX and GX could be different base design within same OEM. Or supplieed through same middlemen hence carrying same brands. Or each of groups meet certain internal criteria. Whatever.

Customers prefer segmentation by end result rather than by implementation details, and so corporate marketing divisions sometimes try that and group products by features it offers, but that often drive-by ruins product quality.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#103

Post by chrismcb »

kwanbix wrote: post #37
lizknope wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Product names make no sense. Some web sites make a "product selection tool" where you answer a bunch of questions and it tries to direct you to models that will suit your needs. I was recently buying a Seasonic power supply. What is the difference between Prime, Vertex, Focus, or Core series? Then there is Prime TX, Prime PX, Prime GX. I have no idea what all this is. I ended up just picking something in the 800W ran…

I call it the Toothpaste Dilemma: When you go to buy toothpaste, like Colgate or most brands, you're bombarded with so many options. It gets worse when you read the labels—everything seems either identical or has massive overlaps. It's frustrating and unnecessarily complicated.

Toothpaste shopping is easy. I pick the one brand that has a convenient non tube toothpaste (actually there are two, but I didn't like the taste of one) I thing I didn't understand is there are only about 6 of the non tube options and 1000 of the tubes. Do people really like to roll their toothpaste out of a tube?

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#104

Post by chrismcb »

imiric wrote: post #70
lizknope wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Product names make no sense. Some web sites make a "product selection tool" where you answer a bunch of questions and it tries to direct you to models that will suit your needs. I was recently buying a Seasonic power supply. What is the difference between Prime, Vertex, Focus, or Core series? Then there is Prime TX, Prime PX, Prime GX. I have no idea what all this is. I ended up just picking something in the 800W ran…

> Product names make no sense. Why should they? Every company has different priorities, and it's on you as a consumer to get familiar with each company's product line before making a purchase. Would you prefer it if all products were named " "? So in your PSU example, "Seasonic PSU"? Of course not, you would like to have more detail than that. So how about "Seasonic PSU 800W modular"? OK, that's better, but what if o…

Why is tx and px better than pro and pro Max? Typically pro Max is going to offer you more or better than what pro does. So pro Max tells me that it is probably better than pro (without designing what "better"is) but TX and PX which one is "better" and you can't always go by the price.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#105

Post by cbsks »

yread wrote: post #95
lizknope wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Product names make no sense. Some web sites make a "product selection tool" where you answer a bunch of questions and it tries to direct you to models that will suit your needs. I was recently buying a Seasonic power supply. What is the difference between Prime, Vertex, Focus, or Core series? Then there is Prime TX, Prime PX, Prime GX. I have no idea what all this is. I ended up just picking something in the 800W ran…

Another variant of this is the washing machine nonsense: Bosch WGG244ZANL Which btw is a Series 6 machine (note the missing 6 in the type name)!

That model number is actually super informative.

You have a washing machine, energy efficient, from 2021, model 24, 1200rpm spin speed, from the Netherlands.

https://splaitor.com/bosch-washing-machine-model-number-deco...

That doesn’t help compare it to other manufacturers, but it’s easy to compare to other Bosch washing machines.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#106

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

diffeomorphism wrote: post #44
razakel wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inspiron is their consumer line, Latitude their business line, Precision their pro line, Alienware their gaming line, so what exactly was XPS meant to be? Their fashion line?

Their consumer fashion line.

My Dell Dimension XPS P166s from 1996 sure was fashionable in all that beige

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#107

Post by diffeomorphism »

vel0city wrote: post #85
imiric wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then that's a confusion the manufacturer should address. Consistency and clarity is key. But it's not solved by scrapping all of it in favor of "Plus", "Pro" and "Max".

Here's four potential model numbers/names. Latitude 6420 Latitude 5540 Inspiron 5555 2011 Dell Pro 14" 2024 Dell Pro 15" 2024 Dell Pro Max 15" Which ones are the recent bigger laptops? Which is the older smaller laptop? Which is better, Inspiron or Latitude? Which is better, the Dell Pro or the Dell Pro Max? Which naming scheme makes these things way more obvious?

> Which is better, the Dell Pro or the Dell Pro Max?

Neither. The precision lines are workstations addressed at a very different audience. So for the average customer the "better" ranking is non-pro, then pro and only in exceptional cases pro max. The actual differentiator is the blank, plus, premium afterwards.

Bonus questions: which models have ECC ram and quadro cards available? Which ones have the best displays? My guess would be pro max premium and non-pro premium, but that is far from obvious.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#109

Post by kwanbix »

JohnBooty wrote: post #77
kwanbix wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I call it the Toothpaste Dilemma: When you go to buy toothpaste, like Colgate or most brands, you're bombarded with so many options. It gets worse when you read the labels—everything seems either identical or has massive overlaps. It's frustrating and unnecessarily complicated.

When you see this, particularly on supermarket shelves, this is a deliberate attempt to crowd out other brands. You're focusing on the micro ("WTF is each one of these ridiculous micro variations?") and not on the macro (Colgate is absolutely dominating that aisle, and fully 75% of the toothpaste choices are Colgate while Crest and Aquafresh fight over the scraps) It's frustrating and unnecessarily complicated. This…

I imagine it works if they are still doing it, but I think is worst. As soon as a brand comes with simpler naming, it can steal your customers.

Re: Dell will no longer make XPS computers

#110

Post by kwanbix »

rs999gti wrote: post #49
kwanbix wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I call it the Toothpaste Dilemma: When you go to buy toothpaste, like Colgate or most brands, you're bombarded with so many options. It gets worse when you read the labels—everything seems either identical or has massive overlaps. It's frustrating and unnecessarily complicated.

> I call it the Toothpaste Dilemma It's called Tyranny of Choice - https://longevity.stanford.edu/the-tyranny-of-choice/ > Too many options can decrease the likelihood of making any decision at all

Good to know, thanks! :)
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