Dell to offer Clio NXT

Over on the PocketPC Magazine 'Other Windows Powered Handhelds' forum, freddieborgwash has posted a message quoting from a DataEvolution press release (http://www.dataevolution.com/pressRelease.php?in_press_release_id=20) that states (among other things) that Dell will be a DataEvolution reseller and specifically mentions the Clio NXT.

The Clio is a bit large for my purposes, but the idea of having a new HPC supported by marketing powerhouse like Dell is almost too good to be true. Psion is almost unknown in the US and does not market the Netbook Pro to consumers; the various Smartbook vendors are even more obscure. If Dell does things right -- and they generally do -- we may be looking at the 'rebirth' of the handheld PC.

I would love to know what others think.

Bruce
MobilePro 890 Evangelist

holly molly! ... when I saw the header for this thread, I exclaimed "WoW" ...

If Dell gets into the foray, trust it to come in low, cheap and (sometimes) good! hehehe

Yes! tizz true, SWEEEEET!!!

Edited by Yoldering 2005-05-22 8:23 PM

Interpreted ... it means:

If Dell gets into the foray, trust it (the CLIO NXT) to come in low, cheap (Read: MASS MARKET) and (sometimes (usually) ) good (well, Dell good anyway! ) ! hehehe

Promising, but let me play devils advocate on this.
The press release doesn't state that Dell will be reselling the NXT, just that in the USA they would have reseller rights to Data Evolution products which may include the NXT or Cathena.

It could be the Cathena or mCapture that dell are interested in, or something completly different that we do not know about.

Also consider that based on form, Dell generally do not license compete hardware products from other manufacturers with aim to rebadge them. *generally*

It will be absoloutly FANTASTIC if it pans out though.

So far I know they licensed lexmark's 3-in-1 printers and the X1 notebook from someone else.

I've always maintained that HPC's never truly competed with PPCs, mainly due to pricing, but also due to poor marketing/distribution (you can find PPCs everywhere, not so for HPCs...). So I agree with you, Snappy, Dell is a marketing guru and if they get serious about this, they might very well show the world how vast a market the HPC market is. This is indeed very good news and if it pans out, we may very well witness a rejuvenation of the HPC platform.

Cheers!

nice daydreaming...

ok, i'll be the happiest if it turns out i'm wrong.

We all know that Dell has tremendous marketing muscle and offers relatively 'cheap' but usually good quality kit. Some of their prices for their low-end computers aimed at businesses are unbelievably low. IMHO this is made possible by mass production at relatively low cost.

Dell did indeed license and rebadge the Lexmark printers as 'Dell' products, probably because they saw quick and significant profits from sales of printers to Dell customers (they usually inlcuded them free/heavily discounted with computers bought direct from Dell as incentive) and because they didn't have an established printer line themselves.

Dell were relative latecomers onto the Pocket PC scene too and I suspect that sales of their Axim range, again with the PDA priced relatively low, have been quite significant. I have to agree with C:Amie on this one though, and whilst I would love to see a Dell HPC I suspect that they would consider it too much of a niche market for their 'mass production' business plan.

For them to make a HPC line profitable they would need some strong marketing combined with some tricky persuasive tactics to get businesses AND consumers interested in the form factor. I for one hope they do it...

Snappy!, that is the precise reason why I stated "*Generally*"

We're working on it.

About Dell's ability to deliver the goods to the mass market, consider this article at Engadget:

AnandTech: Dell 2005fpw vs. Apple Cinema Display 20-inch
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000020041567/



... so maybe Dell will be able to do some magic and release the CLIO NXT for $350?

Edited by Snappy! 2005-05-23 5:40 PM

Here's to hopeing

... optimism is my middle name!

Glad to see people interested
in the Clio NXT!

I too wonder what Dell is going to do with this. I see
the NXT as sort of a ppc notebook/tablet. This is fine with me as I almost always use my ppc and the screen is just too small and frustrating to deal with (when I don't have to have a micro-unit)

I use my desktop about as often as our country elects
a president.

Anyway, I'm really hoping
Data Evolution gets the Clio
NXT right and that Dell can help it become a huge success.