Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Welcome to a new segment on Gadgetell called Head to Head where we take everyday things, and match them up against each other.

Well, Dell officially just declared retail-war on Apple by launching their first store at NorthPark Center in Dallas, TX (an Apple Store location).  Luckily, we had a chance to head over there, several times actually, to take in the atmosphere and put it Head to Head with the Apple Store.  Check out the commentary below divided up by Design/Layout, Atmosphere, Customer Service.

Design/Layout - We all know how Apple Stores are laid out.  They have that cutting edge look to them; white, black, silvers, and wood.  So what about the Dell store?  Dell actually did a nice job with the store…but we have many complaints.  First, the laptop computers are all lined up on a glowing blue counter-top against the wall on the right side of the store.  Now if this actually drew any attention to the laptops then this would be a good design.  Instead, the blue kind of repels you.  It’s actually kind of junky looking.  Being the sticklers that we are, we also noticed that laptops were turned in all different directions from people playing with them.  When we moved a laptop in an Apple Store and walked away, a representative was already straightening it out again.

Read on for more of the Head to Head.

The store features a bunch of at home/office scenarios for the customer to try out.  When you walk in, they’ve got their gaming scenario right there...front and center decked out with their new 30-inch monitor (3007WFP) and the bad-ass XPS 700.  I won’t bore you walking through the other scenarios (gaming, digital photography, digital video, home office, home theater), but there is a complaint.  All of these are set up in aisles, making it seem like a Best Buy-type place, definitely not as spacious as an Apple Store.

Atmosphere - The feeling that you get when you walk into an Apple Store has been un-paralleled by anyone else… so naturally, Dell is going to have a hard time doing it.  Starting from the outside of the store, the sign was a bit bizarre.  It was a cloudy blue sign that looked like it was lit up, only not.  I would expect to see more of a bold Dell logo instead of a faint one.  One thing that we really liked was the 3 LCD TVs that were stacked on top of each other in the window.  It gave the store the cutting-edge look that they’re bound to be going for.  Once you walk in to the store, you first notice the gigantic, wall-sized Dell logo in the back of the store since it’s glowing blue (just like the laptop counter).  The designer definitely didn’t hold back on the blue, did they?

Like I mentioned above, the space was very limited on the left side of the store (the scenarios took up too much precious space).  Each scenario had a divider between them that really cut off your view of the entire store.  We would suggest removing the dividers and giving it more of an open-air feeling.

Customer Service - Apple’s got the Genius Bar, Dell’s got the Dell On Call...bar.  Awkwardly placed in the back of the Dell Store is the store’s tech support desk.  If you’ve got any type of software or hardware issue, you can bring your computer in there and they’ll diagnose the problem...and we’re assuming this is covered by your regular warranty that you can buy with your computer.  The representatives in the front of the store seemed to be knowledgeable on most things, but since the pricing of things like the LCD TVs isn’t listed, even the sales guy had to look it up for me by picking up a Dell Direct Store Weekly Specials pamphlet.  Get to know the merchandise guys!

In our famous pictures found here, you can see that they simply have too many sales people standing around.  If you’re just going to stand there, then you’re going to scare people away.  Go stand on the sides of the store or hang out in the On Call room in the back.

And finally, you knew we had to touch on the no-inventory thing.  Dell decided not to carry any inventory in their stores, so if you’re planning on walking out of the store with a new computer, you better hit up an Apple Store.  Dell has done well with their direct model, so they’re sticking to it.  If they’re not going to sell you a computer then may we suggest some sort of workstation (like they used to have in old computer stores) where you can customize and order your machine?  Just our two cents.

Of course we were going to be hard on Dell, after all, they are the new guys on the block in the mall.

Last month, Dell announced that they would be opening stores in malls similar to Apple. With the amazing success of Apple stores, who wouldn’t want to copy? The first mall they will be moving into is NorthPark Center in Dallas, TX. Since I happen to be in Dallas at the moment, I decided to drop on by (on the way to the Apple Store) and snap a pic of mothership. Unlike Apple, Dell won’t actually have any inventory in the stores since their such believers of direct ordering. Watch out Apple, Dell’s coming to a neighborhood near you. Look out for a Peep Show in the near future.