Walt Mossberg's Vostro Review-Opinions?

He released his review for the Vostro 1500, but it seemed to me to have very "backhanded" complements.

What do you think?

Full length text review: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118782667507705935.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs

Video review:
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It's Walt Mossberg, what do you want? If it's not a Mac, it's CRAP!!!

 

Quoted for truth.

And oh no! Tech support in Canada. The horror.

 

he is a apple hack

 

^ ^ Yea i was like "??????"

 

15in notebook w/ 5 hour batt life. What trash!

 

I don't know, what part of it did you think he was wrong about exactly?

Watching the video review, it seems like he raises some pretty valid points. Dell is saying this is a new kind of laptop for small businesses, and that has been the aim of the marketing, and I think he fairly points out that there doesn't seem to be much about it that really fits that.

As far as his points about the Vostro 1500 itself, I think they are all pretty common issues that other reviewers have pointed out too. I don't think it's going out on a limb to comment on the battery life, the size and weight of it (close to 7 pounds for a 15" laptop), etc. I'm not totally sure I'd agree that the battery life is that bad though, although I guess one could argue that it does mean a pretty significant sacrifice in weight.

I would say that some of the points he makes don't seem to really be Dell's fault (i.e. that if you order it with XP, it comes with IE6, etc.) or that it didn't have security software (since that is a choice to buy with it). Although he may have a point that the XP configurations should come with the latest software, etc. (IE7, etc.).

I didn't really see any backhanded compliments though; he seemed to praise the lack of "craplets", which makes sense since that is also one of the things that Dell has pushed as a benefit of the Vostro line.

And he does seem to praise the support network for the Vostros. I didn't see anything backhanded in that either. He rightly points out that it will remain to be seen how good this support actually is, and whether they really do help out small businesses, etc.

So I don't really see anything really wrong with the review; I think he probably makes a valid point that Dell might not be doing as much as they can to back up the stated market/purpose of the Vostro line. He says that Dell also admits to this, that this is just a first step in what will presumably be a more fleshed out product line specifically for small businesses.

I think he's right though, at this point Vostro is more about the marketing and branding of this line, and that Dell still has work to do to provide more substance to truly have a product line aimed at "true" small businesses.

-Zadillo

 

my opinion is it is a great review for people with no experience with laptops before but for us it seems kind of bland / misinforming.

 

I can agree it's bland (Mossberg seems to have that style in everything I've seen him in), but what part of it was "misinforming"? If anything I think it is one of the first times I've seen someone point out that the "substance" of the Vostro line CURRENTLY doesn't match up with what Dell actually promotes it as, and apparently plans for it to ultimately be.

-Zadillo

 

lol... "craplets"

I'm listening to him... and he's not saying anything really offensive about it. Just things that I already know...

The only thing offensive is listening to his horribly monotone voice.

 

Walter Mossberg = pathetic, clueless, wayyyy over-the-tech-hill. not an objective bone in his body. needs to quit trying to be a geek and write about politics or something.


Just a couple of thoughts about his half-@ssed "review":

1) Since when do you "buy" Internet Explorer 6? It is the most insecure browser you can buy? (see his Video review for word stumbles which he is oblivious to).

2) Little Walter makes it a point to mention how much his test unit "costs", but doesn't explain what he really means is that he would pay MSRP for a new car that is always on sale.

3) The only hardware Little Walter talks about is the battery, RAM, HDD, and Sprint modem? WTF? Does he have a clue what kind of processor might be in there? Graphics card? Hell, Walt, do you even know what L2 cache is?

4) Little Walter's comment about not having any internet security software on the model he tested(?) Interesting, because I, personally, bought a Vostro. I, personally, got 15 months of PC-cillin Internet Security (for free, or I could have picked from a number of other options)....complete with Firewall, Antivirus, Antispam, etc etc. But hey, I didn't get MS Office on mine....so can I say that Microsoft Office is not available on the Vostros?

5) Little Walter should really be embarrassed by his ignorance with this one:

- That's pretty harsh Walt....playing a "loop of music" must use about what, 5% of your CPU cycles? That's a pure torture test there. I'm surprised you didn't burn something up.

The ONLY thing I agree with is his statement at the end saying the Vostro "isn't different enough from consumer models to really earn the small-business designation it claims"

My Dad (who just found out that by hitting the "Ctrl" key in combination with the letter "C" on the keyboard one can copy to the clipboard something that is highlighted or selected) is more of a techie than this Walter Mossberg.

 

I have to respectfully disagree with your criticism of him: Wall Street Journal is not read by techie types and his review is written for that particular target audience. I find his review pretty useless as well but there is no fundamentally misleading information in his review.

You also point out that there is 'not a subjective bone in his body.' May be that is a good thing because when I read laptop reviews, I don't want any of the subjective musings from different users (viz. 5 hours battery life on 'normal' settings, 'smooth' FPS). I prefer numbers such as 1520 scoring 2 hours 35 minutes when another 15-inch similar specification notebook scored 3 hours 39 minutes in an identical DVD rundown test from the same source.

 

Ah!! Horrible contextual error on my part, I meant "objective" vice "subjective". Corrected in original post above! Thanks for pointing that out.....and you are right, his audience at the WSJ is likely 95% non-versed in IT.

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. walt mossberg = stupid asshat

 

ok, the points he does make (in the article) I mostly agree with (except for the software stuff, I mean, what laptop comes with Firefox pre-installed?). I mean, it's thick, heavy, and battery life could be better. I agree with him that far...

I didn't realize Dell said this is a new kind of laptop, but maybe.
In any case, I think the Vostro is a way to get a lot of business features (see below) for less than the price of a Latitude or Thinkpad. To me, that's the raison d'etre of the Vostro line.

Yup.

At least some people probably choose XP because they get IE6, i.e. they may need compatibility with some web app. If you want the latest stuff, you can get Vista. If they upgraded portions of XP from the way Microsoft ships it, people would complain about that.

In the video he suggests that tech support people based in the Phillipines and Canada may not give very good support... make of that what you will.

Also, Dell just can't win with the pre-installed software. If they don't install antivirus software, people complain it's insecure. If they do, people complain about bloatware. So what do they do? They make it optional. And this reviewer still complains that his review model didn't come with it preinstalled. Well, whatever.

My problem with the review is more about what he doesn't say.
But the two selling points that I see for this machine are solid build and low cost (relative to competition), and he doesn't really address either one. He spends the time instead babbling about the preinstalled software on the review model and the Phillipine and Canadian tech support. That's my biggest beef with this review.

He says they don't have much that's not in Dell's consumer line, which is technically true, but not all that relevant. It's only true because Dell's consumer line has a bunch of features not usually found in consumer models, such as magnesium alloy chassis, spill-proof keyboard, HD shock protection, optional WWAN, matte screen option. It's more like they designed them for businesses, and the Inspirons just got the features as a side-effect. But Mossberg doesn't mention any of these business features. He's just like, oh, there's nothing that's not on the Inspirons, so I'll babble about the preinstalled software and Canadian tech support some more.

Sure, it's worth noting that these machines are rebranded Inspirons, but that doesn't inherently make them bad. It's not like they cost more than the Inspirons. He should really compare the Vostro to its intended competition, which is other budget business laptops such as Thinkpad R61 and HP Compaq 6510b and 6710b.

 

Aren't you being a bit harsh here? The review obviously isn't aimed at a technical audience - and in fact it's presumably aimed at small business types who would be looking at the Vostro. In a 5 minute review, why would he need to mention the amount of L2 cache in it, etc.? It would hardly be relevant.

Also, I think you're being overly harsh about his battery life test. As it is, probably something that doesn't tax the CPU 100% is probably better for getting a semblance of real-world battery life anyway...... since most of what small business-types would be using the Vostro for wouldn't be particularly CPU intensive.

-Zadillo

 

The marketing promos for the Dell Vostro basically include this text:

"Introducing Dell Vostro - not just a PC, but a commitment to doing more for your small business. Vostro is a new idea. It is a suite of products, services, and expertise designed for small businesses with 1-25 employees."

I think Mossberg's point, again, is that right now the Vostro line doesn't quite live up to all of that.

I agree with the points you raise, that right now the Vostro certainly does a good job of providing a fairly well built machine without some of the extra stuff that comes with the consumer laptops for a good price.

But that isn't specifically how Dell has been marking the Vostro. They have been pushing it as a "new idea" and with an emphasis on things tailored for small businesses.

All Mossberg seems to be saying is that they aren't quite doing that yet. I don't think he's criticizing what they are offering, and the merits of the Vostro line are exactly what you stated. But the point is, the Vostro line can and should be more, and even Dell has acknowledged that.

So I'm not specifically sure why people are jumping over Mossberg for pointing these issues out.

Certainly he could have simply done a review and stated the known positives (it's well built, reasonably priced, etc.), but when Dell goes out of their way to create a whole new brand and a marketing message, it isn't surprising that a reviewer would actually discuss how well the product matches up to the way it is marketed/branded.

If all Vostro is supposed to be is a lower-cost Inspiron line without craplets, etc. then that is fine, but it seems pretty obvious that Dell sees it as more than that, which makes sense.

-Zadillo

 

Well, I agree that, so far, "new idea" is a bit of an exaggeration. But that's marketing for ya. I guess I never take marketing/advertising copy too seriously... my brain just edits it out.

Well, to some extent, it is tailored for small businesses. I mean, they apparently have a dedicated support group for the Vostros (offshore or not), and I assume they train them to deal with business issues. The low price is in a way small-business-oriented, since larger businesses would probably be better off buying Latitudes. And as for the services they're offering... I'm just not sure what services are offered with the Vostros and whether they're tailored to small businesses or not.

Again, I'm not disagreeing with most of the points Mossberg did make. I just think that if you're going to do a review you may as well mention the main benefits of the product. Since these are marketed to small businesses, he could mention the features found on the Vostro that are usually found on business laptops. But he didn't.

 

You're right....Likely not aimed at a technical audience..and so, with that, I hereby call for Walt Mossberg to change the name of his column from "Personal Technology" to "Personal Blathering".

Incorrect. Little Walter himself used his harsh battery test to predict his real-world battery life numbers (based on his personal in-depth scientific testing):

I suppose one could perceive my comments as being a bit harsh...but Walter is like the Circuit City employee who leads the sheep astray. He requires harsh criticism.

 

Oh, and another thing... what's the point of a video review if you're not going to give a video tour of the machine. Is it just to make me stare at his white goatee the whole time? All they show--briefly--are what look as if they could be Dell product shots or something. Even CNET does some decent videos where they hold the machine and point out a few features, so even if nothing else in the review is worth listening to, you can get a sense of the look and feel a little bit. Not here.

 

" I suppose one could perceive my comments as being a bit harsh...but Walter is like the Circuit City employee who leads the sheep astray. He requires harsh criticism."

Too funny...

The target audience for the Vostro series would IMHO place the appropriate level of credibility on this review/reviewer

 

anyone know how much vostro 1400 weighs with 9 cell battery?

 

I guess I was talking about how he questioned the lack of security software and IE6 being standard on XP. But also, what was his deal with tech support being from the Philippines and Canada, I would figure that they would be able to give just as good support as the US, esp. in Canada? :confused2:

 

It's really lame of him to make an issue of the lack of preinstalled security software on the review unit. Dell lets you choose whether you want it or not when buying it, which is really the best thing they can do. Here is the choice you get:

All options professionally tested and pre-installed for out-of-the-box protection
- No Pre-installed Anti-Virus/Security Software add $0
- Norton Internet Security 2007 30-day Subscription [Included in Price]
- McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months [add $69]
- McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 24-months [add $89]
- McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 36-months [add $99]
Dell Recommended - BEST VALUE for less than $3 per month
- Norton Internet Security 2007, 15-months Subscription [add $69]
- Trend Micro PC-cillin with AntiVirus + Spyware removal, 15-months [add $69]​

So if you want the AV software, select it; if you don't want it, select the no security software option. That should settle the issue for everyone except perhaps Walt.

 

this is all BS lol no offence but i really didnt need to kno the bads of the laptop