“Dell is challenging Apple Computer’s iPod Mini music player, as part of a plan to expand its Dell brand name in the consumer electronics market,” John G. Spooner reports for CNET News.
“The Round Rock, Texas, PC maker on Thursday launched a diminutive Dell Digital Jukebox portable music player, the Dell Pocket DJ 5… which will sell for $199 and offer 5GB of storage [and] is likely to be compared to Apple’s 4GB, $249 iPod Mini. A trim 20GB Dell DJ will sell for $249, a drop of $30 from the price of Dell’s existing 20GB model. Dell believes that its relatively low prices on the music players… will help win over consumers.” Spooner reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yawn. Imagine waking up all excited on Christmas morning and opening a box with that thing in it? Where’s my iPod, Mom?! The only things the Dell Pocket DJ 5 will kill is Christmas joy and eyeballs.
Perhaps Michael Dell should consider writing off his weak “digital lifestyle” product lines and give the money back to the shareholders?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Virgin unveils ‘iPod mini killer’ and openly chides Apple for not allowing iTunes support – October 12, 2004
Packard Bell to release Apple iPod Mini ‘killer’ – August 12, 2004
Sony: Apple launched iPod too early, technology now ready for ‘Walkman’ name – August 08, 2004
Rio debuts 5GB ‘iPod mini killer’ – August 02, 2004
Mossberg: Sony Walkman ‘laborious, weak, lousy, confusing, stinks’ vs. Apple iPod – July 28, 2004
Dont they know when to roll over and die
Good luck with all that Dell. Hey Mikey, by the way, what’s your market share these days anyway? Around 2% you say? Oh the irony. LOL
I will say this: The new mini-me-too DJ is better looking than the old one. I don’t think anyone could deny that.
But…
Prettier sh*t is still sh*t, right??
well this actually the first one that sports a lower price than the mini, not that I think it will help all that much
well this actually the first one that sports a lower price than the mini, not that I think it will help all that much
Looks like an old Russian lighter to me…!
ugly
when will they understand that what Apple care’s about is making the best product. period. not making the most money.
i think the consumer base is starting to understand that and no longer blindly following the big boys anymore.
this goes to show just how out of touch with the market Dell and Microsoft truly are.
Looks like a light switch from a 1950s futurama-type home.
cheaper is just cheaper. not better. you get what you pay for.
It does look a little better, it is priced a little better and as long as it plays music I am sure it will at least gather some kind of crowd. Hopefully only a small crowd.
BWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Must………. breathe….. It’s……. getting…….. dark……blacking……….. out………
Okay I am back…..oh man that looks like: CrAp! As Raymond’s dad would say.
Cobra, it can’t be 2%.
Apple holds 92.1% market share of ALL hard-drive based players.
Creative has 3.7%
Rio has 3.2%.
That leaves 1% for everyone else.
Dell probably has .01% of all hdd-based players sold…if they’re lucky.
This is just another knock off attempt by DULL. Here they are trying to copy the form factor of the iPod mini, whith the rond edges and flat tops. It is the one reason by this units looks better than the old POS. They realize they have zero ability to develop something innovative, so they just copy Apple. Looks aside, which are still not close to the iPod mini, this unit is still a POS when it comes down to it.
Reason #1,234,835 why I love MDN:
“Perhaps Michael Dell should consider writing off his weak ‘digital lifestyle’ product lines and give the money back to the shareholders?”
Great timing with this announcement Dell.
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Apple more than doubled it’s value. If Dell wanted a piece of that they could have done worse than continue selling the iPod. For whatever reason they chose to back WMA.
HP did not and now more PC makers should do the same. Everyone can use an iPod but you can only use the Dell Pocket DJ 5 on Windows. If you have a Mac, protected WMA files cannot be played. Talk about giving the customer choice!
I feel sorry for the kids who get this hunk of junk for Xmas and really wanted an iPod. They’ll be taunted for having this crap!
Each new player comes with ONE SONG pre loaded, by the well-known band Whitesnake
Chorus-
“I’m gonna slide it in,
Right to the top,
Slide it in,
I ain’t never gonna stop
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
I’m gonna slide it in, slide it in,
Slide it in,
Right to the top
Slide it in,
I ain’t never gonna stop
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
I’m gonna slide it in, slide it in, slide it,
Slide it in, slide it in,
Right to the top, baby…”
it’s not that ugly. it did a decent job of ripping off the look of the silver mini.
that being said, i’ll still feel bad for anyone i see with that. i won’t have to laugh or say anything. they’ll already know what i’m thinking.
This would have been merely amusing 24 hours ago, whereas today it is absolutely hysterically funny.
The iPod has reached a tipping point – from 800K units to over 2M units in one quarter � with dominant market share and style icon status. It has crossed over from the geek space to the consumer space, it looks good, it has become aspirational.
This wart on a carbuncle of a mutated Seventies TV remote won’t succeed for any number of reasons: not least of which is the fact that Dull will only sell it in the US where consumer consciousness is totally behind the iPod.
Here is the real Mini iPod killer, the Olympus m:robe MR-100:
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/337/C3294/
“The m:robe MR-100 is a slim and stylish looking 5GB digital audio player, operation is done via touch pad, this kills the iPod concept of dials and buttons while making it ultra-slim and compact. The high polished black face and the red display makes it look pretty badass.”
Yep, they said “BADASS”. It is “BADASS”.
Dell’s newest loss leader!
They real think that junk looks good.Look like it belong on a hood of a late model car. No even that to good.
Apple already did touch-sensitive buttons with the 3G iPod. People complained about it because it was too easy to accidentally press a button you didn’t want to.
I think that this product (while slick) will also have a similar issue.
That m:robe doesn’t look ‘badass’ to me. It just looks plain ugly. As for the touchpad controls, how does that kill the iPod concept? It doesn’t seem to me like much of a challenger. Pricewise, the low end model is the same price as the iPod mini, and the high end model is more expensive than the top end iPod.