Dell’s CableCARD Re-entry Is Huge In the Grand Scheme
There is no doubt that CableCARD has been a rollercoaster
for most OEM’s. HP has picked
up and dropped
support
more
times than I can count, Dell (until today) had appeared
to be out of the market altogether after
taking so long to get in the game, and other OEMs cater to higher end and
specialty customers.
Today, Dell came
back with a splash introducing that all XPS 420’s would have CableCARD as an
option. Now only that, but the
performance-to-price ratio is finally right where it should be. A Quad-Core Q6600, 3GB of RAM, and ATI HD
2400 for under $900 is fantastic, and adding low priced ATI Digital Cable
Tuners at just $180/piece wraps up the whole package.
This is just the start of what Dell has done with this offer
though. For anyone who has tried to
configure an XPS 420 today, you should notice that “Windows Vista (Home
Premium/Ultimate) with Digital Cable Support” is the only option. In the grand scheme of things, this is huge.
Dell is shipping all XPS 420’s with the OCUR BIOS and PID/COA
(Product Key). This means that even if
you don’t pick up a Digital Cable Tuner at checkout, you can buy one at a later
date and your system is ready for it.
This is huge, and effectively starts to take the CableLabs approved factor
out of the picture. It doesn’t mean you
will be able to build your own machine, but anyone who purchases an XPS 420 has
the ability to get CableCARD in Windows Vista.
Shipping all systems with the OCUR BIOS and PID/COA was specifically
negotiated with Microsoft and truly is needed for CableCARD (and Vista Media Center)
to take a step forward. Dell is currently not shipping standalone Digital
Cable Tuners. As we all know, the
limitations brought on by CableLabs and Microsoft don’t make it the best
candidate for a shelf at Best Buy, so that will be interesting for Dell to target in the future and is key to the overall plan in my opinion.
As the option is standard now on the XPS 420 line, I expect
Dell’s support to have significantly more troubleshooting and support
information available to them. One of
the common problems with top tier OEMs has been calling for support and being
told they never sold you a PC with such a tuner. Standardizing them across the line should
help significantly with that.
Dell took a huge step forward today and is pulling CableCARD
and Vista Media Center behind them.
Related:
Dell XPS
420 CableCARD Q&A
Vista
CableCARD FAQ
