Xbox 360 hype over?

I remember braving the cold and rain for 12 hours to claim my new Xbox 360 on launch day. I also had clients asking me to obtain one for them at any cost. All the game news outlets got wind of a second large shipment coming into BestBuys across the nation sparking yet another lineup of individuals braving the weather for hours and in some cases days in order to get one these under the tree in time for Christmas. Now that the holidays are almost past us, is the insane need to obtain this fine piece of gaming hardware over? Due to my recent visit into my local BestBuy I would have to say it could be. I walked in today to claim my copy of Dead or Alive 4 for the 360 and to my amazement I saw a table set up with three Xbox360 premiums with related accessories and games. The table was manned by several BestBuy employees. I asked if they were for sale and the reply was ‘Yes’. My next question was how many do you have, figuring the reply would be the three I saw. My jaw dropped when the reply was ‘Twenty Eight Premiums just arrived this morning’. They had gone on sale that morning, I arrived a little after 2pm and they had only sold one unit. People passed by looking at the boxes stacked there but no one purchased one during my visit to the store. So if any of you are looking for 360s and are in the Westchester County/NY area, I would give the Hartsdale store a call or a visit if you’re close by. I would assume they still have plenty in stock.

Intel Pushing Up Launch Of Conroe:

[H]ard|OCP Although Intel has declined to comment, DigiTimes says that their sources are saying that Intel is pushing up the launch of the Conroe and 965 chipset to July 06.

According to Intel’s original schedule, the 965-series chipset and the Conroe CPU would have been launched in the second and fourth quarter of 2006, respectively. Smooth development of Conroe, however, has enabled Intel to reschedule the launch of the new CPU and revise its marketing strategy, said the sources, adding that the launch of its 965-series chipset will be delayed by a week or two.

Tis the season to strong arm customers

I had one really miserable day with Dell yesterday. I have a Dell 700m laptop which I purchased about a year ago. The little pin that registers that the laptop is closed so that it goes into hibernate, broke off. This pin is attached to a strip that also contains the power button. This strip is extremely easy to replace, so I decided to call Dell and have it replaced. When I called in and selected the parts department, I was forwarded to a call center outside the US, most likely India. It happened to be a day where they were having phone issues. After speaking with someone for a couple of minutes, the call would go silent then drop off. I called about ten times, some representatives took my number in case I was disconnected. No one ever called back however, why bother taking my number in the first place? This time I decided to use the home user option, rather than small business. This is when my frustration with their phone system became child’s play. No one in the small business section asked for my Service Tag number under the laptop, however the home section required it. Once they received it they became dumb and had no idea of the part I was describing and required me to go to tech support to get the appropriate part number for them to use. They forced me there even though the part had Dell part numbers underneath it, they said I need to go to tech support to confirm the part number. After transferring me to tech support, the representative asked me for my Service Tag number again. This is when things became out right annoying if not comical. I was informed that my warranty expired and my phone support with it as well. I told the representative that I was not in need of any tech support and that I was transfered to verify a part number for the parts department. Again she went through the routine how she could not give me that information without appropriate service contract on the laptop. I went round for round, telling her there was no way in hell I was going to shell out a couple of hundred dollars just to get the part number for a $10 part. She stood her ground until I told her I had it and wanted a supervisor immediately. She then put me on hold and magically came back within seconds with the same part number listed under the piece I was holding in my hand. Is it just me or does this seem un-ethical to anyone else. It was pretty funny that the small business group didn’t try this, but the home section did. Is it that they think that general home users are gullible and would pay this ransom to replace a part? Shame on you Dell for pulling such tactics! Its one thing to inform a customer that their warranty has expired and offer them the ability to purchase an extension. It is another to force them into doing so even when there is nothing wrong with their system, just to replace a part is just poor customer service.