Some of my colleagues over at Dell.com are ratcheting up the focus on customer ratings and reviews with a new twist called Customer Spotlight. While Dell has been publishing your ratings and reviews of our laptops and desktops for a while, it is hoped that the new Customer Spotlight reviews will be even more engaging and personal because they feature photos of the reviewer with his or her system.

Check out the live example here and let us know what you think. Better yet, tell us the pros and cons of your Dell system and send us a photo to include with your review. Go here to find out how easy it can be.

Many thanks in advance from Dell, and other customers who just may need exactly what you’re using.

Microsoft blogger Scott Hanselman recently posted a “practical developer’s review” of the Dell Mini 9 that, bottom line, does a great job of explaining why netbooks hit the mark with certain users and applications. I even learned a new acronym that made me smile — WAF (wife acceptance factor).

…His boy Elroy!  Daughter Judy!  Jane - his wife!

Hopefully, I have gotten that song stuck in your head for the day and brought you back to some fond memories from over 20 years ago.  I remember that time well.  I was always looking forward to the future when we would have a Rosie the Robot in our house to take care of all of the chores my mom wanted me to do.

Well, the future is here and I’m the mom and guess what??  I REALLY want a Rosie the Robot to help me out!

My husband and I have been struggling with how to stay on top of everything in our seemingly busier and busier everyday lives.  We have been trying to figure out how to make our lives easier.  How to be more efficient and productive.  How to have more free time.  How to get more sleep.  And ultimately, how to stay on top of removing the ever-present dog hair and filth from our floors.

Fortunately, I think I found some of the answers when I had the opportunity last month to speak at the Product Development Management Association’s annual conference.  One of the keynote speakers was Helen Greiner from iRobot.  She gave an amazing presentation on the development of the Roomba, Scooba and PackBot.  I became intrigued about the idea of a robot taking over my household chores and helping me with the desires I mentioned above.  I was fascinated to hear that the majority of people who own these products actually name them and consider them part of the family.  The final selling point was not her talk, but the leader of PDMA who introduced her and gave such a rave endorsement of the products!  He told us how all the men in his family have  taken over the chore of vacuuming and mopping because of these cool products.  He shared stories of his 18-month-old grandchild who said “Oomba” amongst her first words. There is something that cleans for you AND entertains the kids?!  I was sold.

Well, a few weeks ago, my two new children arrived — Shaggy and Scooby!  (Yes, I jumped on the naming idea right away.)

We had an official family “Meet the Robots” day.  I’m happy to report that they were welcomed into the family with fairly open arms.  My two dogs were happy to just ignore them.  This was a victory since they usually freak out whenever we pull out the regular vacuum cleaner.  And my kids (ages 1 and 3) were somewhat unsure at first, but ultimately thought they were pretty interesting to watch.

Now the big question remained - would they work?

Scooby did a fabulous job in the kitchen on cleaning even those annoying dark spots on the tile that come from stepping on water drops.  He was able to maneuver around our kitchen rug and avoid running onto the carpet and getting it wet.  And I especially like the fact that he sprays fresh cleaner and then sucks it back up into the robot.  Unlike regular mopping, I didn’t feel as though I was just pushing dirty water around.  The floor was definitely clean and it was definitely easy to do.

Shaggy had the more difficult job due to amount of dog hair you can accumulate from ~150 pounds of dogs in your house.  Thank you very much Ranger and Sheba!

We purchased the pet version of the Roomba and read the disclosure on the extra care a Roomba needs in a house with pets.  We felt that Shaggy did an adequate job of cleaning, but he did require many stops to remove the dog hair from the collection container, not to mention it wrapped around the brushes.  We tested this a few times over the last week.  Sadly, we decided the number of times we needed to stop and remove the hair from Shaggy was about equal to the work of just doing it ourselves with a regular vacuum cleaner.  I’m confident if we didn’t have so much dog hair, Shaggy would have been warmly welcomed into our family.

Now I am going to split up my adopted children and send Shaggy back and keep Scooby around for our tile floors.  It’s still a step closer toward making our lives more productive by outsourcing to technology.  It’s still a step closer to living the life of George and Jane Jetson.

Natalie recently posted on her favorite robot gadgets in Robot Love.  I’d love to hear any other tips of what you’ve done to use robots or technology to improve your life!

A number of computers come preinstalled with an awesome, largely unheard of program worth using. Bundled in several versions of Office 2007 is Microsoft OneNote. I know, I know… but if you think Office really can’t add much more of use, you’d be wrong. OneNote is an excellent electronic note-taking system that will change how you store personal information.

OneNote is the electronic equivalent of how you would store all of your “real” paperwork. Each notebook has tabs, like folders in a filing cabinet. Each tab has a various pages in it. You simply click anywhere on the page and type in your text.

You can cut and paste text, images, charts etc. from any application. It is just like using Microsoft Office. Also, there is an Internet Explorer shortcut that can send an entire Web page’s text and images (or just the selected information) to a notebook. Simply click the icon highlighted below, and it is saved.

Other entry methods include connecting an electronic writing tablet, whereby you can embed your own handwritten notes. My Bamboo tablet allows me to handwrite notes seamlessly on a OneNote page. I’ve imported the Web page above, with my own personal comment beside it.

This isn’t a rigid Word document. Each block of text can be moved, formatted and edited like a Post It note. You can even scan documents, and the OCR capabilities will translate your handwriting into text. Best of all, every piece of text is searchable.

You can put just about anything anywhere, and you never have to click a save icon. Everything is saved instantly; you can’t lose data. Additionally, any notebook file on a network share can be accessed by multiple people. Finally, if you have a Windows Mobile device you can import your own notes and images from your handheld. You can event link Outlook tasks to your notebooks.

It is all easier and quicker to use than you think. I’ve got a great start on my recipe collection. And going forward, it is a snap to save recipes from Web sites.

Of course, you should always consider the non-Microsoft alternative (especially when free). The otherwise leading program is Evernote. I’ve used their software, and it is very comparable to OneNote. Their download page also has a Firefox plugin similar to IE. They also have an excellent free iPhone application that will synchronize just about anything you do on your iPhone to Evernote on your PC or Mac. This includes audio recordings, text and images from the camera. You (and those you allow) can also access all your notes through any browser, and even add text and images by sending them to a custom Evernote e-mail address. Look for a full review of Evernote in the future.

OneNote has gotten some high praise, especially among college students. While I don’t own one, OneNote on a tablet PC is said to be something of a note-taking dream. I have a lot of practical uses in mind. I could see OneNote being ideal for recording medical information, software installation keys, remote control codes, logins and passwords, gift ideas and looking up PC hardware information quickly (say before a sale ends). It is perfect for the anal retentive, geek person who wants information at their fingertips. Or, anyone who needs to store information in a program with zero learning curve.

Before you go thinking “OOBE” is some acronym you are supposed to know and head out to Wikipedia (yes, it’s there), I can save you a click. OOBE stands for Out of Box Experience. According to the WIKI page, “It describes the experience a user has when installing and/or performing initial configuration on a piece of hardware or software.”

Posting viral video or a written account of OOBEs is fast becoming a popular adjunct to ratings and reviews. We at Dell and people considering a Mini purchase would like to see your OOBE videos and written accounts. Please post and share the links with us.

Gavin at Gadgetspot posted an excellent video of his out of box experience. Kris Rowland from Australia is also chronicling his experience on his blog.

The folks over at Gadgetell have hosted some good Mini conversations and user reviews as well. Tell us what you think about the Mini. We would love to hear from you.

After what seems like decades, I finally have installed Google’s Chrome. Having one unsuccessful attempt under my belt, I was surprised at how quick and easy it was. Google even took the high road and didn’t ask (or forcible act) to make Chrome the default browser on the PC or change Google to be the default search engine.

Since we all live in a quick fix, I need it yesterday, nothing exceeds like excess world, I’ll skip to what I personally like and dislike about Chrome. Your mileage may vary. In the interested of full disclosure, I’m probably a browser power user and I tend to stick mostly with Firefox.

Plus:

• It is very quick.
• Page rendering works well across common, popular Web sites, i.e. Gmail, Hotmail, Facebook, etc.
• It feels like other browsers. For example, the same message bar above the page, similar key shortcuts for new tabs, pages et al, and the “star” icon is used for bookmarks.
• It has a simplistic design. Chrome has a minimal toolbar with no wordy menus. Even though the browser history isn’t robust, it lets you find what you need in an attractive way.
• The URL bar nicely doubles as your search bar.
• It has tab isolation, which prevents the browser from crashing if a single Web site causes one tab to fail.

Minus:

• Plugins – Other than the basics (i.e. Java, Flash) there aren’t any right now. Surfing without Adblock is a huge drawback.
• Bookmarks – It seems like FF and IE just can’t get this right. Chrome is no exception, and needs to improve this as well.  It simply isn’t easy or intuitive to organize bookmarks.  Also, someone needs to develop built-in bookmark synchronization and sharing features a la Del.icio.us.
• It’s too simplistic – It took me a while to learn you can’t access your bookmarks from anything but a new tab, and this is a major inconvenience.  Having no “Home” button is a bit unusual.  These can be changed, although the settings are somewhat buried.
• It’s not simplistic enough – Google kept it minimal, but added a lot of items that didn’t need to be front and center.  For example, the main “Page” icon has entries for “Create application shortcuts,” “Encoding,” “Developer,” “Report bug or broken Web site” and “Text zoom.”  While great features, most users will never use any of them.   If you right click an image, your popup menu gives you 10 ways to view or save that image. Excessive?  Google is focusing Chrome more for Web applications, not simple Web pages. The more you focus on the Web application, and avoid the UI of the browser, the better.

Personally, I’ll stick to Firefox. However, Chrome does have a place in the world. For casual Web surfers it is a great choice, particularly if you go to dynamic, JavaScript-heavy Web sites. I suspect Chrome would be great browser for moderately powered, Internet-centric, ultra-mobile PCs like the Dell Mini.    From a business perspective, some bugs, security flaws  and an unusual licensing agreement might minimize corporate use.  

I’m curious if Google will provide money long term to Firefox, or focus more on Chrome.  Should Chrome adopt the addons of Firefox, and maintain the speed it currently has, it could very well become the new reigning king for this generation of browser wars.

Today, like many other people, I downloaded Google’s browser Chrome to take it out for a test drive.   At the time I didn’t and still don’t understand the need for yet another browser.  Mozilla has the popular Firefox.   Apple has Safari.    Microsoft has IE.    Opera Software has Opera.  There is even the divergent version of Firefox called Flock.   Between these, every major operating system is adequately covered.  Google even funds Mozilla to make Firefox.   Isn’t that sort of a conflict of interest?  Do we really need yet another browser?

However, there is a tool for every job.  So I thought I’d see what Chrome has to offer.  Certainly, Google will draw upon criticisms of Microsoft to make a better browser.  Or so I thought.

The installation was not without problems.  For starters, Google only allows you to download a small stub.  The actual installer is really a larger  download that silently installs itself.  I waited over an hour.  I’m not sure why this would be the case, given Google has tens of thousands of servers around the world.  Also, given their loyal followers, it seems like making the full installer officially available over bittorent would have made sense.  My coworkers downloaded it no problem; a regular installer would have been nice for file copy purposes.

Upon the start of my next attempt, I was greeted with the following error:

The “Help me fix this” link  was completely unhelpful.   After rebooting and trying again, I’m an hour into my second attempt.  It is stuck at about 90% this time.

I did hear a lot of comments on how fast it was, but I never really thought Firefox (or even IE) was that slow.  That seems to be its greatest advantage.   Google might learn what Microsoft already knows: Writing software for every specific computer is not without its challenges.   I saw a lot of posts about proxy servers and anti-virus conflicts.   Those are certainly not the issues you want if Google plans to have Chrome preinstalled on PCs.

Will another browser mean more work and testing for all the Web sites out there?  Probably.   Chrome and Safari do use the open source rendering engine webkit.  Those browsers (as well as the IE 8 beta) therefore pass the Acid 2 test.   However, it appears no one is doing too well on the Acid 3 test.

I’m sure Chrome will eventually be that quick download that most people install by accident when they update Flash or WeatherBug.   Google has deep enough pockets to stick it everywhere.  If it is simple and quick, they’ll get the causal/novice browsers.  The power users, I suspect, will stick with Firefox after the shiny, new feeling of Chrome goes away.   For now, Firefox has unparalleled amount of free powerful add-ons that pretty much let you do anything.   IE 8 does have a lot of new features, but it still more or less lags behind the other players in several areas.

But for now, I give up.  I know this is technically beta software, but come on.  Gmail has been around for years and Google still calls that a beta, too.  I’m sure I’ll get it to work in time, and blog about the browsing experience.  Consider this post a cliffhanger.  I could still see me loving or hating Chrome after I get it installed.

I think it’s great that there is competition between all the browsers, but I’d much rather see something completely new from Google.  A Google Maps if you will.  I think we’ll have enough browsers available if and when Google (or the next great software powerhouse) creates the next great cloud computing application on the Internet.

With the average price of gas well above $4/gallon (and closing in on $5), the cost of getting lost or wasting time looking for an address is at a historical high — and the return on investment of a good GPS system gets more attractive. Great deals make these cunning devices even more attractive.

With favorable notice from ZDNet and Crave on its unique features — and a limited-time promo dropping the price to $199.99 — the Navigon 5100 might be a great choice for digital nomads.

For me the most intriguing differentiators are:

• Free (no monthly fee) traffic updates.
• Lane change, speed and photo-realistic views of complex intersections (forewarned is forearmed), and
• Zagat ratings and reviews (for driving directly to that new place you heard about instead of circling around an unfamiliar neighborhood – not that I’ve ever done that).

So one of the “cool” applications we launched with the new Studio laptops is Dell Video Chat (DVC). This is a super easy, one-click-and-you’re-ready-to-go program that makes setting up a video chat mindless.  When we were talking to reporters about how easy DVC was to start up and use, my spokesperson, Brent Wampler, director of global product marketing, was initially greeted with a bit of skepticism. Many reporters were familiar with video chat, including one who had used it regularly in grad school while working on group projects. All agreed that “easy to use” and video chat don’t normally belong in the same sentence. So how do we qualify just how easy this is to use? To Brent’s credit, he found a way to articulate the easy set up in a way that a lot “technical” folks can relate to: “My mom can use this.” 

This is nothing against moms (I’m a  mom), but it is one of the BEST litmus tests available when trying to figure out if something is TRULY easy to use.  But Brent isn’t the only one who thought of this litmus test…check out this GREAT post on Gear Diary by Wayne Schultz, who did indeed, enlist his mom to test how easy DVC is to download and use.

I also want to recognize the folks who teamed with Dell to make Dell Video Chat a reality: SightSpeed. I met the SightSpeed team a couple of months ago, and going into the meeting, I had NO idea what DVC entailed, but after 10 minutes with Eric Quanstrom, VP of marketing, I was really excited and ready to give it a try. Eric ended the meeting by sending me a video email, which was so laid back and “real” that I went home and downloaded SightSpeed’s “free” version on our family XPS M1530 and played with it. A couple of weeks later, I was in New York on a business trip when my daughter had her braces removed and I was beside myself I couldn’t see her THAT DAY. As it happens we were actually demoing DVC to some publications and voila – my daughter logs on to SightSpeed at home, connects to the DVC account we are using for demonstrations  and  I (and everyone else in the room) get to see the most beautiful smile EVER (it was the ultimate “proud  mom” moment).

So a couple of additional points about Dell Video Chat – there are TWO versions – a full featured version that ships on all Studio Laptops and a free version that SightSpeed has made available at www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat. The free version works on just about ANY PC – including Mac (see Wayne’s post – his mom has a Mac) and Linux, as well as Windows XP and Vista. So if you get a Studio laptop don’t think you can’t reach out to friends and family because they don’t have one. Dell Video Chat users can send their personalized “My SightSpeed” URL to ANYONE over the Internet, and that person can simply click to call the Dell Video Chat user through their Web browser with NO software download of any kind and DVC users can create and send video messages to anyone with an email account and that recipient can view those video messages without any software download of any kind. 

I promise you – it’s so easy your mom/dad/daughter/son can use it first time out!

“Party on Garth!” is one of my favorite lines that I pull out when I am celebrating. And today I am celebrating some “heavy hitter” third-party validation of product excellence. In the last few days both the XPS 730 and the XPS 420 received some awesome awards.  Dell’s monster gaming desktop, the XPS 730, received an Editor’s Choice award from HotHardware.com, and the XPS 420, a premium desktop purpose-built to power through multi-media tasks, was recognized as one of the 100 Best Products of 2008 by PC World. “Way!”

Third-party recognition of and awards for Dell’s products are important. We know that the No. 1 resource for customers researching a new PC is advice from friends and family – that’s why we started including “ratings and reviews” on Dell.com. Product reviews from objective third-party experts like the technology analysts at Hot Hardware, PC World and PC Magazine, also help in the decision process.  We work closely with these outlets to ensure they receive a product that is representative of a true customer experience (read: no tweaking) and stay in close contact to make sure any and all questions are answered. I respect them all because they look at hundreds, if not thousands, of gewgaws, doodads, gadgets and gizmos every year – and take on the unenviable task of “keeping it real.”

Some choice call outs:

“The XPS 730 may be the last of its kind. Perhaps the design team of the XPS 730 also realized this, inspiring them to try and make it the best 700 series machine to date. Whatever their inspiration, the XPS 730 turned out to be a great gaming and multimedia computer. The XPS 730 represents the fourth generation in Dell’s XPS 700 series and it exhibits a maturity of design that only iteration and refinement can bring. We heartily recommend the XPS 730 and the XPS 730 H2C to anyone in the market for a high-end gaming/multimedia computer and we are happy to award the XPS 730 H2C our coveted Editor’s Choice award.” Hothardware.com, May 27, 2008

“…our test machine came with several options we rarely see: front-mounted S-Video and RCA ports with the hardware Xcelerator option for transcoding video to your hard drive; a small, top-mounted LCD that utilizes Microsoft’s Sideshow secondary display technology to give you external access to Vista sidebar gadgets; and Bluetooth to handle the included wireless GM952 keyboard and RM-RBB-DEL 4 mouse.” PCWorld.com

So I’m off to high five the product development teams for these two “Excellent” PCs … “Party on Wayne!”