This recycling offer is designed for consumers and includes responsible recycling of used Dell-branded computers and peripheral equipment at no-charge. The service does not require a replacement purchase.
Before you had to pay to have your computer recycled if you didn’t purchase a PC from them. I noticed that the press release does say “Dell-branded computers” but the Dell Recycling Homepage says “for any make or model.” For a typical PC and monitor it would end up costing you $20 to recycle the two but it looks like Dell has waived the fee because I didn’t see anything in the help screen about that. I also browsed through the facts to see if they had the 50 pound weight limitation but there is no mention of that either. This is great news for anyone looking to clear out some of the original Pentium PC’s that are shoved in the corner of the house.
What’s even more important is that the program now reaches 15 countries, in which 8 of those are new:
Dell isn’t planning on stopping the recycling program anytime soon. In fact, they nearly doubled the amount of product this year that was recycled (according to weight) when compared to last year. That is quite a success story because if you think about how PC’s continue to get smaller then you’ll also realize that the weight is starting to drop, which is what they are using to measure the amount that gets recycled. By the year 2010 they hope to recycle 125 million KG in PC hardware and peripherals.
This article was written on July 22, 2007 by CyberNet.
A few days ago I had the pleasure of getting my hands on a specialized Media Center remote by Gyration. If it sounds familiar, that’s because this is the same remote control that Alienware includes with their Hangar18 Media Center PC. So what makes this remote control so much better than any other?
It is designed with a computer in mind because of some special capabilities it includes which makes it act as a mouse as well. The built-in gyroscopic motion sensing capabilities allow you to wave the remote in the air to move the cursor on the screen. In some sense it is very similar to a Wii controller.
Note: There is a video at the end of this post where I demonstrate some of the capabilities of the remote.
–Unboxing–
The box was about the same size as what computer software normally comes in. Here are some photos I took of the box (click on any of them for the fullsize version):
This is a remote control so it doesn’t really have much that it needs to come with. Here are the things that you will get with it:
The Gyration remote
2.4GHz USB receiver
(2) AA batteries for the remote
USB extender for the receiver which is handy if your computer if under a desk or tucked away.
Manual & Quick Start guide
And here is a close-up of the remote/receiver as well as a profile view of the remote (click on them for the fullsize version):
–Setup–
Honestly, this is probably one of the easiest things that I’ve ever setup on a computer. I plugged the USB 2.4GHz receiver into the computer, inserted the AA batteries that were included for the remote, and then hit the connect buttons on both the device and the remote. After that everything just worked! No CD’s are needed, there are no drivers to install, just plug it in and go.
–Programming–
Like most universal remotes, you can program this one for up to four separate devices (PC, TV, Aux, and Cable/Satellite). Most of the instruction manual is used for device codes for things like your television, so that you enter in a code and it all just automagically works. I, however, had a speaker system that I wanted to control using it and so I needed to teach the remote the commands one-by-one.
I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I don’t like reading the instruction manuals. Well, that was where my problem was when I tried to teach the remote some new commands. I’ve programmed a lot of universal remotes in my day, and so I didn’t think this one would be any different. I picked up the manual, flipped to the page that told me how to get into the “learning” mode, and started to teach it some commands.
That didn’t work so well as I tried to point the remotes toward each other. Had I read the page previous to that one, this would have been a piece-of-cake. As it turns out, the infrared receiver on the Gyration remote is on the bottom instead of on the top where I naturally thought it would be. All I had to do was flip the Gyration remote around 180 degrees and I was back in business!
I guess manuals are there for a reason. 🙂
–Using it as a Mouse–
This is undoubtedly the shining point of the remote. Having a smooth motion mouse that you can wave around in the air is a superb feature. To activate the mouse you just have to press and hold the “Motion Gyration” button located near the center of the remote. You can also right-click or left-click using the respective buttons on each side of it.
If you plan on doing a lot of work with the mouse you can press the “Motion Gyration” button twice to have it keep the mouse capabilities on longer. This is useful for dragging-and-dropping files around the desktop, resizing windows, are playing those addictive arcade games online. When you get done using the mouse just press the “Motion Gyration” button again and it will turn that feature off.
What would have really made this feature rock even more was if they included some sort of pre-configured mouse gesture software. That way you could perform mouse gestures to do things like bring up the television guide or skip forward in a movie.
–Using it as a Remote–
As a remote it functions just as you would expect it to. One of the biggest benefits, however, is that it sends all commands to the PC using the 2.4GHz radio frequency. With that you could be a few dozen feet away from the receiver (even with some walls in the way) and you would still be able to do things like play or pause music. Now I have to “reprogram” myself (no pun intended) that I don’t need to be pointing the remote at the receiver in order for it to work. 🙂
–Demonstration–
Alright, I put together a quick demonstration that shows how the mouse on the remote works. If you’ve used a Wii before I’m sure this won’t be very earth shattering. 🙂
–Overview–
I’ve had more experience with the default Media Center remotes that I would care to admit, and they’ve always come up a little short from what I would like to have. The Gyration Media Center Remote is priced at $150, (you can find it cheaper if you shop around on eBay or other stores) and is well worth the investment in my opinion. And if you’re thinking about getting this or the Media Center keyboard…this is way more useful in my opinion. If you really need the keyboard they also offer a version of the mouse that comes with a more compact keyboard for $50 more.
To conclude the article I’ll go ahead and list some of the strengths and weaknesses:
Very Good: The built-in gyroscope that is used for the mouse is exceptional. It handles itself very well without making the cursor jitter or jump around the screen. Also the fact that you can double-click or drag-and-drop items with the remote is a huge plus!
Very Good: After getting it unboxed, I was using the remote in less than 30-seconds. There was no software to install and no drivers needed for it to work.
Very Good: Uses a 2.4GHz signal to interact with the computer, so you don’t have to worry about pointing the remote at an infrared box. I was even able to use this in another room.
Good: Volume and channel keys are distinct which makes them easy to find in the dark.
Good: Works for both Vista Media Center and XP Media Center (and even Macs according to their site).
Good: There are quite a few buttons on this remote, and from what I can tell most of them are programmable.
Okay: Control up to 4 devices. I would have liked to see it control 6 or 8 devices, but 4 should satisfy most people.
Okay: Each number has letters underneath it kind of like a telephone. This is useful in Media Center when doing a search for a show using the remote, but it is a little sluggish.
Not Included: Mouse gesture software would have been cool, but I might be able to download some on my own and configure it to the Media Center’s commands.
Not Included: I would have liked to see some of the keys on the remote light up in the dark.
Not Good: The remote is both long and a little thick (as seen in the profile view above). It measures 9-inches high and is 1.25-inches thick at the biggest section. Anyone that has small hands may find this remote to be a bit bulky.
This article was written on March 14, 2007 by CyberNet.
Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth has spoken up on his personal blog what he feels about the recent happenings with Dell, and the possibility that users will be offered the chance to have some distribution of Linux (such as Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, or Fedora) pre-installed on a new PC.
His article explains a lot of things that is important for some people to realize. I’ll recap a few of the things that caught my attention:
This means that one of the biggest issues a computer manufacturer or reseller faces in considering Linux pre-installations is the impact it will have on the Microsoft relationship, and hence bottom line.
That is very true, and I’m sure Microsoft gives discounts to OEM’s who sell a large quantity of their products such as Windows and Office. If Dell pursued the Linux PC’s then Microsoft might increase the pricing of Windows which will cause Dell to have to increase their prices. I think that the impact might not be as drastic initially, but I’m sure Microsoft isn’t too fond of Dell offering Linux systems.
Here’s another quote:
The worst-case scenario is a customer who buys a computer at the lowest price off your website, assuming it’s a Windows machine, and then calls, infuriated, because it “won’t work with the game they are trying to install”. One customer who accidentally gets Linux without knowing what that means is an expensive proposition for a company that makes relatively little on the low-end product range.
This is going to be one of my biggest fears as well. People seeing this “great deal” on the Dell site and impulsively purchasing it. Then I receive the call one night asking why none of their Windows programs can be installed on the computer. I’m hoping in a case like this Dell would simply let users pay a little extra to get a version of Windows shipped to them.
And now for the last quote:
Second, we free software fans are a fussy crowd, and very hard to please. You know what you are like – you sit and configure that Dell system down to the finest detail, you want a specific model of HP laptop, you want the one that has the Intel graphics chipset not the other chipset because you prefer the free driver approach from Intel… you are in short an expert, demanding customer. This means, that in order to reach us with Linux, a reseller has to offer Linux EVERYWHERE, not just on a few select models.
Yes, Linux users in particular are often very knowledgeable about their computers and want to choose exactly what they are getting. In this case, however, I’m sure a lot of users will just build their own PC’s. By Dell offering computers with Ubuntu pre-installed I think it will possibly attract some new Linux users that may have not previously tried out Linux. The biggest benefit by Dell doing this is that a user is sure that all of the hardware in the system functions well with the operating system itself.
I’m still skeptical about the number of people who will actually purchase Linux PC’s from Dell, but maybe I’ll be surprised in the end. I think it also depends on how much Dell actually tries to promote Linux, and I don’t think that will really be done since their real revenue will come from selling Windows PC’s.
Note: The image used in this article is from DeviantArt, and is freely available as a wallpaper (1600×1200 resolution).
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In September Dell launched a computer recycling program but at the time it was only available for limited markets. The press release from yesterday also says something interesting:
Dell isn’t planning on stopping the recycling program anytime soon. In fact, they nearly doubled the amount of product this year that was recycled (according to weight) when compared to last year. That is quite a success story because if you think about how PC’s continue to get smaller then you’ll also realize that the weight is starting to drop, which is what they are using to measure the amount that gets recycled. By the year 2010 they hope to recycle 125 million KG in PC hardware and peripherals.
A few days ago I had the pleasure of getting my hands on a specialized 
Like most universal remotes, you can program this one for up to four separate devices (PC, TV, Aux, and Cable/Satellite). Most of the instruction manual is used for device codes for things like your television, so that you enter in a code and it all just automagically works. I, however, had a speaker system that I wanted to control using it and so I needed to teach the remote the commands one-by-one.
Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth 
