Can I get a Dell laptop built here?

[DaveTN]

Anyone know?

I’m looking at the Dell Studio 17 series (or maybe the new XPS 16) of laptops. You use to have to be a corporate user to get one built here, but that’s been a long time ago; has that changed?

I see that Wal-Mart is selling Chinaman built Dell Studio 17's with lesser specs than the ones offered on Dells site at a lower price.

I’m willing to pay more for the ability to order exactly what I want; but I want it to be from one of the facilities in the states.

[Guest Boomhower]

Where is here?

As far as I know, you can build one online and have it shipped tp your house. I've done it twice now, but I get a discount (very small) thru my employer. But I have always built one thru the regular website & then built one thru using my company code just to see how much I saved.

[Guest cgs2326]

None of the Dell laptops are built in the US. They are built overseas and then shipped into the distro plant here in Nashville and then boxed and shipped out to the customer or retailer.

[Guest m&pc9]

Anyone know?

I’m looking at the Dell Studio 17 series (or maybe the new XPS 16) of laptops. You use to have to be a corporate user to get one built here, but that’s been a long time ago; has that changed?

I see that Wal-Mart is selling Chinaman built Dell Studio 17's with lesser specs than the ones offered on Dells site at a lower price.

I’m willing to pay more for the ability to order exactly what I want; but I want it to be from one of the facilities in the states.

I dont know of a computer that is made in the USA. I think gateway is but not for sure. I have been trying to buy products that are made in the USA also.Good luck and I will try to research it when I get time.

[Guest cgs2326]

Well all the desktop pc's and servers are made in the US it's just the laptops that are made overseas.

[Guest 7987Steve]

Actually, at last check, there is NO notebook computer completely American in origin. I think you can find some that are assembled in the US, but those have become few and far between.

Ever considered a Mac? Not trying to start a thread war . . just a question.

[Guest Boomhower]

Ahh...."here" makes since now.

[DaveTN]

I’m well aware that there are no computers that have all U.S. manufactured parts. But there are some that are U.S. built.

My Dell XPS-410 I bought 01/07 was built in Nashville. At that time gateway had also just brought back some assembly to this county. I tried to deal with them at the time (I believe they are built in Smyrna or LaVergne), but they had no track record with their machines built here. When I inquired the only responses I got were from people that had their ChinaMan Best Buy machines. They wanted as much as a Dell and even though they didn’t have much out there yet; they wouldn’t give me any incentive to buy. Two years later and I still haven’t heard much out of them; did they (Custom Build facility) fold?

Even though my dell was built here, the only time I had to deal with support I had to deal with Ali Baba who was working out of his house with his kids screaming in the background. He ended up being useless. At that time I was told only corporate customers got to use U.S. support. But I heard Dell was talking about changing that: has that happened yet?

None of the Dell laptops are built in the US. They are built overseas and then shipped into the distro plant here in Nashville and then boxed and shipped out to the customer or retailer.

I didn’t know that; I thought the Nashville facility was built to build laptops, and when they first moved here they were building laptops at the Lebanon facility??

Ever considered a Mac? Not trying to start a thread war . . just a question.

That’s a valid question. No, I haven’t considered a Mac because I can’t. Nothing really against Mac’s but because of the industry I’m in and the work I do the only way I could use a Mac would be if it was running Windows; I can’t see the point in that.

Where is here?

Tennessee or Texas.

Edited February 13, 2009 by DaveTN

[Guest Boomhower]

You can duel boot windows on a mac

[56FordGuy]

The Dell facility in Nashville, to the best of my knowledge, does mainly distribution. The Lebanon facility (or what's left of it) does computer builds, though I don't know if they're new or rebuilding them.

[DaveTN]

Wow...doesn’t appear that I can get something built here. That’s really sad.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Dell to cease Lebanon desktop production

Dell is shutting down its desktop manufacturing operation in Lebanon tomorrow, citing reduced demand for the product line due to the economy and consumer preference for small, portable laptops and notebook computers.

That means the end of 10 years of manufacturing new Dell products in Middle Tennessee. The company first moved to the area in May 1999, opening a 260,000-square-foot plant in Lebanon to produce desktop computers.

A year and a half later, Dell opened another large facility in Davidson County near Nashville International Airport, where regular shipments come in for Dell via large cargo planes from China.

“What we announced to our employees is we are closing production of new PCs,†says Dell spokesman Ken Bissell. “We’re ceasing new-build in Nashville altogether.â€

About 300 full-time workers are being offered jobs at the Nashville facility, a major fulfillment and distribution center where they will box and ship products including printers, projectors and the majority of Dell’s portables.

Many of the employees were performing similar jobs in Lebanon, but handling desktop computers.

The Lebanon plant will still retain more than 300 employees for its other line of work, refurbishing used products.

Overall, Dell’s job count will remain at about 3,200 to 3,300 workers — the same level it has been in the region for some years, Bissell says.

In halving its Wilson County operations, Dell could lose most of the tax abatement it receives the county.

But Dell would benefit financially from moving people to Davidson County, where the company receives $500 per year from Metro for each full-time equivalent job. That’s under an agreement that was part of the package of tax incentives Metro offered Dell in 1999 to make a material investment in Davidson County.

In 2007, Dell had 2,969 full-time equivalent employees in Davidson County and received just short of $1.5 million under the agreement. In 2006, there were 2,607 qualifying positions, generating $1.3 million in incentives.

Middle Tennessee’s shift from being a manufacturing center for Dell to a hub for service, fulfillment and distribution was brought on by overcapacity, Bissell says.

“The desktop market is shrinking, and the economy is affecting volumes. We had a need to reduce our costs and our capacity,†he says.

The market for new portable computers is growing, Bissell says, but those products are manufactured outside the country.

Friday, April 25, 2008

La Vergne Industrial park loses Gateway computer plant

An Idaho company which acquired computer maker Gateway's professional business segment is moving its local operations to Mexico and laying off 145 employees at the La Vergne industrial park.

The company that acquired the Gateway Inc. segment, MPC Corp., says it will relocate its assembly plant to Juarez, Mexico, a city which is drawing plenty of relocations because of its proximity to El Paso, Texas and the U.S. interstate system.

MPC acquired Gateway's business-product end in September 2007. MPC officials say the relocation will occur over the next six months.

Company spokesman Michael Boss says MPC is now the No. 8 PC-producer in the United States. It focuses on business models.

But there's stiff competition from Dell Corp. and others for business buyers, Boss says.

The company decided to team up with Flextronics International Ltd., which runs the Juarez plant.

The local plant "was not a plant that was optimally suited to our manufacturing processes, which involve a lot of customization," Boss says.

Boss says Flextronics had a facility in Juarez that was better suited for MPC's manufacturing needs, "and it simply made more sense to utilize their capacity, as well as their manufacturing prowess and purchasing clout."

The move is a blow to the La Vergne-area industrial park, which has seen companies such as Whirlpool Corp. lay off employees there.

The jobs were located in the Interchange City Industrial Park, an area business officials say will rebound from losses caused by the economic downturn and globalization.

The park is home to thousands of industrial jobs divided between Davidson County and Rutherford County land.

Major employers there include Bridgestone Americas Holdings Inc. and its tire plant, says Janet Miller, senior vice president of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Miller says the chamber worked hard to land Gateway Inc. four years ago.

The risk now is mergers and acquisitions, she says.

"It can go either way," says Miller. "We hate to see them go."