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Dell goes upscale with PCs for gamers, enthusiasts

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CIOL Bureau
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Philipp Gollner

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SAN FRANCISCO: Dell Inc. is launching a line of upscale and more expensive computers after aggressive price-cutting led to lower-than-expected revenue growth last quarter.

The company on Wednesday unveiled three high-powered desktop computers and a notebook "aimed at tech enthusiasts, gamers and buyers who prefer the best products, services and individualized support," Dell said in a statement.

The new XPS series computers start at $1,099 and a notebook version starts at about $2,700. That compares with desktops selling for as low as $299 on the company's Web site. One of the new notebooks costs $4,260 and features Nvidia Corp.'s high-powered GeForce Go 7800 GTX gaming chip.

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In addition, Dell is introducing its first high-definition televisions, with a 50-inch model priced at $3,799 and a 32-inch at $1,799. The new products are available in the United States as of on Wednesday through the company's Web site.

The product introduction comes after Dell, the world's largest PC maker, in August reported second-quarter revenue that rose less than analysts had expected.

Chief Executive Kevin Rollins at the time said prices for Dell's PCs were "down more than we would have liked" but added that the industry wasn't experiencing a pricing problem.

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Chairman Michael Dell said at the products' unveiling on Wednesday in New York that the company expects to grow faster than the market. "We think we will continue to gain share," he said.

The new computers address increasingly savvy computer customers who want features for playing graphics-intensive games, editing digital photos and videos and coordinating music and video entertainment, Dell said.

"As the PC becomes a core, central appliance for the house, the entertainment hub for the home, you're seeing people reconsider what they want for the PC and how much they want to spend," said Mike George, vice president of Dell's U.S. consumer business, in an interview.

For the new products, Dell is offering expanded services to customers, assigning "highly trained" sales agents to guide customers through the purchase, according to the Round Rock, Texas, company's statement. Customers can also get quick answers through online chats with product advisors.

Asked recently about reports of rising consumer complaints, Rollins said his company closely tracks such reports and its data show customer service trends have been improving. Because Dell sells more PCs every year, the number of customer service complaints may be growing even as they decline as a percentage of total customers, he said.

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