Customers will now have the option of visiting their local PC store and buying a new Dell computer straight off the shelf. Given that Dell will continue to sell direct, I can’t see them offering any discounts through the DSGi outlets. So on the downside, Dell PC’s bought in-store will probably be slightly more expensive and depending on stock levels, could be more “out of date” than a machine bought direct.

As a side note, I see that the .ie sites for Currys, Dixons and PC World are still not available. The last time I checked a few weeks ago, all three sites had a message that the site was being updated. Now, all three sites require a username and password. So despite the fact that all three outlets trade in this country, they still don’t have an online presence for their Irish customers.