In doing some last-minute Christmas shopping this weekend, I was quite surprised to find three Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) laptop computer systems on display at a local Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) location. The Inspiron 1420 and 1421 looked like they had just been unboxed and put on display. No pricing or specification information was on display yet, which was the first clue.

Add that to Dell systems not being located on Best Buy's website and one has to wonder how these found their way to Best Buy shelves so quickly. After all, the power consumer electronics retailer and the comeback PC manufacturer just announced a partnership two weeks ago. Did Dell think that it could somehow boost last-minute Christmas laptop sales by having a few laptops on display?

It's odd to see a major retail partnership announced and almost immediately followed by having new products on shelves -- and especially at the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer. One thing these newer Dell laptop systems had going for them -- they were all finished in a very bright silver color -- in stark contrast to the charcoal and black of most consumer-level laptop PCs being displayed.

Which competitive laptop PC systems were shoved aside for the display of these Dell systems? Hard to say, since there were HP laptop systems not two feet from these new Dell systems. When these are properly displayed and priced, I'll be digging into whether Dell can really compete on the retail shelf when it comes to price (remember, laptop PCs are commodities to most retailer consumers). After just having configured a Dell Inspiron 1420 with the exact options of a HP Pavilion laptop (comparable processors, 14.1" screen, hard drive size and RAM size) available from Best Buy today, Dell's comparable offering -- direct from the Dell website -- was priced over $230 more. That won't fly in the consumer's mind, right? Stay tuned early next year as this becomes more closely watched.

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) released Q2 financial this afternoon after the market closed. As I indicated yesterday, this Q2 period was probably one of the more highly anticipated earnings releases from the computer maker in quite a while. Just a few weeks ago, the company concluded its own internal financial investigation into possible financial shenanigans and the results included over $150 million in quarterly restatements stemming back to 2002. The official SEC investigation is not through yet. If you want details on the Q2 results before the webcast with Dell executives begins, here you go.

Dell's Q2 conference call will most likely shed some light on the fight the computer maker has had since January of this year to try and catch up to larger rival Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), which reported a touch under $25 billion in revenues for its latest quarter.

Has Dell seen increased shipments of PCs with its newer and colorful laptop systems? Is the Wal-Mart retail relationship going well for the company? These questions and many more are on tap here in a few minutes once the analysts dig in with questions.

Analyst expectations were for Dell to report an earnings figure of 30 cents per share on revenue of $14.63 billion. It will be interesting to see if any analyst questions come up about this week's acquisition of smaller PC rival Gateway, Inc. (NYSE: GTW) by Taiwan's Acer. Stay tuned by using the "Refresh" button on your web browser to see all the minute-by-minute updates below. All times are in CST.

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is set to release Q2 financial results tomorrow in what is probably one of the more highly anticipated earnings releases in quite a while. Just a few weeks ago, the company concluded its own internal financial investigation into possible financial shenanigans and the results included over $150 million in quarterly restatements stemming back to 2002. The official SEC investigation is not through yet.

Dell's reports tomorrow will shed some light on the fight the computer maker has had since January of this year to try and catch up to larger rival Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), which reported a touch under $25 billion in revenues for its latest quarter. Has Dell seen increased shipments of PCs with its newer and colorful laptop systems? Is the Wal-Mart retail relationship going well for the company? These questions and many more are on tap for tomorrow's call.

Analyst expectations are for Dell to report an earnings figure of 30 cents per share on revenue of $14.63 billion. The company should be able to make that number despite supply problems that have set back newer and colorful Inspiron notebook shipments (according to industry watchers). It will be interesting to see if any analyst questions come up about this week's acquisition of smaller PC rival Gateway, Inc. (NYSE: GTW) by Taiwan's Acer. Stay tuned tomorrow for liveblogging coverage of the Dell Q2 webcast and call.

With the one possible exception of the move into Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT), I'm getting very strong messages of positive change from Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL). What I'm seeing is a company that is pushing hard in multiple directions to find the strategies that will return it to good standing. If Dell can untangle some sluggish bookkeeping and get its corporate interior straightened out, it can then forge straight ahead, unrestrained by its attempts to heal its marketing weaknesses. There's a lot of upheaval going on at Dell right now, but it's certainly not all bad.

Dell's move into Wal-Mart has met with mixed response. At first I myself didn't like the move but that's probably mostly because I wanted Dell to align with Radio Shack Corp. (NYSE: RSH). Given the fact that computer prices have reached the level where a discount retail chain can sell them for profit, I guess there's no reason why Wal-Mart shouldn't be the one to do it. As long as Dell keeps its consumer direct options open so that folks like me can "custom" build one, I'll concede that the Dell/Wal-Mart alliance may become a good one.

A definite positive move that Dell has recently undertaken is its decision to preinstall the Ubuntu Linux operating system. Linux seems to be a preferred operating system in circles of web "professionals." I have the distinct pleasure to rub elbows with some of the internet's best writers, and the more I do that, the more I find that the busiest ones seem to prefer Linux. The Linux change and other customer focused moves seem to be driven by input that Dell receives via its own community forums. "We are responding directly to feedback from customers," Dell spokesperson Anne Camden said.

Latest in a series of moves by Dell to become more deeply consumer responsive is their decision to allow consumers to "opt out" of preinstalled programming, sort of like an operating system line-item veto. Based on the success of a "no software preinstalled" option that Dell promoted with its XPS systems a year ago, Dell has determined to take the favorable response to that scenario a step further and will extend it to Dell Inspiron and Dimension lines. Analysts are speculating that there's a remote possibility that this change will mean a revenue drop for Dell, but there's little credence to that assertion. Besides, the focus here is a realignment of Dell with the consumer, and if done successfully, that's where all the gold is hidden.

How many reports of overheating lithium laptop batteries must we hear before airport security agents start cracking down on my Dell Inspiron or your Apple MacBook? Sure, the damage intended by terrorists from a seemingly innocuous-looking bottle of liquid would be terrible. But today's reports of overheating -- and in some cases, spontaneously combusting -- laptop batteries brought the considerable specter of an exploding laptop at 30,000 feet.

"Most of the incidents reported to the CPSC occurred around the home, but transportation-safety officials have become increasingly concerned about the threat of a laptop causing a catastrophic fire aboard a commercial jetliner," said the AP version of the report. The New York Times article brought up a fire in the overhead bin of a Lufthansa jet while on the runway in Chicago (no one has confirmed whether or not this battery was housed in a Dell laptop).

With Apple recalling MacBooks because of overheating in June, I have to wonder: how is it that shampoo is verboten, but a potentially flammable laptop can proceed on the plane, to huddle on the floor with all the other laptops, cell phones, Blackberries and illiquid snacks? Investors' minds clearly weren't going where mine is, with Dell down 1.41% in after-hours trading, Apple up a bit, and after-hours quotes unavailable for American Airlines and Delta.