New strategies from computer giants Dell and IBM. I'm Fred Fishkin with Bootcamp, a report on computers and technology. No, they aren't switching to cow spotted boxes to compete with Gateway's down home spin, although a farmer in the Dell theme might be interesting. Dell computer has has launched a new approach to going after the home market....

"And we're calling it Dell4Me and what it represents is Dell's focus to provide a complete resource for products and services that really help our customers get the most out of technology. "

Dell's Klee Kleber. The company is partnering with @Home to pre-install and configure the hardware and software needed for speedy cable access to the net. And that's not all...there are new notebooks too...

"Dell has always sold custom PCs, you know, pick your hard drive, pick your memory, pick your processor. Well, now we're allowing customers to pick the color."

PC makers are learning some lessons from the folks at Apple. Computers don't have to be dull. Over at IBM, Big Blue is still making its ThinkPad notebooks black, but it is bucking the trend to make them smaller and lighter. The new 390X is designed to be a desktop replacement...complete with screens as big as 15 inches..

"That basically allows them to replace their 17 inch, bulky, CRT monitor."

And, says IBM's Miguel Bravo, get mobility at the same time.

"We're giving them a full function desktop functionality and we're giving them the freedom of a mobile computer."

You can find more information at the Dell and IBM web sites. (editor's note: IBM has just announced new color snap on covers for Thinkpads!)