Dell two-timing Intel? A misunderstanding, it says

Dell, the only top-tier server company to have stuck completely with Intel chips, was caught in a seeming act of infidelity Wednesday, offering for sale on one of its Web sites a processor from Intel archenemy AMD. The Round Rock, Texas, PC maker displayed an Advanced Micro Devices Opteron Model 148 processor in one of its custom-tailored online stores for business and government customers. A Dell representative said the chip, seen in the software and peripherals section of Dell's publicly accessible New York State Government Store, turned up in error.

"There was an erroneous posting of a processor kit on that site today," the representative said. "It was intended to be posted to a single customer's Premier Page site...and it inadvertently was posted more broadly than that."

Premier Pages are password-protected "procurement portals" Dell offers to let customers access various support services, view custom-tailored product configurations and pricing arrangements, and order online. Dell often fulfills oddball requests to keep large corporate customers happy, allowing them to tap Dell's purchasing power for all sorts of products, including AMD chips, the representative said.

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