Cleantech Blog has some information on Dell Computer's efforts to offer more green options. Neal Dikeman looks at two of their programs: Plant a Tree For Me, which plants trees as carbon offsets for the typical first three years of energy use for whichever model you buy, and some of their efforts to make computer use more energy efficient. (Sadly, he doesn't mention their takeback program for computers, which is one important way that, to my mind, they're leading their competitors--I may be a little out of date on this, though.)
Tree planting gets a lot of grief from environmentalists (who's the treehugger now, eh?), but I think overall this is a good start for Dell. As Dikeman notes, they don't yet offer offsetting for their operations (that is, for building the computer), and the piecemeal by-appliance approach doesn't strike me as particularly sensible (if I'm interested in offsetting my energy use, why not just offset my electricity bill? Is Amana going to be offsetting my refrigerator next?), but I can see it as an easy way to get the low-hanging fruit--people who'll do carbon offsets on impulse, but not stick with it month after month like you'd need to offset everything. (Why, if only there were some way to get billed for your offsets, right alongside your energy use? Gosh, that would be great. ;) )
Still, it's good to see them getting started on this. I wouldn't be surprised to see them get stung with the greenwashing tag. (And I just noticed that the first comment at Cleantech says that tree-planting efforts can get certified, which it doesn't appear that Dell is doing.) Still, it's easier to get someone who's made a commitment to do good than to get someone doing bad to do good, so I take this as a positive step.
ALSO: And I am more than ready for the day that computer makers compete on the basis of efficiency, rather than just brute computing power. Of course, with Microsoft ramping up its computing requirements whenever it fumbles a new version of Windows into the market, that's a hard sell.