No OS Preloaded
Linux, Operating Systems, Sales Strategies submitted by agreer
02/17/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**
I have a XP Pro retail copy, will soon buy retail vista, I also like Linux: Make WINDOWS-FREE, and OS-Free an option for more than just expensive business lines.
Dell has systems available that do not have an OS pre-loaded called N-Series line. You can check them out at www.dell.com/nseries.
85150
Standardize Power Cables for Laptops
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by badblood
08/27/07 **UNDER REVIEW**
Nothing is more annoying than laptop power cables that are not interchangeable from one computer model to another or from one brand of computer to another. Power cables have been standardized on most electrical applicances, including desktop computers for decades.
Make an effort to promote and implement standard power cables for laptops.
Please see dawn_l's comments below.
24690
Push SSD in notebooks esp the 1330
Sales Strategies, XPS products, Laptops submitted by 500moldschool
08/15/07
Solid State Drives (SSD) are the way to go. I am in the market to replace my old trusty 500m from 4 years ago. However, I have found few laptops that are really worth replacing my trusty 4.9lb laptop with. Newer laptops are no doubt better, but in the range of the portable non-desktop replacing market I have been disappointed.
Until the Toshiba R500... Come on Dell, push the SSD technology and get a hold of this semi-ultraportable market!!! I mean why pay $500 (THAT'S RIGHT $500!!) for a 32Gb SSD in the 1330 when the R500 (although a little more $) is breathing down your Dell neck with a sub 2lb laptop with a 64Gb SSD? Oh yeah, I know why. B/c Toshiba is directly involved in the evolution of SSD technology. They just dont rely on others to make the drives and then buy them to put in their computers.
IDEA: bring down the cost of the SSD thru aggressive ordering. Send the relatively hefty 13.3 1330 XPS into a truly competitive weight category with the advantage of cost and a nice 13.3 widescreen w LCD technology.
Now that is a recipe I would use and buy right away. Until then, I will use my sub 5lb 500m until it dies. The cost of upgrading to a laptop with little advantage in weight is just not really worth it. We need a refreshing, appealing, non-black box, & AFFORDABLE portable product.
430
XPS Laptops - The Next Generation
XPS products submitted by rkolling
07/12/07
With the XPS M1330, it looks like Dell is in the process of redoing the XPS series and creating unique platforms rather than optioning up basic Inspiron or Latitude platforms. Given the Insipron, Vostro, Latitude, and Precision lines, I hope Dell really tries to make the XPS laptop line a unique, definitive, state-of-the-art statement. The cachet would provide a halo effect for the other Dell products as well.
I hope Dell offers a light weight 15.4” (well under 6 lbs) or a light 17” (at less than 7 lbs.) form factor XPS. It would be good if such machines could combine magnesium and carbon fiber construction to achieve light yet robust construction. I like the roll cage approach used by Lenovo in the lids to their ThinkPad models since it gives the wireless device antennas good access to the wave stream while affording light weight and strength. While the gamers may like 17”, I find the 15.4” travels easier and is also easier to open up and use on an airplane flight than a 17”.
I would opt for a premium, LED-lit, 1920X1200 WUXGA screen driven by a top of the line Nvidia 8700 series video card with 512 MB (or more) of RAM that can play HD content from a Blue Ray drive as well as games. Hopefully the screen would have great brightness, color gamut, contrast and response time. The high water mark in laptop screens seem to be the Sony’s. I hope Dell can equal or exceed that mark.
I like the way the M1330 includes various ports and jacks such as dual headphone jacks. To the M1330’s port layout I would add 2 more USB ports and a dual link DVI port to drive the Dell 3007 series of 2560X1600 displays when hooked up directly (as well as via the docking station).
The CPU should have 4 GB of RAM with Vista and hopefully Dell can twist Intel’s arm to offer a Santa Rosa 7700G CPU that can be overclocked. The 7600G in the XPS M1710 can be easily overclocked to 2.83 GHz with negligible impact on battery life or fan noise. Anything over 2.83 was a very different story, however. 2.83 represents a .5 GHz increase over the stock 2.33, a substantial 20+% increase. I of course would like the computer with the Intel draft-N wireless and the internal cell phone network wireless cards as well as with Blue Tooth and gigabit ethernet.
I would suggest a 64 GB SSD option – 32 GB can be a little skimpy with today's applications and voluminous files. This should lower weight, increase battery life and eliminate a typical laptop point of failure – the hard drive. Perhaps a package could be offered with both the SSD plus a conventional 7200 rpm hard drive. The conventional hard drive could be deployed inside the machine, ideally, along with the 64 GB SSD and then removed when not desired or needed. Alternatively, the conventional hard drive could be swapped for the SSD or also connected to the laptop via an adaptor through a USB port to perform back-up, offloading of unneeded files or downloading needed files to the SSD.
That’s my $.02.
480
This is exactly the form factor I want in a home PC:
Desktops, New Product Ideas submitted by jmxz
06/30/07
This is exactly the form factor I want in a PC for most rooms (my living room, my home office, terminals for all the non-computer intensive users at work). It's fanless, and takes no unnecessary space in a room since it fits totally in (yes, in) the wall socket..
 http://parthsuthar.com/derive/2007/06/20/a-computer-so-small-it-fits-in-a-wal...
http://www.jadeintegration.com/prinfo.php?i=efi6700 U.K. firm Jade Integration has unveiled a computer so small, it fits into a wall socket and is powered via Ethernet. The Jack PC, a rival to the smallest PC in the world, can hook up to a standard monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and runs Windows CE, the stripped-down version of Windows often used in portable devices. It comes with up to 64 MB of flash memory and 128 megs of RAM, so don't expect to play Half-Life 2 on it, but it should be able to handle basic Internet functions decently. With my home directory (and media files, etc) on file server in my garage anyway - and at work all compute intensive stuff is done on servers anyway, I don't need hard disks or fans or large boxes in most of the computers I use. It seems for everything except laptops (which need to be self contained) and gaming machines (where obviously you need bigger chips, more memories, and big graphics cards) I think this form factor computer would meet most needs. Update: Better information from the company that makes it here: http://www.jadeintegration.com/prinfo.php?i=efi6700
310
Enable us to change an existing idea vote, if we make a mistake
IdeaStorm submitted by cosh
05/01/07
A few times I've accidentally clicked on the wrong button, or voted after reading the title of an idea but wanted to change it once I read the whole thing. Could you make it so we can still click the promote button after demoting or the demote button after promoting?
Better than having inaccurate vote counts because of clumsy people like me!
Thanks!
1890
Solid State Memory = System; HDD = user data
Laptops submitted by andepiel45
04/29/07
I think that there are two options for splitting OS from user data:
a.- Allocation on a 40 GB solid state memory (if fast enough).
b.- Using two HDD inside the laptop.
First way reduce size of the laptop, second gives more space to the system.
I think is crucial to avoid replace the old partitioning way and use two complete devices.
230
Removable wireless keyboard/mousepad for laptop computers
Broadband and Mobility, Laptops submitted by dlipton
04/28/07
What if the keyboard on notebook and laptop computers were modular and could pop out and then communicate wirelessly with the computer? That way people could place their laptop anywhere and then place the keyboard on their lap. The same applies to the mouse, either as part of the keyboard or just as a separate component.
Another benefit is that broken keyboards could be replaced without ditching the whole computer.
190
Smaller laptop power supply
Laptops submitted by gunnarlium
04/29/07
I would like a smaller power supply for my ultraportable laptop. Dell's power brick is too big for my taste. Reducing the size would increase portability greatly, since I always bring my power supply to ensure that I don't run out of power.
Apple has done it, but Dell could do even better!
420
Numbered keys on notebooks
Laptops submitted by ron912
04/28/07
I'd like to see an expanded notebook with a number keypad on the right side. I think there are a lot of financial prefessionals that would appreciate this.
270
The Ultimate Computer Maker
Dell Web Site, Service and Support submitted by yertthedestroyer
04/29/07
Here you go. My list of THINGS that will make Dell go to OEM GOD.
HP, Apple, and all those others are already lagging. They missed out on the first item of this list, the very item that allows this list to exist.
1. Allow Customers to Contribute to the Success of Your Company.
As said, Dell is doing this. Congrats guys.
This one is in the works already, and probably the number one for everyone else, so it needs stated.
2. Offer options on the Operation System Installed (or not installed), Including Dual Boot.
As said, this has the first part being worked on. Again, Congrationations!
Okay, enough brown nosing. Here goes some stuff you haven't done yet.
3. Allow an option of software installed, and not installed, in a simple dialoge when you first get your PC. If possible, it can even be done when ordering your Dell.
4. Allow coupons, options, and offers (volume purchases of expensive software to cheapen it for your customers) for USEFUL and Open-Source programs, such as:
Adobe Creative Suite 3
Paint.net
GIMP
Max
Maya
Blender
Dia
Open Office
Microsoft Office
Audacity
Avast!
4. Make more useful utilities (i.e. The DVD player, and WiFi searcher built in with some Dell Laptops) for your hardware.
5. Improve customer service.
6. Streamline the Website so that Customers can easily find what they want in a computer from Dell (i.e. Start by Spec, not by product line), and customer services, such as Drivers.
7. Write cross platform drivers for all means of system (netBST, FreeBSD, Linux, Windows, ect.) and include them on the Dell website.
8. Include system utilities, drivers, program offers, an OS back-up, and a Live Linux Distro (for OS-less systems) in disks included with the system. Allow these disks (except perhaps the OS) to be downloaded and burned to disk from the Dell website.
9. Make a trade-in program for old PCs that includes proper disposal, donations to local schools, and hard drive reformating to protect the customer, and improve Dell's image.
10. Include Military, Educational, and most importantly, Elderly Discounts.
(Elderly Discounts would hopefully encourage the old to use computers.)
11. Include cords and/or utilities to transfer files from previous computers.
12. Make or Sponser a Linux Distro with the condition you cal brand it something like "Dell-nix" or "Dell-bunu" when you sell it installed on a Dell computer.
13. Make egonomic keyboards and mice standard, and both optional for computers.
14. Don't accept sub-par monitors or other parts.
15. Support 64-bit standard. Make 32-bit OPTIONAL. 32-bit only has a few more years, as it is obsolete with a limit that is holding back progress.
16. Allow almost anything to be optional. This is the key. If the customer wants to receive the parts of the PC so he can build it, do so. If the customer wants Linux, Vista, but not XP, do so. If the customer wants to add his own RAM, do so.
17. Go Green. Environment is the king.
LAST, BUT NOT LEAST! 512 MB doesn't cut it in a Home Media Center, and you shouldn't tell people it will. That is the reasoning behind Number...
18. "Dell Quallity Assurance" . Make it so that it pays not to go below the "Dell Quallity Assurance" and make it so customers know you won't sell them something that will be so slow that their old computer is an upgrade.
170
Dell Modular Computer
Desktops, Environment submitted by reg
04/25/07 **NOT NOW**
It would be great for Dell to make a 'Blade' Type MidTower computer - slotted cartridges for the CPU, Graphic Card, Hard Drive, DVD Burner, 2CD Burner Drive.
All modules slotted - the buyer just picks and chooses what they want : 1 CPU with 1 Nvidia card, 3 Hard drives, and 2 DVD burners. A micro tower should hold 4 slots, a mid-tower size should hold 7 slots, a full tower 12 slotted modules.
Truly custom config your machine - easy assembly, slot, locking lever action - just like the Blade servers and RAID hard drives. Tired of a puny 2.0 GHz dual core? Unlatch and remove the CPU/RAM module - insert your new 3.0 GHz Quad Core with 4 GB RAM module. Keep all your data/software/hard drive/CD Drive in place.
Easy repair, easy upgrades, easy maintenance. Dell should do this: Modular computing. The time is now.
I think they used to call this a 'passive back plane' system - all cartridge modules connect to a high speed bus - so a cartridge would hold a 'motherboard' module (cpu + RAM). The hard drive would be a module, the video card - a module, the DVD drive - another module. Interchangeable parts make easy to configure, easy to upgrade systems.
Environmentally supportive idea too - less waste, less land fill.
600
Environmental Laptop Based on Solar Energy/Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Environment, Laptop Power submitted by gchakra
02/17/07 **UNDER REVIEW**
What's smart for the environment is smart for Dell. Dell should build units that are degradable or can be easily recycled. Sure, its going to be a little more expensive, but it will be a smart product. It will use a lot less energy. The laptops could have a solar panel or be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The first microelectronic implementation of a fuel cell will give Dell a tremendous marketing boost. It will be incredibly popular with kids in college.
Gopal
4185
Suggestion: display comments in latest-first order
IdeaStorm submitted by phubert
02/23/07
A number of 'threads' are getting a bit long. It takes awhile to scroll down to the latest comments.
Latest-first (at least as an _option_) would eliminate this problem.
**
Also: PAGINATE thread displays so only the first page is loaded when the user selects the topic!
190
Program your boot time
Software, Desktops and Laptops submitted by brucemel
04/17/07
It would be great if you could program your computer to boot up at predetermined time. For businesses this would be great because they could manage the load in the morning. It would also be great for home use. It would be even better if when you logged off it asked you what time you wanted to boot up next because everyday might be different especially in Home and Small Business.
150
Notebook portability
Laptops submitted by crgillies
02/19/07
How about a better way to carry a neotebook ie a handle, maybe that holds the battery a la M2010 or a shoulder strap that clips to the notebook directly?
116
 track my votes
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