Advertise Ubuntu a little more loudly
Advertising and Marketing, Linux submitted by zhinker
05/16/07 **NOT NOW**
I may be wrong about this but it doesn't seem to me like Dell's done any sort of advertising at all for the new Ubuntu pc's that it'll be rolling out soon, except for it's initial declaration I haven't heard a word about on any non-linux media (everyone using linux knows about it of course).
Unless Dell is planning on marketing this solely to linux users, it might want to let the rest of the world know that it's going to be selling Ubuntu soon (a simple photo and note on their website would be enough to make a bunch of pc buyers at least interested, and the ad wouldn't even cost anything). The problem with going after only current linux users is that you're substantially lowering your market base (which of course, is already pretty low--I realize this is just an experiment) to people who might already have pc's their perfectly happy with for the next couple of years, and I'm also worried that this perceived lack of interest might give Dell, and hence other pc manufacturers, the idea that selling linux computers is still a failing enterprise.
That's my 2 cents
5100
Thanks for the honesty: "Dell warns of Vista upgrade challenges"
Advertising and Marketing, Operating Systems, Sales Strategies, Software submitted by jmxz
07/05/07 **ALREADY OFFERED**
Interesting article here:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39287855,00.htm Dell warns of Vista upgrade challenges Published: 04 Jul 2007 18:02 BST
Dell has taken the unusual step — for a PC vendor of its size — of toning down its sales pitch for Microsoft's Vista operating system and warning businesses of the migration challenges that lie ahead for them.
...
Application migration is a key area, Fitzgerald said, echoing comments from Gartner on the size of the issue and the need for considerable testing. "You have to allow time for testing," he said. "Vista is big and complex and there is a lot to it. It requires a lot of testing. You can't just shut off XP on Friday and start Vista on Monday morning. There will be training. There are things to learn." And as the media's reporting, this is especially nice since it's not necessarily in Dell's short-term best interest to do so: http://vista.blorge.com/2007/07/05/dell-warns-businesses-of-windows-vista-woes/ Many people would think it would be advantageous for Dell to simply promote Vista as much as it can but it is taking a step back and telling businesses to consider “holding off”...
The move is unusual because Dell makes money from both selling Microsoft’s products and from selling the additional and more expensive hardware that is required to run Vista. Nice that Dell sees that long term the trust of their customers matters more than the short term extra sales of a few memory chips. This is re-assuring to hear you saying it publicly and helps people trust you more. Idea: Keep being honest. It's refreshing.
690
Extend offers like Linux pre-installation to the UK & Europe
Dell, Linux submitted by leftcase
05/03/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**
First of all - well done Dell for listening to the people and making some brave decisions about the operating systems you provide your computers with.
Supplying pre-installed Linux (and XP instead of Vista for that matter) goes a good way towards giving customers what they want.
One thing that is slightly irritating however is that none of these offers are available outside of the US. Browsing through peoples comments, blogs and the Dell forums reveals that many people from the UK (for example), want the opportunity to get pre-installed Linux on their new Dell PCs.
The UK and Europe marketplace is not insignificant, and many people feel that you should extend your offer to this market too.
Please see Ideas In Action for additional information. Ubuntu Linux in other countries is coming soon.
7950
Use OLEDs in Dell monitors
Monitors and Displays submitted by doomlord52
07/04/07
OLEDs are much more effieient, brighter, offer higher contrast ratio's AND are much smaller. for example, SONY is currently developing a 27" HD TV with OLED technology. It has a contrast ratio of 1 million to 1, and has a response time of 0.01 MILLISECONDS. Samsung is making an 80" HD TV that is less than 2cm thick. There IS a computer monitor 19" thats only 2.1mm thick. With that kind of tech, you could make a laptop a lot thinner. OLEDs are also much more energy efficient efficient, and can save up to 30% more energy than an LCD of the same size. You can also BEND OLED monitors, because the screen is like a film.
This picture will give you an idea of the flexablility and size of OLED screens.
http://media.teamxbox.com/dailyposts/hardware/display/oled_01.jpg< just Copy paste the link into another tab)
990
Make your legal team restrain themselves when they're trying to silence bloggers who are trying to help people buy from Dell.
Dell, Dell Community submitted by jmxz
06/15/07 **IMPLEMENTED**
Yesterday Dell sent the following letter to a blog that was giving advice on how to better order from the confusing Dell web site (like clarifying pros and cons of when you should go to the Small Business vs Home Office sections; and when you might do even better going to a Dell Kiosk- which Dell's own web site never makes clear). Rather than a take down notice from Legal, a polite email from Marketing with corrections to the inaccurate parts and specific requests to remove the confidential information would have been:
Better for the Blogger - because he wouldn't feel threatened.
Better for Dell - because the article never would have been so widely publicized (I learned of it only because of the takedown notice).
Better for Dell Customers - because the rest of the non-confidential information in the article could still help them.
- - - - - - - - - -
from Tracy Holland
to ben@consumerist.com
date Jun 14, 2007 4:39 PM
subject Posting by former Dell employee
Dear Ben,
Please remove the posting located at the following
http://consumerist.com/consumer/insiders/22-confessions-of-a-former-dell-sale...< contains information that is confidential and proprietary to Dell.
While not all aspects of the entry are accurate, ostensibly an ex-employee posted Dell's confidential information in violation of his or her employment agreement and confidentiality obligations (which prohibit the disclosure of such information both during and after the period of employment).
We would appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. Please confirm that the posting has been removed by the end of the day tomorrow.
Thank you, and please give me a call if you would like to discuss further.
Tracy Holland
Tracy J. Holland
Counsel
Dell Inc.
- - - - - - - - - -
While some of the information wasn't correct; the blogger has been continually updating the article fixing inaccuracies as they're pointed out to him. Your legal team also referred to "confidential information" but never specified what was the offending confidential information that should be removed. It's a bit hard to guess what parts of that posting might have been considered confidential; because it seems like just about all the info in the article can be found (just with difficulty) browsing the Dell web site and Kiosks.
Ideas for your legal team:
* For the case of this article - point out the "confidential" information (if there really is any) and I'm confident the blogger will remove that confidential information while keeping the rest of the helpful advice (which helps your customers buy Dells) up there.
* In general - try to restrain yourselves from legal threats on Bloggers. It would probably have been nicer if someone from Dell Marketing asked the person to correct things; and the whole thing would have probably gone away quietly -- instead of being very visible on many high profile places on the internet and on mailing lists now.
We hold ourselves at Dell and all our employees to high ethical standards and believe ex-employees have an obligation to uphold those standards. We live and learn in this new world of blogs and appreciate your suggestion.
3810
Ubuntu/Vista Laptop w/embedded webcam
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Linux, Laptops submitted by eode
07/04/07
I don't know if Dell's doing the embedded webcam thing yet, but if they are, it's not available for the Ubuntu laptops (that I've seen). It's a great feature for *any* laptop, whatever the OS. ..but I definitely want both Ubuntu and webcam on my laptop, and system76 provides those -- but I also want to support Dell and their move to support Ubuntu just as much!
..for now, this just delays my laptop purchase, in hopes that Dell's going to put out a laptop with an embedded webcam + Ubuntu..
p.s..
..if this were a congressional bill, it would also include:
Ubuntu Stickers
Stickers Don't Leave Sticky Goo
Charitable Reuse of Old Computers
..however, since this is not a congressional bill and doesn't include subsections that are potentially completely unrelated to the main heading, the above three articles are instead merely referenced and advocated here. :-)
840
XPS M1330 with Gigabit Ethernet
Broadband and Mobility, XPS products, Laptops submitted by macavity
07/11/07
I think it would be really good for the M1330 to have Gigabit networking for various reasons.
- if you want to move or back up your music or some videos across your home network you actually need that speed
- most other similar laptops have it. I thought it's standard now and hardwired into every board?
- gigabit home routers are on the market
- I don't want to buy a product and be behind the market right from day-1.
I bought an Inspiron 4 years ago with only 10Mbps 802.11b wifi and regretted it already 6 months into the purchase.
1350
Inspiron Notebooks with option of transreflective LCD (sunlight/high ambient light readable)
Inspiron products, Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by benjesuit
06/21/07
Cell phones, PDA's, Automotive GPS units have them. The time has come that at least a one of your notebooks should have them as an option.
With the near ubiquity of Wifi in metropolitan areas as well as in many park areas...
Not to mention 3G and CDMA EVDO wireless celluar broadband...
The places where a notebook can be used and stay connected to the net or VPN are near limitless.
Business lunch done al fresco. Lunch on the lawn of central park while writing. Sitting out on your deck while watching the markets. Whatever one uses their computer for, it can now be done in the open air.*
Example of Dell's ATG Latitude w transreflective screen versus an IBM w/o
* notebooks should not be used at the beach due to salt air corrosion. They should also not be used in rainy conditions. And certainly shouldn't be used while lounge wading in a pool or Jacuzzi.
2320
Ubuntu PCs need more video card options
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Linux, Desktops and Laptops submitted by nkmhutirv
06/13/07
Dell desktops and notebooks preloaded with Ubuntu should have more video cards to choose from!
I do not know how Nvidia 7300LE compares to other video cards, but I do not belive TurboCache is suitable even for the most casual gaming.TurboCache's memory sharing technology is just not suitable. Yes, I do play 3d accelerated games from time to time on Ubuntu! You could offer some Nvidia 7600, 7800 or some other medium range video card. Nothing fancy, just something to allow some 3d effects.
Even Dell PCs preloaded with FreeDos have 2 video cards to choose from:
128MB ATI Radeon X1300 [Included in Price]
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro [add $50 or $2/month1]
With Ubuntu PCs you have to choose between a range of just one video card:
correction: you have 2 options:
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 [Included in Price]
256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache [add $50 or $2/month1]
But what's the difference between them? I want to play games 1-2 years old. I do not belive this will be posible with this kind of cards.
You could say Dell does not address gamers, but Dell's Windows based PCs have a lot more advanced video cards: "Stunning 3D graphics performance with the latest single and dual graphics cards in the market available". Unfortunately such advanced graphics is available only to Vista users, not even XP buyers!
Have you seen the noise (fuzz, amazement) 3d effects in Ubuntu have generated? You see, Ubuntu users appreciate 3d acceleration in Linux. Don't restrict them to just integrated graphics and TurboCache!
2700
Market Ubuntu / Linux Certified Accessories under Dell Open
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Dell Web Site, Linux, Printers and Ink submitted by jaybird
07/04/07
I love my Dell E1505N and the pre-installed Ubuntu Linux works great. I'm interested in upgrading / acquiring some new peripherals but it can be confusing determining which manufacturers and models inter-operate well with Ubuntu and Linux in general. It would be wonderful if Dell would provide a place to shop for Ubuntu certified accessories such as printers, cameras and MP3 players.
Customers purchasing such items from the Dell Open site would know that they either included the necessary software to integrate well or were already well supported by the OS. This would not even need to be an especially large selection of items - perhaps a low end and high end entry from each category. Having the assurance that my new printer, print server or MP3 player would integrate well with my new Ubuntu based laptop would allow me to stop researching and finally buy some new peripherals.
950
ubuntu on my computer: open source for education
Education, Linux submitted by raymako
03/23/07 **UNDER REVIEW**
I am a french teacher working in the south of France .The school's computers are Dell and Nec computers.
Like most of my colleagues, I am using "opensource" (free) softwares, and specially Ubuntu for 2 years.
It works perfectly and the pupils who tried Ubuntu like it very much. I hope it will be possible to buy a Dell computer without Windows very soon and I hope that all the Dell computers of my school will use Ubuntu.
Not only because Ubuntu is free (even if it's not insignificant in a french school...) , but because working with Ubuntu forces you to understand and to think how and why you are using your (Dell) computer.
I know that I'm speaking and writing english language like a spanish cow, so I'm sorry.
I just want to finish my message with this: please be the first big computer manufacturer offering Ubuntu or Windows (which is very performant, but not the only one and specially at school) .
7070
Switch to New Lithium-Sulfur batteries: Carries a longer charge, double the lifetime, Environmentally friendly, no toxic heavy metals, cheaper to produce, lighter weight
Environment, Laptop Power submitted by reg
06/10/07
Recharge Lithium-Sulfur over and over again. Sulfur is cheaper than heavy metals, and friendly to the environment. No toxic metals, and also better performing in colder temperatures. Lithium-Sulfur batteries also weigh less than Lithium Ion batteries.
More Power, Lower Costs, Safer for the environment, Easier to carry:
Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.
We Need A New Source of Power! MORE POWER!
3720
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