cmulder

Nerd Discount + Support Option

Advertising and Marketing, Sales Strategies, Service and Support submitted by dino 05/16/07

If a customer scores high on an optional technical quiz reward them with a nerd discount. Since Dell will be saving all that money on not having to support this type of user. Also the service tag could be flagged with a nerd alert so the technician only has to answer the phone with, “Hello nerd what part do you need me to send.” 36 Comments »

Help create Open Source drivers - employ or hire a few developers

Linux, Operating Systems submitted by tingo 02/21/07

The Open Source market is growing - fast.
Dell should invest a small amount in this, in order to gain a huge market share and sales.
Employ or hire a few Open Source developers to create drivers for your products (for Open source operating systems).
Make sure that
- you support as many of the Open Source OS's as you can (Linux, *BSD, others)
- the drivers are completely open sourced (no binary blobs)
- that you take a long time view on this and support the drivers for as many years as you can
- you create open source drivers for ALL new products
- there are no strings attached to the use or further development of those drivers (ie. use an acceptable FOSS license)

This idea is completely free - the first company to use it wins. 15 Comments »

Dell Outlet Should Offer OS Choice of Linux

Linux, Sales Strategies submitted by durango95 05/01/07

Budget minded consumers love the Dell Outlet because we can save hundreds on the latest equipment... and I am batting 100% on the quality of the systems being shipped from the Outlet.

HOWEVER... One thing that irks me is that I am forced to take WINDOWS VISTA when buying these outlet machines. The first thing I do after receiving them is format them and install Fedora Core 6. I have bought twelve XPS 410s in the past calendar quarter and have formatted them all clean and installed FC6.

It's just plain unfair to pay the Microsoft Tax and agree to their unreasonable EULAs if we do not have to. I am all for giving B. Gates and company money for any of their products that actually give business value (i.e. usually this means Excel or possibly Visio in this day and age as business-line people require perfect Office-compatible functionality -- OOo is great for developers and more casual users but not necessary for front line heavily analysis people). I'd rather the software money go to VMWare or Red Hat or some company actually delivering uncommon value nowadays.

Since Dell will not be able to compete with Apple on HW/SW combination OS choice is king at this point. It behooves Dell to ally with Linux now more than ever to face the Apple threat. 2 Comments »

Built-in camera in notebook lid

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by filipzahradnik 05/06/07

I'd love to see a small camera built into the lid of the notebook - just above the display. Some notebooks (like Asus) already have it and it works great for video calling. This would save people having to lug a web cam around... 4 Comments »

Flag ideas as Duplicates

IdeaStorm submitted by peyre 05/18/07

Several people have commented that this site needs to be cleaned up. How about if users could flag an entry as a duplicate? That would make it much easier for someone moderating the site to catch dupes and eliminate or consolidate them.

Someone please let me know if this suggestion itself is a duplicate. 5 Comments »

Send Best Ubuntu Laptop (and Desktop?) to PC Magazine!

Linux, Desktops and Laptops submitted by maccam94 05/01/07

PC Magazine is one of the most widely read computing magazines, and by sending your top Linux configurations to them for review, you will get the word out about your exciting new offerings, as well as generate awareness about Linux itself. 5 Comments »

Bring the Latitude to the Home/Home Office (Latitude equals Dell style and quality as it SHOULD be!)

Latitude products, Sales Strategies submitted by hotuan87 05/18/07

Compare the touch and feel of a MacBook to that of an Inspiron. It doesn't compare. The Inspiron isn't as stylish, and has a cheap plasticky feel. The MacBooks are solid, sturdy, and, if you have a MacBook PRO, made of metal.
For college students such as myself who put our computers through the abuse of daily use, it only gets worse. My Mac colleagues, however, still show off their shiny (literally) only slightly beaten MacBooks.

The Latitude, however, is everything the Inspiron should be in terms of design and style. Don't limit the Latitude to just Business users, get it to your average consumer!

People shouldn't be comparing the look and feel of MacBooks to Inspirons, they should be comparing them to Latitudes! 3 Comments »

Keep XP available for a long time

Operating Systems submitted by klondikegeoff 05/19/07

I was glad when I bought my laptop that you still offered XP. I will not move to VISTA until absolutely necessary, so I hope you will continue to offer XP for as long as possible. Comment »

Add some colors!

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops and Laptops submitted by bajtalan.hunor 02/24/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

In my opinion nowadays colors like gray or black are getting too old. Why Dell does not follow other companies like Sony or Apple or the tiny Flybook. People like colors because it expresses their personality, not everybody is a businessman or businesswoman, we like colors. For example white is getting more and more popular but there are other trendy colors out there.

So PLEASE ADD SOME COLOR TO YOUR NOTEBOOK AND DESKTOP LINES and make them look like jewelry and not like a piece of plastic, do some cool design.

We like to show a laptop to which people say WOW. So the "WOW STARTS NOW"!



The new Inspiron and XPS notebooks do come in colors now, but stay tuned for more ways to customize the look of your PC.

21 Comments »

Actually promote Desktop Linux

Advertising and Marketing, Desktops, Linux submitted by mrvertigo 05/10/07

Dell offered desktop Linux once but seemingly did not market it as much as it could have, the company did not make money on a Linux desktop and decided to stop offering it, this is one reason that dell needs to effectively market its newest offertings
as a desktop alternative!!!

Without a REAL attempt to market this it will die like attempts by so many others, Dell has the resources to market this!

Lets get desktop lnux out there guys! 4 Comments »

List Rejected Ideas

IdeaStorm submitted by jorge 05/17/07

Besides having "Ideas in Action" a category for "Rejected Ideas" so people don't continue to try and add rejected ideas. And the posters of those ideas don't get bent out of shape for losing their idea from the site, they can still see it in the "Rejected Idea" bin, it can hopefully drive them to produce better ideas or push them over the edge (good or bad, hopefully good). I guess keeping the history of the IdeaStorm alive. Just lock the comments or the mocking might get out of hand.

Starting Jul. 2nd provided by florida web site design . 18 Comments »

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 28 Comments »

Show the Vista performance rating during system configuration.

Dell Web Site submitted by jervis961 02/17/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

People may not realize that Vista gives your computer a performance rating based on several factors (processor, RAM, hard drive and video card).
Dell should show the performance rating on the side as you build your computer and update it as you go along changing the configuation. This should give people a guage as to if an upgrade will really improve your overall performance and also what kinds of games and programs your new computer will be capable of.

Remove: "Dell recommends Windows Vista™..." from any publication

Advertising and Marketing submitted by tho.meier 02/21/07

It would be nice to see advertising without any Micro$oft, from Dell. I think there is enough advertising for MS from MS it self.

Somthing linke: "Dell supports muli-OS" would look good! Od: "Dell gives you the real choice" 61 Comments »

Laptop Web Cam and Microphone

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by terrymain 02/16/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

All new laptops should have a built in web cam and quality voice recorder/microphone.


Webcams are standard on all XPS laptops and an option on all Inspiron laptops.




134 Comments »

Work with gaming companies to promote Linux gaming

Gaming, Linux submitted by homerhomer 05/07/07

Dell is an huge step for Linux and they have a huge voice for the computer community . I would love to see Dell talking to gaming companies on bringing there products to Linux.

One way I could see this would be to bundle a game like Quake 4. 11 Comments »

Apply an Energy Star Rating System to your Products

Environment submitted by badblood 05/18/07

Everyone has a role to play in protecting the environment. Choosing an energy efficient appliance is one way to do this while saving money. Apply a star rating for all your products, which rates their energy consumption and ability to be recycled.



9 Comments »

No more junk software

Software submitted by samjabr 05/04/07

Please please please make your computers available without any software, except necessary drivers and apps that allow devices to function.

I can honestly say this is the one thing that keeps me from buying your computers. I already buy printers, monitors, accessories etc..

1 Comment »

Sticker-free Laptops.. YEAH!!

Laptops submitted by whistleway 05/06/07

No more stickers please. Let the true sexy Dell come out.. 9 Comments »

Provide Linux compatibility information on all products up front

Advertising and Marketing, Linux submitted by spm 02/21/07 **REVIEWED**

My company used to buy all out IT products from Dell. The main reason we don't buy any Dell products any more is that it is so difficult to get information from Dell on Linux compatibility, except from a few very expensive high end products. Calling Dell product support to find out if a particular product will work with Linux and where to get drivers is an offputting experience. Dell sales staff seem to take a perverse delight in telling customers that they don't support Linux, and when I tell them that I don't want support from them, only compatibility and driver information, they tell me that they can't give me that information, nor information on chipsets which might allow me to locate information from elsewhere.

The bottom line is that I expect at the very least to be provided compatibility and chipset information before I buy a PC. Neither myself or any other customer is going to buy a Dell PC to test it on Dells behalf - product testing and certification is the manufacturer's responsibility, not mine. White box suppliers, and other mail order suppliers on the other hand are only too willing to provide motherboard, chipset, and component information etc. to allow me to check compatibility.

The reason why we no longer buy any Dell products is simple - we use a small number of Linux PCs in our office and all the servers in our office run Linux. We buy all hardware, peripherals including low end desktop hardware so that they are deployable with both Linux and Windows. We do this for obvious reasons - for example, we might want to plug in a printer originally purchased for use with Windows into a Linux server print queue, and we may want server applications to print to the printer. We may want to redeploy Windows Desktops later as Linux desktops - for example to use as a shared data access desktop. Therefore, although our desktop PCs are overwhelmingly Windows, we won't buy any hardware that isn't Linux compatible, even if it is intended for use with Windows initially. Dell unfortunately doesn't meet those needs, and we cannot buy equipment from Dell. I am sure a lot of other companies which use Linux in the office have similar issues.

Here is what Dell needs to do to have a chance of winning our (and other's) custom:

1) Advertise and inform about Linux compatibility or otherwise. Finding out about compatibility before buying is the most difficult thing about Linux, not installation or configuration. Any company that can do this has a huge advantage for little or no cost.
2) Provide full Linux compatibility information on all Dell products - not just high end desktops. Ideally, certify products for the top distros - RHET, SLES, Debian, the latest free Fedora, OpenSuSE, Ubuntu if possible. Linux users don't necessarily want a preload - most Linux users are quite capable of installing Linux themselves and would probably install some other Linux distro if one was pre-installed. Preinstallation is only useful to us as an indication that the product is Linux compatible. If a feature is only partially supported by Linux, say so and say what is supported - Linux users will understand, and may not need all the features, or like us they may only want the Linux compatibility for possible future redeployment. If driver support is external (most will be) then provide links pointing to those sites in Dell support, and if you need to make a disclaimer to avoid liability for a third party products outside Dell's control, do so. Again Linux users will understand.
3) Exclude products from the Dell inventory that don't support Linux as far as possible. Generally for every part that is not Linux compatible, there is one that is Linux compatible for the same price.
4) Don't ask customers to pay the Microsoft tax. Linux machines or no-OS machines with zero cost OS and no support should cost significantly less than a Windows pre-loaded machine. Customers know when they are being cheated and don't like it.
5) Linux support (except for driver information) is not usually required (except for servers), only web based information. If the customer needs Linux support, it will probably be from an independent consultant/techie rather than from Dell. Sell your Linux PCs as "Linux OEM - no support" PCs at a significantly lower cost than the equivalent Windows PC.
6) Linux on the desktop is most competitive on the low end desktop - particularly for schools etc. Sell Linux PCs preloaded onto low end desktop computers with appropriate free software for that market, at a competitive price rather than on high end workstations.


Upfront Linux capability would be difficult to implement on our web store. But, check some of the alternatives john_h posted.




21 Comments »