james.norman

approval ratings on ideas

IdeaStorm submitted by jdelidc Apr 2

kinda like the real voting. you got the total number of people that vote (x10), but you should also have the percent of people that vote up and idea. so you would get someting like a 60% approval rating on something if 6 people voted for an idea and 4 people voted against an idea 5 Comments »

Built in/ Express card GPS

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), New Product Ideas submitted by visiocloud 10/07/07

I love having GPS on my computer but it would be nice not to have to deal with all the wire, I think an express card or an internal gps option would be awesome. 29 Comments »

Backlit Keyboards

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies, Desktops and Laptops submitted by rarmasu 02/21/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

I find myself many, many times in dark or poorly lit environments having to guess the various keys - would be fantastic to have a backlit keyboard - with backlit individual keys as the best option.

I would actually pay extra for that convenience if the option was available.
This could be done for desktops or notebooks.


Check out Vida_K's comment below on the New Latitude.
301 Comments »

Use magsafe power connectors

Laptops, Laptop Power submitted by badblood 05/20/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

MagSafe power connectors, by Apple, are magnetic power connectors that pull out harmlessly when the cord is tripped upon.



They are very cool and quite sensible.





103 Comments »

Stop Overcharging on Notebook RAM

Sales Strategies, Laptops submitted by realskript 08/28/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

Dell really... REALLY need to stop overcharging... and when i say overcharing... i mean atleast double what you would pay to pick up the ram yourself.
On XPS Notebooks... you are charging $500 for 4GB of ram... when you could easily go pick them up at your local computer shop for $250... and pocket the other half of the $500...

It would be nice if dell could save the customers as well as the company itself this hassle.. and start charging NORMAL prices for an upgrade in RAM.

thanks =D

PS..... PROMOTE THIS!!!!











88 Comments »

There should be an option of having no trialware on all computers

Software submitted by jervis961 08/23/07 **REVIEWED**

Here is a news article about trialware and how Dell feels that regular customers want it but small business ones do. Do they not look at the ideas here?

"Not interested in all of the trial software that clutters up new PCs? You're not alone: According to Dell's recent research in both focus groups and broader surveys, small-business users overwhelmingly view trialware as an irritant, not a benefit. That research has led Dell to axe the extras from its new Vostro line of small-business desktop PCs and laptops. Eliminating demo applications is a major step for Dell, which has caught flack for the quantity of trialware on its consumer PCs. (One frustrated customer went so far as to develop a "Decrapifier" utility. The company says that consumers who buy PCs for personal use do express interest in preloaded trial software, but that small-business users have different needs. By eliminating the trialware from Vostro machines, Dell says it has cut the system setup time in half. For now, Dell is the only major PC manufacturer to ship small-business systems without preinstalled trialware as a standard practice. (Some competitors, such as HP, allow customers to choose a no-trialware configuration.)"


Dell offers a broad amount of software choice and minimal software shipped. Read jeremy_f's post on the options we give our customers





154 Comments »

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.
108 Comments »

Offer Windows XP SP3 because it benchmarks on Dell XPSM1710's twice as fast as Vista SP1

Operating Systems submitted by jmxz 11/27/07

CNet article here:Windows XP outshines Vista in benchmarking test

Published: November 27, 2007, 5:13 AM PST
Tell us what you think about this storyTalkBackE-mail this story to a friendE-mailView this story formatted for printingPrint Add to your del.icio.usdel.icio.us Digg this storyDigg this
Windows XP outshines Vista in benchmarking test

New tests have revealed that Windows XP with the beta Service Pack 3 has twice the performance of Vista, even with its long-awaited Service Pack 1.

Vista's first service pack, to be released early next year, is intended to boost the operating system's performance. However, when Vista with the Service Pack 1 (SP1) beta was put through benchmark testing by researchers at Florida-based software development company Devil Mountain Software, the improvement was not overwhelming, leaving the latest Windows iteration outshined by its predecessor.

Vista, both with and without SP1, performed notably slower than XP with SP3 in the test, taking over 80 seconds to complete the test, compared to the beta SP3-enhanced XP's 35 seconds.

The tests, run on a Dell XPS M1710 test bed with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and 1GB of RAM, put Microsoft Office 2007 through a set of productivity tasks, including creating a compound document and supporting workbooks and presentation materials.

Raise your hand if you're tired of negative Vista articles

Operating Systems submitted by matthew2142 11/28/07

Neowin member ispamforfood (interesting nickname!) has posted an interesting question on our Back Page News forum asking "Raise your hand if you're tired of negative Vista articles".

It is true that there are many news outlets that are having quite a bit of a lark bashing Microsofts latest offering, hardly surprising based on the real-world problems that many people suffered after upgrading their Windows XP machines. In defence of Microsoft, the recommended machine to use Vista with has increased quite a bit from Windows XP where 256MB of Ram was quite enough (or 512 for optimal performance) and now the recommended is 1gig or 2 depending on who you believe. Personally, I had 1GB in my machine when I upgraded (clean installed) but I only saw an improvement after I added an extra 1GB, bringing my RAM up to 2GB.

It's probably also fair to mention that Microsoft has since released Performance & Stability updates, which do fix a lot of annoyances such as slow copy/paste (calculation time) to other partitions. Anyway I have also done a poll, so voice your opinion by voting Yay or Nay to negativity on Vista by clicking the Member Poll link

Link: Neowin Discussion in Back Page News
Link: Windows XP was also treated the same (thanks deck)

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=603325
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=600187&hl=< PROMOTE IF YOU ARE GETTING TIRED OF THEM. DEMOTE IF YOUR NOT AND LOVE THE VISTA BASHING 98 Comments »

Provide XP Recovery CD's for Vista customers like Lenovo/IBM do.

Operating Systems submitted by jmxz 12/07/07

This great idea stolen straight from one of your competitors.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/VSTA-DWNGRD.html

Have a Microsoft Windows Vista Business or Microsoft Windows Ultimate system, but need to continue using Microsoft Windows XP for a while? For a limited time Lenovo is providing Windows XP Recovery CD media as a way to downgrade from Windows Vista.

Why Charge for Vista Ultimate when Microsoft's giving it away for free.

Operating Systems, Sales Strategies submitted by jmxz 12/12/07

Microsoft seems to have new program where they will give youWindows Vista Ultimate for free, in exchange for your privacy and dignity (more here). In that light, why are you guys charging extra for Ultimate? How about instead offer an option where users can also get it free in exchange for their dignity? Considering Vista users have rather little privacy anyway thanks to the clauses in the Vista License Agreement and the spyware bundled with Vista it seems they wouldn't even be giving up that much.

Idea: Offer the same Free-in-exchange-for-Privacy Vista Ultimate that Microsoft's offering. 39 Comments »

Idea - help people upgrade from Vista to XP as described in this review.

Operating Systems submitted by jmxz 12/16/07

A nice review here of the many benefits of upgrading from Vista to XP makes me think Dell should help it's customers through this process - especially those unfortunate Vista victims that only have Vista because Dell pre-installed it on their PC.

The Idea is to (a) make sure all the differences mentioned in the review are highlighed in Dell's "Operating System - help me choose" pages; and (b) help your poor customers stuck with Vista upgrade to XP. 40 Comments »

AVG Free Anti-Virus for life (Windows Users)

Operating Systems, Software submitted by rlakes 12/17/07

For Windows users, Dell must give their costumers a plus to compete against Mac. Always updated free anti-virus and anti-spyware like AVG for life! I think AVG is the option rather than Norton or Mc Afee beceuse it is very light and every day have new updates. AVG didn't affect the performance of the PC's like other Anti-Virus do. 11 Comments »

Partially finance the development of Ubuntu to make it as easy to use as windows

Dell, Operating Systems submitted by eniacfoa 12/20/07

Is it really that hard for Ubuntu to get as user friendly as windows? i think it will never compete with windows without being AS user friendly combined with more aggressive marketing...if the average user has trouble installing software, the whole thing is futile...and i think it could happen if some cash was thrown at it...something dell has plenty of...

I would love dell to put their money where their mouth is and help improve Ubuntu dramatically in the user friendly department...

What Dell is doing is still "toying" with the idea instead of throwing their weight behind it...there is a real market for alternative computers, people really are sick of windows, but its the only operating system they have that they can use...dont tell me apple either...theyre a rip off and an annoyance...thats why they only have 2-5% of computers...they got hammered by the commodore 64 and they got hammered by the PC/Windows for a reason...its not just marketing....they are the computer for snobs, not the masses

Microsoft is not invincible, after Commodore Business Machines management killed the company from within Microsoft were right there in 95, ready for the web and apple, being no real competition...if a group of people came along with the vision, the business skill, the capital and the beleif that they can achieve their goal, microsoft would lose their "monopoly by default" because their products arnt that good.

Nobody likes vista, strike while the iron is hot...

Plan B - buy the IP of amiga OS....you really could have a tiny Desktop OS that was very light on system resources and multi-tasked well...of course needs lots of cash to develop as its not considered modern enough not having full memory protection and some other features...the thing about it is even if the whole system goes down, on modern hardware a warm boot would be 2-3 seconds....its like 8 seconds on G3 hardware... the only reason it doesnt have "full" memory protection is its trying to remain somewhat compatible with previous versions...an idea that could be scrapped....there is a small community of talented amiga developers already devoted and this number would grow if the IP wasnt owned by a shady company who makes it look like a money laundering exercise....so many people in the current IT industry have fond memories of CBM machines and would want to work with AmigaOS it if it was a real option...alot of people still say Amiga OS multi tasks better than windows...
its a very nice flavour of unix ;)

Plan C - put money into react OS, reverse engineer windows, make a compatible version open source, kill microsoft and go down in history ;) 26 Comments »

Use Windows Vista on all PC's

Operating Systems, Software submitted by fahdriyami Jan 6

Windows Vista is a next generation operating system and is known for its reliability and performance, its enhanced power saving methods take large effects on the duration and long life of mobile and desktop computers. It is being recommended constantly by game developers, pc manufacturers and desktop and pc hardware firms, making their products have a longer life cycle and giving them higher performance. Windows Vista also relies on consumer help to spot bugs and release updates everytime a new issue comes to hand.
There are many other reasons why Windows Vista is the Operating System for you. 79 Comments »

Save Windows XP! Join InfoWorld's Campaign - for your Customers!

Operating Systems, Sales Strategies submitted by phubert Jan 17

Save Windows XP! The clock is ticking

Microsoft will end OEM and shrink-wrapped sales of Windows XP on June 30, 2008, forcing users to shift to Vista. (System builders, meaning those who do white-box PCs, can sell XP through December 31.) Don't let that happen!

And IdeaStormers: sign the InfoWorld petition!

http://weblog.infoworld.com/save-xp/archives/2008/01/save_windows_xp.html 32 Comments »

Keep XP on all models until WIndows 7 comes out - even Microsoft seems to be pointing that way

Operating Systems submitted by jmxz Jan 28

With industry speculation that even Microsoft is already giving up on Vista and is setting up business users to switch from XP to Windows 7 - please please keep XP as an option on all systems until Windows 7 comes out.

In the name of your "Simplify IT" campaign please please please don't force an unnecessary software migration to Vista on people when it looks like next year businesses will be migrating from Vista to Windows 7 (or, as the link suggests, other operating systems). 47 Comments »

Offer BOTH the 32 bits AND the 64 bits versions of all Windows Vista editions (Home Basic/Premium, Business and Ultimate) on all PCs

Operating Systems, Desktops and Laptops submitted by winoffice Feb 24

(Note to XP and Linux users: I am not against Dell offering XP and Linux as well, but this idea is specifically about Vista.)

(Note to Dell: I have never seen any exact duplicate of this so far, as I have seen no idea asking for both 32 bits and 64 bits yet. So please do not merge with what you might find to be a duplicate, until you notify me and I make a reply.)

The idea has been thrown around the site for quite a long time now. I have seen ideas asking for 64 bits Vista, but no specific mentions of 32 bits Vista. So I decided to post it.

Offer both the 32 bits and the 64 bits versions of all Windows Vista editions (Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate) on all PCs.

That way, I could choose any of those four editions in either 32 bits or 64 bits format. With 32 bits, you can get better compatibility with hardware and software. With 64 bits, you can get better use of memory, and you are able to get up to 4 GB of RAM and even greater.

In my opinion, neither outweighs the other, so I would like it if Dell could offer all of it. I personally will buy only 32 bits Vista because for me, compatibility is more important than memory usage and I do not happen to need 4 GB of memory. But many others want the option of 64 bits Vista.

HP can offer 64 bits Vista Ultimate (I myself have tried to configure their PCs), why can you not? The problem with them however, is that I am forced into buying 64 bits Vista Ultimate or no Vista Ultimate at all. You currently offer 32 bits Vista Ultimate, and keep that option. Just add 64 bits Vista options to your current offerings, but keep your current offerings too. 52 Comments »

Dell: Help your fallen Corporate Buddie Billy Gates, Create the Vista Computer!

Dell, Operating Systems, Simplify IT submitted by jorge Feb 28

Dell, your buddy and fellow corporate chum Billy Gates is taking a beating! The news releases on how they helped your other buddy Intel sell a few more chips when they released the "Technology" eater OS Vista and lowered its Spec requirements even though it would not run correctly on their older chipsets isn't helping either one! Of course Dell knew none of this, Dell is innocent, no way would Dell sell a computer that they themselves would know didn't meet the real world requirements of an OS they are pushing on its customers like air to an ex-smoker on a breathing machine.

So help a brother out (corporate chum's) and start only using the latest chipsets on all your products, allow for SLI/Crossfire with the latest Nvidia and ATI Graphics cards if not the new three and four card setups and add several more RAM slots to accommodate at least 16 Gigs, don't forget to allow for multiple core CPU's and multiple sockets (to allow for even more processing power), over clock the living daylights out of it too! Who cares if its hot and sounds like a 747 on take off! Its all about backing your corporate buddies out!

So drop everything you're working on and back the hand that feeds and produce the computer that can run Vista correctly! Well computers, looks like many of the so called "Capable" computers do not meet the specs (the real ones). 27 Comments »