Blue Balling Isn't Cool
Servers and Storage submitted by exzen
03/01/07
Dell
You had a very good idea with www.dellideastorm.com. You knew that your company needed an injection of fresh ideas, and you recognized that there is an audience willing to tell you exactly what it wants.
However, as of late it seems more and more like you've missed the point of having a site like this. You can call it 'merging' or 'cleaning' or whatever, but in the end it still just censorship with a nicer title. What is the point of opening up a public forum for ideas if you're going to censor those which offer criticism or dissent? You should learn from the criticism, and see what you can do to improve from it.
Also, the superficial reasoning behind the dismissing of the pre-loaded linux idea is alarming. Even more alarming is that this followed a previous announcement of yours which made it sound like you supported of pre-loaded linux, and were seriously considering it. What gives with the big tease act?
You shot yourself in the foot Dell, I wonder if you're even going to try anything to regain some of the legitimacy you've lost.
Get it together Dell
60
Have Firefox pre-installed as default browser
Software submitted by robinjfisher
02/19/07 **REVIEWED**
Does what it says on the tin! Most people only use IE because they aren't aware of other browsers - they think Internet Explorer is the Internet! What would really drive take up of alternative browsers is if Firefox was pre-installed as the default browser so that when people look for the "Internet" in Windows, they are using FF.
Firefox advocates at Dell have initiated discussions and driven action around exploring alternative internet browsers and experiences. As you can tell from our response to the Linux community, open source continues to be a part of our conversations about new products and services.
118073
External wifi antenna connector
Broadband and Mobility, Laptops submitted by cromo
02/17/07
I came into this idea some time ago. The idea is simple - to put an external wifi connector on the back of the laptop and a button to switch between internal and external antennas. There are loads of different solutions for laptop users that need better signal reception for their wifi cards, most of them simply increase transmitting power (thus exposing us, the users to higher radiation) while all the problems could be easly solved by adding external connector and some some cheap and small external antenna. It would be nice to see such connector on the replicator port, too. Considering the forthcomming WiMax that will be mostly used by ISPs to provide internet connection I am sure such external antenna connector is even a must for the laptops that will come with integrated WiMax card.
1511
Smartphone
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.) submitted by gautam
02/16/07
The Dell Axim PDA is not super-popular, but I think if it moved into the SmartPhone realm (especially in order to compete with upcoming iPhone) then it could pick up some market-share and be a great device for US cell phone providers.
1389
Ditch Proprietary Parts
Sales Strategies submitted by dixonmiller
02/28/07
Ditch Proprietary Parts
Dell uses proprietary motherboards and power supplies that make it nearly impossible for customers to upgrade these parts on their computers. I can only assume Dell does this to prevent upgrades and force new computer purchases, because I have never heard of any real benefit of these proprietary parts for the consumer (extra features, higher performance, etc).
In fact, Dell usually handicaps these systems by locking out or not fully enabling common motherboard/bios features such as gigabit ethernet, utilizing faster memory, overclocking, etc.
Dell would rather have people buy a new PC than be able to upgrade their own, because Dell wants to sell a 2nd PC. Understandable, but I think Dell is miscalculating the pros and cons here. First the vast majority of users would never even consider cracking open their PC, much less replacing the motherboard. These people want to buy a PC and have it just work, so when they need a faster PC, they'll buy a new one.
The key is the enthusiast users. These people do want to be able to up swap in a new motherboard, add a higher rated power supply to support higher end PC components, etc. By denying these people this flexibility Dell does two bad things:
1 - Scares away enthusiasts who would otherwise consider buying a Dell. These people will not buy a Dell PC.
2 - Disappoint and drive away those customers who do buy a Dell only to find out the upgrade limitations. These people feel cheated and will not buy a Dell PC next time around.
Get with it Dell and ditch the proprietary parts. You're not protecting your business. Rather you're losing business by not supporting and providing flexibility to more advanced users.
Final comment...In fairness many other PC manufacturers use proprietary motherboards too, but that still doesn't make it the smart, customer-focused thing to do.
PS - For other examples of how Dell can improve (and how you can be a more-informed Dell customer) see my Deciphering Dell blog at http://dixonmiller.blogspot.com/.
120
 track my votes
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