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Ad Campaign: What can you do with Ubuntu?

Advertising and Marketing, Linux submitted by limulus 09/04/07

There are currently ideas under review, such as "make ubuntu shine" which relate to advertising Dell's Ubuntu systems. If Dell decides to do some ads, here's an idea for an ad campaign:

"What can you do with Ubuntu?"



Find one or more people who have bought a Dell Ubuntu system and have them show off what they can do with their systems; string the clips those together into a commercial. Some themes that should become obvious:

* easy software installation and updates

* command line not necessary (Ubuntu is very much a GUI OS)

* compiling software not necessary

* full range of applications

* 3rd party proprietary apps, like Flash and Google Earth

* all the little games you could ever want (e.g. Sudoku)

* 'it just works'

* "wobbly windows" and other spiffy cool effects for fun :)

[see also my other ad campaign ideas: Families Switching to Ubuntu and Meet Mark Shuttleworth ] 26 Comments »

Advertise transfer rates in megabytes (MBps), not megabits (Mbps)

Advertising and Marketing, Broadband and Mobility, Dell submitted by winoffice 10/07/07

Look at this specification for a Dell XPS M1710 (thank God that it is still available):

My Components
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7400 (2.16GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate edit
MEMORY 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM edit
HARD DRIVE Size: 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) edit
VIDEO CARD 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7950 GTX edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Blu-ray Disc Drive (BD/DVD/CD burner w/double layer BD write capability) edit
WIRELESS CARDS Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps) edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Audio edit
My Software & Accessories
ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE PC-cillin Internet Security: AntiVirus, Firewall, Spyware removal 15-months edit
Dell Recommends
Upgrade your software!
Upgrade to McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 36-months [add $39 or $1/month1]


PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE No Productivity software pre-installed edit
CARRYING CASES Dell Nylon Deluxe Carrying Case edit
My Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor,24x7 Phone Support edit
ACCIDENT AND THEFT PROTECTION Add Accidental Damage and LoJack Theft Protection to 1Yr Warr. edit
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP DataSafe Online Backup 10GB for 1 year edit
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP requested edit
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
LCD PANEL 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
Miscellaneous Inspiron XPS M1710 Black
XPS Specialized Support Inspiron XPS, Specialized Support
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium
Processor Branding Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
PHOTO AND MUSIC SOFTWARE No Entertainment software pre-install

The transfer rate of the selected wireless card is 54 Mbps, or megabits per second. A megabit is a thousand bits, and a bit is a 1 or a 0. So Dell thinks that 54 thousand 1's and 0's are useful to me?

Advertise transfer rates in megabytes (MBps with an uppercase B), not megabits (Mbps with a lowercase B). A byte can be a character of a document or a web page, part of a picture, or something else. In any case, 1 MBps (one thousand bytes per second, or a megabyte per second) is much more useful to me. Besides, web pages, pictures and other files are measured in bytes/kilobytes/megabytes/etc., why not transfer rates?

Many people think that the transfer rate is in megabytes, only to find out later that the wireless card is transferring megabits. Please stop advertising in such a useless unit as megabits, and start advertising in more useful units, like megabytes! Besides, Dell is asking for ideas concerning wireless after all. 7 Comments »

Bring Back Sega!

Dell, New Product Ideas submitted by badblood 09/11/07

The software company still exists, but the hardware one died. Bring it back. Bring it back. Oh how I miss my Mastersystem.

Thanks

56 Comments »

I don't want an AGEIA PhysX card.

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), XPS products submitted by sharoz 10/09/07

Don't make the AGEIA PhysX card a mandatory part of the XPS M1730. Not everyone needs or wants one.

Make it an optional component. 7 Comments »

Downloadable, PDF format, full technical specs for all systems

Advertising and Marketing, Dell Web Site submitted by benjesuit 06/12/07 **REVIEWED**

Before I buy, I would like to have the options of downloading the full technical specifications of the system. Not just the brief specifications. Place a link under "tech specs" tab that allows you to view or download the full specification PDF file for those of us who care about and understand such things. This way everyone is satisfied.
We are looking to improve the specs pages by making them consistent across all product lines, provide more in-depth specifications and making them available in a printable format.





35 Comments »

AMD based XPS Models, especially the M1330!!!

XPS products submitted by fragro 10/11/07

Build the M1330 with AMD Kite- vow and Puma- Plattform in Future!

PS: The M1330 is one of the Best Notebooks you have! Stay On! 2 Comments »

Web Cam option should be there with all laptop

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by macmoh 10/11/07

Please inbuilt web cam with all your notebooks. 4 Comments »

Dell - explain yourself! What happened to preinstalling Firefox?

Software submitted by johnnyk 10/09/07

Edit: Please do not continue to promote this article

The disappearance of the "Under Review" tag from the ideastorm page requesting that Dell preinstall Firefox was the result of a technical error. It has been corrected. Let the records show that Dell is still considering preinstalling Firefox.

Thank you Dell for making this clear to the Firefox community. And...I'm sorry I jumped the gun. Still friends? :) 18 Comments »

Make the dell ubuntu models available through the main webpage

Dell Web Site, Linux, Sales Strategies submitted by rajeevbhatta 06/19/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

Instead of having the model listings on a different webpage ( www.dell.com/open) have these models available from the product search you have on the main page or a link available through the main page (www.dell.com)

When I go to dell.com and I search for the product model numbers I never can find them I have to go to the other page and then I see it. The only thing I saw on the main page is a small flash ad which then takes you to the page.

Why cant you place these models with the other models on your page.........





30 Comments »

Dell Laptops: No modem

Laptops submitted by tleavit 10/09/07

Specifically in my case Latitudes in businesses: Dell needs to remove modems as default hardware. Understanding that people out there today are actually still using them, for now it should be an option but I don’t think every laptop made needs to have one installed by default. Utilize the real-estate freed up on the back for something new such as HDMI video/sound or such. 17 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!!!!











86 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





129 Comments »

Dell: Support Open BIOSes for Linux

Dell, Linux submitted by phubert 10/10/07 **REVIEWED**

An Open BIOS for Linux would free it from the DOS legacy code and speed boot times.

The current BIOS is a legacy throwback... it's time to replace it!






Our current priority is to expand Linux availability by bringing more platforms and languages to market. Read what daniel_j has to say.





26 Comments »

Submit hardware specifications to the Linux Driver Project

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Linux submitted by upstaked 10/05/07 **REVIEWED**

Back in January kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman from Novell started a project offering companies free Linux driver development.

This proved so successful that Novell made it his full-time job and turned to a project with over 200 kernel developers: http://www.linuxdriverproject.org/ .

So Dell, submit specs and convince your hardware providers to do so too. I want to spend my money on great new hardware that runs on Linux.





We constantly work with our hardware partners to develop and maintain open-sourced drivers. Also, we make it clear that through their own developers (or other projects like the Linux Driver Project) they need to deliver on drivers.






13 Comments »

Put Ubuntu on the list of operating systems when building a PC!

Linux, Sales Strategies, Desktops and Laptops submitted by samb0057 08/10/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

Ubuntu is hidden in a dark corner of the website. I work in IT support, and I have a client who was having virus problems a little while ago. I fixed the problem by installing Ubuntu on their PC. Very recently they called me asking for advice on a new computer, I told them about your new offer providing Ubuntu pre-installed on PCs and they wanted to purchase, but could not find the section on your site (this person is a very basic user, doesn't know what open-source means, probably didn't even see the open source link). There is no way they would have found your Ubuntu section on their own.

I urge you to offer Ubuntu as a choice of OSes in the system configuration wizard, the only way to really sell Ubuntu is to offer Ubuntu as a primary option, rather than a hidden alternative. I personally am looking to buy a new laptop, and you guys have always been my number 1 PC manufacturer (I don't think I've ever bought a new retail PC except from you guys), but I feel that your Ubuntu offerings are lacking. If you offered Ubuntu on some of the great deals you offer on your home page, I would be willing to pay just as much as I would for a Windows Vista system and I probably would have already ordered.







127 Comments »

Student Discounts!

Education, Sales Strategies submitted by cnmopt 02/18/07 **ALREADY OFFERED**

Similar to Apple, Dell should offer students a special discount on Dell Products. The Apple market share is currently growing in the education sector and offering [college] students a discount would be useful to counter Apple's strategy. 42 Comments »

Respect of the EULA terms (refund of OS)

Operating Systems submitted by grosguillaume 02/19/07

On every EULA from Windows OS, it's clearly write that a consumer who disagree with the term of the EULA contract can be refunded, but it's not possible with Dell's computer. 19 Comments »

Linux Hardware Compatibility List

Dell Web Site, Linux submitted by s3indiana 02/20/07 **IN PROGRESS**

Create a listing of Dell hardware that's compatible with the major Linux distributions (Fedora, OpenSuse, ubuntu, Freespire) providing compatibility with not just systems (desktops and laptops) but include peripherals (printers, camera's, flash drives, compatible routers, etc.). Include levels of compatibility so the reviewer can make an educated choice. This would provide the greatest assistance for those looking at alternatives...

We're working to add something like this to our linux.dell.com wiki. Click here to see what john_h has to say.




30 Comments »

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.





772 Comments »

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.

449 Comments »