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Give Dell employees better discounts so they can experience the customer experience

Dell submitted by pwalker 02/02/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

Dell employees tell me they don't get discounts on Dell products. It's time to give Dell employees good discounts so they will more frequently experience your customer experience. This is important. I believe motivating them to be Dell customers more frequently will generate a lot of ideas for improving dell.com, products and services.


We did update our Employee Purchase Program in November.
60 Comments »

Low cost Laptops

Sales Strategies, Laptops submitted by computerroot 03/09/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

Make a series of Cheap Laptops for the Poor Nations.



In March we launched the new EC280 for Chinese Consumers. Not the laptop you are suggesting but a small desktop PC developed for first-time buyers and users seeking basic productivity, online and multimedia functionality. You can read more
here.


5 Comments »

Ask Michael (Dell) Forum

Dell Community submitted by frankw 03/16/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

Develop a community site to allow proponents and opponents of Dell to submit questions and suggestions to the Chairman. Replies can be at the discretion of Dell.


The Chairman, Michael Dell, was the person who initiated launching this site. Those of us at Dell know he reads it regulalry, often asking others in the company about ideas here or how fast we can move forward to implement certain things.
9 Comments »

Environment

Environment submitted by melongirl512 06/05/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

To become the "greenest" IT company,

1. Reduce vehicle miles traveled by employees by encouraging carpooling; having commuter shuttle buses (or working with Capital Metro) from places throughout Austin, Pflugerville, etc. Have bike-friendly facilities, such as bike trails, showers, bike racks.

2. Look at energy and water conservation in your buildings. You can do an audit through TCEQ and get advice to reduce water and energy use and use materials that improve indoor air quality for workers.

3. Look at the whole product "cradle to cradle" life cycle: there should be no waste. The products should be designed so that all by-products can be used for something.

4. Take back old computers and recycle them so that no toxic chemicals are thrown in landfills and the materials can be reused.

Good luck!


Dell looks for ways to improve how they conserve product energy consumption, reduce or eliminate materials for disposal, prolong product life span and provide effective and convenient equipment recovery solutions. For products, we do follow the product-life-cycle to identify and address environmental impacts associated with design, manufacture, use, and end-of-life activities.

Details on our energy and water conservation programs as well as our recycling efforts, on site and for consumers, can be found here.
3 Comments »

List implemented ideas under the tab "ideas in action"

IdeaStorm submitted by j.bandringa 07/15/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

I would like to have the implemented ideas moved to the tab "ideas in action". I would expect to find them there in the first place. Currently what you find there is news about improvements made because of IdeaStorm. Implemented ideas till now stay in the regular list of ideas. I suggest moving the current content of “ideas in action” to a new tab called “news” and replacing it by the implemented ideas.


Ideas for Dell products and services (not necessarily IdeaStorm site improvements) can be found in our Ideas in Action blog! Check it out.
8 Comments »

Dell Community Site

Dell Community, Dell Web Site submitted by jervis961 07/29/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

Dell currently has several websites reaching out to customers: Direct2Dell , IdeaStorm, Dell Forums and StudioDell. The problem is that they are too hard to find and spread out across the web. Why not have a central site that is part of Dell.com that would be a home page to all of them. Redisign the Dell.com home page to 3 simple links: The Dell Store, Dell Support and Dell Community. The community site would be the place to go and interact with like minded people, learn more about Dell systems and suggest ways to improve Dell. Dell take tighter control with dedicated moderators, users could create their own profile and avitar, special coupons and contests for members, maybe even a section of free downloads like Dell screensavers and wallpapers. This would be a great way for Dell to show its customers that their relationship doesn't begin and end with the sale of a product.



Please see Jervis961's comment below
81 Comments »

Did you know? Dell leads the Linux workstation market

IdeaStorm, Linux submitted by phubert 09/13/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

We see a number of categories in IdeaStorm, but NONE covers WORKSTATIONS.

Interesting?

Likely an oversight, huh?

The 'suggestion' here is that Dell -add- the "workstation" category since this article provides clear evidence that it is UNIQUE.

What do you think? ****

http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/362/





Check out the Precision Workstation category in the listing on the right side of the page.






16 Comments »

Could Dell Own Green?

Environment submitted by adrian 02/01/07 **REVIEWED**

Environmental concern and sustainability are today real issues with consumers and voters in many of Dell's markets. It looks as if a genuine commitment to reducing carbon and cleaning up their footprint will become a more important factor for companies wanting to strengthen consumer loyalty in the coming years.

Dell has already made its environmental commitment clear.My suggestion is that this could become a hallmark of the company - why not make the products, literally, green? If Apple can own 'pretty' and IBM/Lenovo can own 'serious', why can't Dell own 'green'?
Dell continues to do a lot to support our environment like our Plant a Tree for Me program and other activities documented on our Environment blog on Direct2Dell. Click here for more details.




77 Comments »

Sell more desktops without monitors, keyboards, etc

Desktops, Environment, Sales Strategies submitted by gordonbrown77 02/16/07 **COMING SOON**

Make it an option to not get things people may already have when upgrading a PC such as monitors, mouse, keyboard. This would be good environmentally and save people some money if they already have theae things and will not be keeping the old PC. 33 Comments »

Wiki-Dell

Advertising and Marketing, Dell Community, IdeaStorm submitted by thebittersea 02/18/07 **COMING SOON**

User Based Customer Support & Community Knowledge. Top quality contributors should also have a reward system through Dell.

14 Comments »

The Real Advantages of Linux

Linux submitted by cosh 03/30/07 **COMING SOON**

• Linux is free. It's free for use on an unlimited number of computers. For ever.
• There are a variety of excellent distros of it now. Similar goals, but different approaches, so you pick exactly what you want.
• An amazing library of free, open programs are available for download with any and all distrobutions. Linux lets you explore these by category and choose which ones to try.
• Linux is efficient and runs on pc's that have a significantly lower spec (and are therefore cheaper) than what Vista ever could.
• Linux is proven secure. No viruses for Linux have ever propagated successfully, and there were only ever 14 of them.
• Linux is absolutely top-of-the-range Open Source Software. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people have reviewed Linux's code, making constant improvements across the OS. Now, the end user can rely on it. Linux is amazingly stable.
• Linux never stopped caring about where you wanted to go today. The designers always listen to problems, and then fix them.
• OpenOffice is a flexible and powerful office-suite and is free for all to use. Again, this is high-quality Open Source Software.
• Linux will let you play your music and movies without fuss.
• Linux will let you browse the internet and email safely.
• As well as being free in price, Linux is freedom. It never places DRM restrictions on you or spys on the way you use music and media. It just does what you ask.
• Thanks to continuing work on the Windows compatibility layers WINE and CrossOver, you can run increasingly complex Windows programs directly in Linux if you prefer, including Office, Internet Explorer, Photoshop and iTunes. Explore some screenshots here.
• Linux has huge online dedicated support communities. Dell can use those, to reduce the efforts of providing its own Linux support desks.

And for comparison, the disadvantages of Windows

• Windows is frustratingly expensive plus you have to pay for it again if you have another computer. Windows license management is glued onto the operating system. It scans your hardware and uses the hardware key (sent to Microsoft's website of course) to track one copy of Windows across different computers.
• If you don't like something that's changed in the new version, tough.
• Windows makes even the basic computers in the Dell range more expensive because it's a memory and resource hog. Vista's requirements have forced basic memory used to manage the OS up four-fold. So with far more memory - you get the same results.
• There are over 114,000 known viruses for Windows. See this list of viruses, and note how many do and don't begin with "W32" (which means Windows).
• Windows is closed-source. Thousands of defects are permanently left in it because there simply aren't enough people working on it to iron them all out (or probably even notice them).
• Windows is bossy and obtrusive. Vista is swamped with irritating security dialogs. You opened this file. Cancel or allow? You want to view this website. Cancel or allow? etc. People don't want to run operating systems - they want run applications and get on with what they're doing.
• Windows Media Player (reportedly) submits reports of DVDs you watch to a file on Microsoft's server, tracked with an individual id. See this page. Surely to god nobody wants this? Or this?!?!
• Look at this Microsoft diagram of how Vista plays HD video. Notice the repeated decryption and reencryption before the data gets sent to your screen. Notice the multiple "protected environments", and the fact that your prgrams are deemed to be "unprotected". Who is Vista trying to protect the video from? - YOU. This blatantly outrageous content protection is because it thinks you will try to share the video with friends and it doesn't want you to. Plus the multiple decryption stages of each frame of video put a frightening strain on the computer meaning only high-end computers will be able to play HD content in Vista (for the near future).
• It's just... not nice. Not just the OS, but Microsoft's attitude. See the Halloween Documents if you haven't already. Microsoft's reports make a shocking read. Their attitude is cold and ruthless, and we don't like that, and we don't like Dell to be tied so tightly into that.

Linux is not the be-all and the end-all, but it is growing faster, much faster, than Windows. The Linux community can scale ten times the number of developers that Windows can. Arguably, it's set to soon be superior to Windows in virtually every respect.

Dual-booting options with Windows and Linux give maximum choice to the user. This option is a must for Dell computers. Microsoft's vendor-lock-in contracts which force PC retailers to support and "recommend" only Windows are unethical and we don't like them. It's gone on for too long. Let's be honest Dell, ask yourself, what are Microsoft so afraid of? Will they lose money through dual booting both Windows and Linux? No not if Windows was the better OS... So is Microsoft quietly admitting to it... Come on Dell, we all want you to show the world how much more a computer can be! We want you to show the world what a computer is meant to be, and marvel at people's suprise and delight! Giving your customers choice can only be a good thing. Don't ignore this chance to become the open source pioneer.

Might I suggest that promotion is vital. Linux computers will not sell well if they are hidden in some back-alley part of your website. To get the best results for the work you put in, make sure people can see it and that it is well-described, so people who've never heard of it don't get confused.

Make sure that you make these computers available to markets outside America too. Don't ignore us here in Europe! The European Commission's had quite enough of Windows anyway, after fining Microsoft €497 million ($603 million USD) for anti-competitive behavior.

Another idea, to iron out compatibility problems and get interesting extra feedback, beta-test some of your new Linux range with a large-ish selection of people before making it fully available. Unlike with Windows, you have full options to customise the style, background and layout and almost complete behavior of the OS. You might want to put your own touches on it. For example the default installation of Ubuntu is a light-brown/orange colour, which lacks much universal appeal. Test to see whether people want something layed out similarly to Windows or just barebones Linux defaults for the particular distro(s). (I personally would like something similar to Windows' look.)


Open the window. Linux is ready for Dell, and Dell is ready for Linux.

We appreciate the promises you've made already Dell. Thank you. We're all behind you and look forward to the results.



42 Comments »

Put a 'New' Tag on the "Ideas in Action" tab when it is updated

IdeaStorm submitted by badblood 05/20/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

Also the moderator update.
We now have notifications next to the Ideas in Action and Talk with the Moderator links for when there is new content on our blogs.




17 Comments »

One account on the Dell site.

Dell Community, Dell Web Site submitted by wiiboy12 11/22/07 **IN PROGRESS**

I have noticed that on the Dell site, I have 3 accounts (forum, ideastorm, and main site). I think maybe Dell should make it so that one can have one account for all of the Dell website. The only problem is the people who already have accounts. I haven't had much time to think on this, so feedback would be appreciated. 20 Comments »

Let Customers post reviews / discussion directly on your product pages

Dell Web Site submitted by jmxz 04/03/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

It's kinda interesting that I can see lots of lively discussion here on ideastorm.

How about building that kind of community on your web site.

In particular, when I go to a laptop page on your e-commerce site I want to read about people's success stories and horror stories about running Linux on them.


Check out the latest on our ratings and reviews on Direct2Dell.




4 Comments »

Offer Ubuntu on the XPS M1330 laptop

Linux, XPS products, Laptops submitted by technikal 06/26/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

Offer the coolest OS on your coolest laptop. I'd be great to buy such a cool laptop knowing ubuntu would work flawlessly on it. Maybe even add Beryl into the default install so that the graphics on the screen were as nice to look at as the laptop itself. I'd even take a dual-boot with Vista - just something to assure me that on the system is Linux ready.


Check out the Idea in Action update.
29 Comments »

Ubuntu Dell Repo

Linux, Service and Support submitted by tekhawk 07/20/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

basicly a simple idea dell to support the ubuntu community a little bit by running a repo for its laptops and desktop if nothing more to support the software that they install on the system and to provide driver updates theses repos should be setup on the machines before shipping so that the users can get the driver updates quick and easy and offer driver on there for all the drivers that there are for dell machines that are support on linux not just the shipping lines

so that user might find that other machines then the ones you ship with ubuntu can easly be made into power ubuntu operating machines


As matt_d has said below, we have repositories for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, Novell/SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, and a growing one for Ubuntu. Check it out here http://linux.dell.com.
76 Comments »

product ratings

Dell Web Site submitted by jdelidc 08/26/07 **IN PROGRESS**

a boat load of stuff on the website has ratings on it. but when you go to configure the machine, nothing shows the ratings. put that on the list to show how satisfied customers actually are with spending more money. especially on the OS and the video card. so add the star ratings to the products that will be going into the machine when we are busy picking out what we want 5 Comments »

Continue to use IdeaStorm...

IdeaStorm submitted by lordcobol 10/02/07 **IN PROGRESS**

...to teach the competition what mistakes not to make.

:)

(semi)seriously, if the competition is smart enough to read here, it could improve the whole PC industry, especially if they notice what we think about bloatware.

For that matter, I suspect that the IdeaStorm "storm" about forcing Vista down our throats helped persuade M$oft to extend the XP cutoff date, so maybe we have already made the world a better place for non-Dell customers. 15 Comments »

Easier way to OPT OUT of Dell selling my private information

Advertising and Marketing submitted by ninefoot3 10/17/07 **IN PROGRESS**

I rec'd a brochure yesterday saying Dell and DFS were going to share my private info with other 3rd party companies for marketing purposes. Well, it said that in about 5,000 words or so. At the end is a box stating that I may opt-out of this by calling the number listed or writing a letter (including certain info) and send it to the listed address.

I chose to use the phone method. After being shoved around to a few people, I finally got someone who could help me 'opt-out'. This involved 'opening a case' as if I had a technical issue with my account.

My IdeaStorm suggestion, hey Dell, make it easier for us to OPT-OUT of your attempts to make money off of my personal information. What's the matter? Didn't make enough money off of my patronage to Dell products and the interest rates charged? Getting an extra $1 for my name, address and age information going to help Michael Dell get a new boat? C'mon!

While I'm disturbed that Dell wanted to sell me out, I'm more disturbed that Dell made it difficult for us to opt-out. A simple URL would have been nice. I know, that would make more people opt-out and Dell would have less names to sell. It's like a mail-in-rebate or the lack of a cancel button in the account information at freecreditreport.com, you HAVE to call, and since that's a pain in the neck, most people will sloth themselves into something they don't really want. 42 Comments »

Link IdeaStorm and Forum and Product Review Posting User IDs

Dell Web Site, Sales Strategies, Service and Support submitted by nemesisdb 10/21/07 **IN PROGRESS**

A lot of us probably post on idea storm, and write reviews for the dell products we buy, and post in the Dell Forums.

It'd be great to have a single logon for each instead of having to have a seperate account for all three. It's probably to late to merge everyone fully, as no doubt duplicate user names for different people exist, but:

1) screen all new sign ups agaisnt all three databases. make them pick a name that's not in any of the 3

2) make their new, unique credentials work on all three sites.

3) for any names currently in existance that are unique (for example forum usernames that aren't taken on ideastorm and vice-versa), reserve them in the other areas and activate them in those areas.

I think this would help integrate the community a lot more overall. People in the forums no doubt have great ideas to share and people at IdeaStorm can no doubt help others in the forums.

Merging the user names and accounts would be a small step towards some much needed integration. 13 Comments »