ayeohx

Quiet, please! ssssssssshhhhhhh....

Dimension products submitted by camper 06/23/07

I just purchased a E520 Dimension desktop. The main fan is very quiet, and the CPU cooling is nicely designed (thank-you!). However, the power supply fan is noisy. I realize the constraints placed upon Dell by their low-margin business model, and I was willing to swap out the noisy power supply for a quiet one. Then I discovered the proprietary nature of the power supplies that Dell uses.

If all Dell can provide is noisy power supplies, can you at least use standard power supply form factors so that I can put a quiet power supply in the place of the noisy ones that Dell supplies? 7 Comments »

Sell Linux PCs Worldwide - not only the United States

Linux, Sales Strategies, Desktops and Laptops submitted by ergo 05/02/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

Dell has now decided to sell computers with Linux pre-installed. GREAT MOVE! But for the moment, it only concerns the US... Here outside the US, we can't wait to buy a pre-installed Linux Dell PC! Please sell Linux PCs worldwide!


Check out the details on Dell Linux systems worldwide!
524 Comments »

Fully Upgradeable Laptop

Laptops submitted by badblood 05/19/07

Produce a Laptop where everything can be upgraded. Asus is doing it - and here it is:



You name it: Processor, LCD, hard drive, memory, graphics card, optical drive -- take the old one out and put a new component it, all within minutes. The notebook is designed around the core principle of it being easy to upgrade.

Maybe you already have a flexible computer like this one? 9 Comments »

Include 1 share of DELL stock with each computer purchase.

Dell, Sales Strategies submitted by reg 06/13/07

"You Own the Company"

Nothing increases involvement like increasing peoples involvement!

Including 1 share of Dell stock with each PC sold involves the consumer,
no longer as simply an end user of DELL equipment, but as an active owner
of Dell - with a personal interest in seeing DELL succeed.

If someone buys 5 PCs, 1 share each - they get 5 shares!

This is a great way for people to 'Buy American' and support DELL and the USA Economy. 35 Comments »

Child-Friendly environment to protect parent's files.

Software submitted by lizblake 06/04/07 **REVIEWED**

After my child and his friend erased our family photos and somehow inverted the display of our family computer... I purchased a software program to give the kids the equivalent of a "gilded cage" to run only software and websites I approve. Similar software would make a great addition to the Dell home computer line-up and could be aimed at families with toddlers, daycare centers, churches, daycare centers, kindergartens, etc.

The software I purchased was called Peanut Butter PC [content removed by moderator] If you don't wish to develop your own, maybe you could license Peanut Butter PC... We absolutely love it.

Liz Blake


We constantly evaluate products that can improve data safety, Internet Safety and access controls. Read jeremy_f's post for more details, and stay tuned for additional enhancements.




97 Comments »

Have publicly available torrents/ISOs of all driver and media discs

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Software submitted by remover 06/15/07 **NOT NOW**

As a former dell technician and now computer repair shop technician, I frequently encounter Dell machines where there driver disc is missing and or out of date. Having worked on the phones I know it's not cheap for Dell to keep these in stock and to keep shipping them out.

My suggestion: use a free peer to peer download system to distribute these discs. BitTorrent. It's free and simple to set up. Along side the torrents you could have ISOs ready for download if the person is unfamiliar with BitTorrent.

While the most common consumer may not be able to utilize it to full effectiveness, it gives local technicians and either knowledgeable users or friends of the less-than-knowledgeable users will have access to the most up to date disk images.

Just my two cents.
Scott Lyons 29 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 »

"Dell is not a computer company where humor, creativity, innovation spring to mind" - FIX THAT

Service and Support submitted by mistern 06/14/07

As badblood pointed out, Dell is not a computer company where humor, creativity, innovation spring to mind. Fix that. This should be your list of primary values:

• Flexibility


• Creativity


• Innovation


• Quality


• Low cost


• Humor

Release the Results of your Linux survey....

Advertising and Marketing, Linux submitted by badblood 06/12/07

Linux, Dell submitted by badblood 3 mins ago Save Report abuse.yesno none
Remember that survey you did ages back about which flavor of Linux we prefer. Well can you release the results of the survey?

Maybe you already have...? 19 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 »

OpenOffice.org as an Option on Vista Systems

Operating Systems, Software submitted by badblood 06/14/07

openoffice.org is already offered on the Ubuntu systems, but not on Vista systems.

So please add it as an option to Vista computers. 29 Comments »

Pre-installed wireless cards in desktops!

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops submitted by cirkustanz 06/12/07

I would like to see all of the desktop models have an option for wireless networking cards to be installed by Dell. I can think of a lot of reasons why they would not, but they are reaching at best. So many other companies have been doing this, and it has long been the standard in notebooks, why not desktops? While I would agree that the PCI based networking cards might not always be the best situation for a desktop due to the excess amounts of EMI at the back, but the fact remains that for several people, it has been a VERY good solution, without taking up USB ports, and without as much risk of it accidently breaking, like the USB ones do!

I think there should be a complete section for networking in all of the desktop configurators, and PLEASE, do not forget to talk about the homeplug devices there. (aka powerline, or ethernet over power) These devices are a so great, for a lot of people! 4 Comments »

Silent / Quiet Computers: Sound levels in decibels

Desktops and Laptops submitted by pchris 02/17/07 **REVIEWED**

I'd like Dell to provide the sound level in decibels for each of their desktops, under max load as well as at idle.

How a manufacturer can produce an expensive computer, and then have the user acoustic experience of that computer dominated by the noise generated by a cheap fan worth just pennies, for the entire lifetime of that computer, is incomprehensible. Computers are noisy when brand new, but those cheap fans begin to rub and oscillate and make additional annoying noises, frequently within a short period of time of purchase.

Personally, the peace and quiet of my personal workspace is very important to me, it's my sanctuary from the world where I can focus and be creative. To have that experience disrupted by cheap fans is sad, especially when slightly more expensive fans and some reasonable design would solve the issue. Another reason why I consider buying an Apple.

If the cost of a better sound design and fans is significant, it could be an extra cost option.
In general, Dell provides noise data of its products in the Environmental Datasheets. Tests are conducted according to ISO standards in a NVLAP accredited acoustics facility. Click here for more details




152 Comments »

Dissipate heat from the back of the LCD; not the laptop's bottom

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by endolith 06/10/07

The name for these devices has been changed from "laptop" to "notebook", because the bottoms of these things get so hot they slow cook your legs if you try to hold them on your lap. I've been using mine with a big cloth pad underneath since I got it, and it still heats up my legs.

The problem is that the heat is designed to dissipate mostly from the bottom. That's why the modern Dell laptops have little rubber bumper feet, so that, theoretically, you'll use it on a table and the fan will draw air past the bottom surface of the laptop. Back in reality, everyone just uses them on their laps or couches and the little rubber feet break off and get lost.

What you should do instead is route the heat to fins on the back of the LCD, where it will easily be dissipated. (You know, the part that's almost vertical, prone to convection, and always exposed to the environment instead of legs?) The parts that contact the lap should then be thoroughly insulated.

Options for routing the heat into the LCD:

• Actively liquid-cooled laptops with little pumps and such.
• Passive liquid heat pipes using alcohol or other working fluid that condenses in the heatsink, drips back down by gravity into the main body of the laptop, is warmed and evaporated to flow back up and be cooled in the heat sink, etc.
• Active air cooling with the normal laptop fan blowing air into open ducts that go up the LCD housing
• Very passive cooling that just leaves open ducts for air to naturally convect up the LCD housing like a chimney.

• Rotational coupling built into or coaxial with the LCD's hinges
• Flexible hoses

Support for Open Document Format

Operating Systems, Software submitted by lordshipmayhem 06/12/07

Dell should encourage support for Open Document Format:
- provide a page listing the benefits of ODF over proprietary formats (OOXML and other Microsoft "standards")
- Link to the home pages of applications that support ODF (OpenOffice.org, StarOffice, KOffice)

ODF is designed to be both platform and application agnostic: anyone who wants to write one, can create applications that allow you to use any ODF file, without losing file formatting. The objective is to allow any user to keep access to their data even if the maintainer of the application the data was saved in ends up going out of business or ending support for the application in question.

I don't know about you, but I have some files that were written in word processing software that no longer exists, in a couple of cases on platforms that don't exist outside of the hands of museums and collectors. Those files are at best extremely difficult if not utterly impossible to open now. 32 Comments »

Add all the OS's you sell to the "Help Me Choose: Operating System" page

Dell Web Site, Linux, Operating Systems submitted by jmxz 06/08/07

These pages: titled "Help Me Choose: Operating System" (a Dell help me choose page,another one)
only list some of the operating systems Dell sells.

I assume you also recommend Ubuntu for some home users (those who want better security and performance, I imagine) and FreeDOS for business (since that's what you sell on your Latitudes - even though I can't imagine why you prefer FreeDOS there over Ubuntu). But unless you put them in those pages, we can't easily make an informed choice. 15 Comments »

Extend offers like Linux pre-installation to the UK & Europe

Dell, Linux submitted by leftcase 05/03/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

First of all - well done Dell for listening to the people and making some brave decisions about the operating systems you provide your computers with.

Supplying pre-installed Linux (and XP instead of Vista for that matter) goes a good way towards giving customers what they want.

One thing that is slightly irritating however is that none of these offers are available outside of the US. Browsing through peoples comments, blogs and the Dell forums reveals that many people from the UK (for example), want the opportunity to get pre-installed Linux on their new Dell PCs.

The UK and Europe marketplace is not insignificant, and many people feel that you should extend your offer to this market too.


Please see Ideas In Action for additional information. Ubuntu Linux in other countries is coming soon.
21 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 »

TV Commercial for New Ubuntu PCs

Advertising and Marketing, Linux submitted by josmar52789 05/03/07

Dell should produce a new commercial for the Ubuntu PCs. It could tell the consumers of America why Dell has chosen to pre-install Linux on mainstream computers and hopefully promote the advantages of this new endeavor. Plus, it's likely that Dell's Linux initiative would be much more successful. 117 Comments »

Always include all software and driver reinstallation discs for free (or at least let us get the option to)... don't make us pay extra

Software submitted by winoffice 05/01/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

Always include ALL software AND driver reinstallation discs for FREE (or at let us get the option do get the for free if we want as follows)...don't make us pay extra in case that we have a disaster and need to reinstall from scratch...!

No Discs Included (Included In Price)

All Discs Included (this means everything -- all software discs -- OS/Security software/etc., and all driver discs -- this means Windows or Linux drivers or both, whatever applies -- add $0)

Other options (OS disc only, all software discs only, driver discs only, etc. -- add $0)

For some computers, Dell does not include the reinstallation discs. Even if Dell offers them, Dell charges extra for us to get them. In fact, the only time I seen reinstallation discs being offered without charge were for Dell XPS desktops with the flashy lights -- that is, the Dell XPS 600, 700, and 710 systems, for those ware the only systems to offer operating system options like "Microsoft Windows XP Media Center WITH REINSTALLATION CD".

Also, most of the time when software reinstallation discs are not included, driver reinstallation discs (such as XPS flashy lights, as well as printers and monitors) are not included either. Therefore, don't just include the software reinstallation discs -- include as well the Windows/Linux drivers for the hardware (depending on the OS purchased with the computer, if any, which in turn depends on the user's preferences).

Besides, Microsoft as well as ALL software companies include the discs when you get the software seperately, so why can't Dell do the same when the software is preinstalled...?
Customers no longer have to pay extra for re-installation media.




89 Comments »