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 »
Dell became a top company by providing choice and customer service to a customer that wasn't available at the time but has since fallen behind the pack in these areas. Needing a translator when calling customer support is unnacceptable and other companies are rapidly passing Dell in technology advancements. While this site is a good start, many things need to be changed for Dell to become the market leader again.
1. Customer support needs to be in well spoken English and with employees who are allowed to do more than just read from a script. If they are speaking with a computer savvy customer the rep should be allowed to deviate from the script as long as they don't go outside the relm of normal policy.
2. Better options: Other companies offer high end components in small computers but Dell only supplies intel video processors in its 14" laptop. Dell needs to allow customers to get the size computer they need but with options from low cost through the high end so they can get a computer that is "Purely you".
3. Less forced options: I hate that I am paying for and XPS with internet security when I don't need it because I already have a subsciption that will transfer over or AOL is installed when I know I don't need it. They need to add an option of none of the above to all the added software sections.
4. Better pricing: Why is it over $200 to upgrade from 1 GB of 533 MHZ ram to 2 GB of 677 MHZ RAM? I can go to Crucial.com and get the 2GB 677MHZ kit for under $200. Upgrading with Dell after you own is even worse at over $300 this is crazy.
5. Custom Dell website: Customers want to feel special why not make a MYDELL website that when you log in you get a site designed the way you want it. If you aren't interested in the small business site it gets removed, you don't like to go thru the accessories sections when customizing a system so you don't see that section. Click on customer support and a list of your computer pops up asking which one you need help with and only shows the options for that system.
6. Customer loyalty rewards: I have bought 6 Dell systems over the last few years, why can't I get better customer service or pricing due to my loyalty to the company? 78 Comments »
From all of the press I have read it is plain that Vista is a big bomb. To buy the cheapest version I hear it isn't even as good as XP SP2. At the same time you need at least 4 Gig to run it. Offer other options... I don't care if it's Linux, XP, or a rat running on a wheel. Don't make us buy Vista. You can read more about this the OS options Dell offers here.
Did you just download a $19.99 movie from iTunes into your iPhone? Wanna watch it? 3.5 inches all you get - and it's letterboxed , so it is more like 2.5 inches of Hollywood.
Almost everyone I know buys the smallest harddrive and the lowest amount of memory for their Dell notebook, and then upgrades later. Why make your customers turn to other sources to buy memory and hard drives? I think quite a few e-tailers were created and have flourished because everyone (Dell, HP, Apple, etc.) overcharges for upgrades. 17 Comments »
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. 459 Comments »
A solid state drive is primarily a data storage device, for use in computing applications that traditionally use a hard disk drive.
A solid state drive is based on non-volatile memory instead of the spinning platter and mechanical-magnetic head found in a conventional hard disk drive. With no moving parts, a solid state drive eliminates seek time, latency and other electro-mechanical delays and failures associated with a conventional hard disk drive.
Advantages
* Faster startup - Since no spin-up required. * Faster read time – In some cases, twice or more than that of the fastest hard drives. * Low read and write latency (seek) time, hundreds of times faster than a mechanical disk. * Faster boot and application launch time - Result of the faster read and especially seek time. But only if application already resides in flash and is more dependent on read speed than other issues, eg. OS bootup that detects devices will not be significantly sped up even with faster seeks & reads. * Lower power consumption and heat production - no mechanical parts results in less power consumption. * No noise - Lack of mechanical parts makes the SSD completely silent. * Better mechanical reliability - Lack of mechanical parts results in less wear and tear. High level of ability to endure extreme shock, vibration and temperatures, which apply to laptops and other mobile devices, or when transported. * Security - allowing a very quick "wipe" of all data stored. * Deterministic performance - unlike mechanical hard drives, performance of SSDs is constant and deterministic across the entire storage. "Seek" time is constant, and performance does not deteriorate as the media fills up (See: Fragmentation). * Lower weight and (depending upon type) size * Faster than conventional disks on random I/O Check out the Idea in Action on the SSD enhancements Dell is making.
Have laptops and PCs that boot quickly & quietly from fast internal flash drives, and run the whole OS and application programs in RAM. The New Dell PC will boot from internal Fast USB 2.0 flash drives in just a few seconds. The Hard drive can stay powered down, completely off, unless the user needs to store some extra large files (video, photos).
Laptop Battery life is measured in days, not hours.
Have 2 Recessed USB 2.0 Slots. Two USB Flash Drives would fit neatly into the laptop. In this way the whole OS and Apps run in RAM, and stores data files on an 8 GB flash drive.
The 8GB is used transparently as the 'On Line' Storage, with a hard drive acting as secondary storage. This gives desktops and laptops much greater speed and power savings.
<font> On-Line/Near-Line Storage Model for Laptops</font> 1. OS and App all run from RAM (so the machine should have 2GB+ of RAM) 2. Modified files are worked on in RAM, and stored on the Flash Drive 3. Older (non-system) files, that are 'inactive', get pushed down to the hard drive,
Hard Drive files are stored with on-the-fly hardware compression / decompression (back to RAM), with the flash drive file replaced with a pointer to the hard drive file. Data is always safely copied down to the hard drive on shut down.
The flash drive is removeable and upgradeable, so later if someone wants to upgrade to a 32GB flash drive, just unplug and plug in the new one.
On-line / Near-Line storage works great on very large data servers, where data is mostly write once, read infrequently. (Also known as Write Once, Read Mostly - WORM drives.)
It's time such ideas are put into practice for desktops and laptops.
You can run your Dell Laptop TODAY from 100% Flash Drive - Pen Drive using Puppy Linux.
www.puppylinux.org delivers a complete, small, fast Linux Distribution including all major tools in under 90MB. You can add Open Office, GIMP, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc and they all fit right in a USB Flash Drive. Pupply Linux Applications. Download Puppy Linux so you Can Try Flash Drive Dell Notebooks Today. 21 Comments »
A nice dell branded cleaning cloth should be included with new laptops. This cloth would be used to clean the laptop sceens as well as lay on top of the keyboard when the laptop is closed to protect the screen from keyboard imprints. If a cloth is included it is far more likely that this cloth would be used to clean rather than some other cleaning device which may damage a user's screen. 10 Comments »
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.
SanDisk revealed Vaulter, a 8GB or 16GB flash drive that can hold your entire OS, designed to sit on the PCIe port inside a laptop. In Windows, this creates a separate letter drive, which speeds the heck out of your computer, without taking the place of your 2.5" SATA-connected HDD. It's not a Santa Rosa "Robson" thing either—it's a real drive, not some caching assistant. (In case you're wondering, Mac support is coming.) Performance acceleration comes from "pre-controlling the distribution of storage data between itself and the hard drive." The fact that it's on the PCIe port means that both storage devices can work in parallel. Now, the bad news: SanDisk is only offering it to OEM partners at first. We won't be able to buy them a la carte for a little while.
Even better if we can get them for upgrades to current laptop models. 14 Comments »
Currently Dell won’t allow a user to charge their batteries with a third party charger, such as a Targus Universal Power Adapter. Dell has some sort of a power adapter identifier that will only allow you to *power* the notebook, but not *charge* the batteries with the said charger.
This is a horrible case of forcing customers into purchasing the Dell branded power adapter, even if a different company produces one that fits the user's needs better. This is like saying only a Dell branded mouse will work with a Dell notebook... ridiculous!
Dell, this needs to be changed, and changed soon. 22 Comments »
Being the only dual hard drive notebook in Dell's lineup, the Vostro 1700 has potential. Please offer the Vostro 1700 with the currently available 32GB SSD drive as a system drive and a conventional 7200rpm 250GB hard drive as a data drive. Obviously, it would be best to offer all available SSD's and conventional hard drives for each bay to give the user maximum control over the system's components, but at least make an SSD available in the primary drive bay. Also, dual drive configurations would be welcomed on any model in which they can be accommodated, especially all of the 17 inch models. 7 Comments »