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Linux certification for hardware

Linux submitted by godji 02/20/07

It would be great if, when customizing a computer (laptop or desktop doesn't matter), there would be some indication about what hardware will work with Linux. On systems where all hardware is supported, there could be an option to have no operating system preinstalled, or have Linux preinstalled. Also, such systems should have some sot of sticker, similar to the ubiquitous "Designed for Windows Whatever". The sticker could say "Designed for Linux" or "Works with Linux" or "Linux Ready", etc.

The motivation is that a customer should be able to buy a computer to use Linux on, without worrying about hardware that will not work with a free operating system. Unfortunately such devices still exists; Dell should be alerting customers to their presence. 1 Comment »

Make laptops with numpads !!

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by johell 02/28/07

Please make laptops with numpads !! 11 Comments »

Ship a regular clean system please!

Software, Desktops and Laptops submitted by euripedes 04/24/07

Why do you insist on installing all manner of trial software and broadband offers? When I uninstalled all the rubbish that came on the system it became very unstable and bluescreened regularly upon Windows startup.

Deleted all partitions, did a complete clean reinstall and what do you know?

It runs like a dream...

Please don't tar all users with the same brush, if we want a clean install why can't we have one? 2 Comments »

Give buyers the choice of NO pre loaded anti virus, spyware, security et.

Sales Strategies submitted by samari7 04/21/07

I prefer to buy and install my own and not have to pay Dell for options I don't want 3 Comments »

Biodegradable Packing material

Environment submitted by ewagnerjr2000 04/19/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

When I received my 32" lcd screen it had an extremely large amount of Styrofoam. Dell is working to be environmentally friendly, maybe they should consider a better packing material at least one that will biodegrade.





26 Comments »

Clearly mark all cables and powergenerators

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.) submitted by lysglimt 04/20/07

I have been with Dell for 10 years and have bought dozens of machines.
I have a room full of Dell stuff.
Whenever I need say a extra Laptop power converter I look in the room first.
But all the stuff is not marked, so I have to spend a lot of time finding out what is what.
Please just label everything, what it is. With a number I can look up online and order more , see it it fits new equipemt etc. 5 Comments »

Handheld and phone to sync with Linux

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Broadband and Mobility, Linux submitted by stephanw 02/20/07

I'm teacher an i like to work with linux. But all available (popular) Phones or Organizers uses Active Sync or a Software that works only with MS Outlook.

Please develope a handheld, or better a cell phone with organizer that supports calendar, contacts and notes synching with a linux software (Evolution, or others). And i would buy it immediatly.

Best regards
Steve 6 Comments »

Pre-install Linux with option of licensed codecs

Linux, Desktops and Laptops submitted by dominicwise 02/20/07

Provide customers with the option to have Linux pre-installed as an alterrnative to Windows when purchasing a PC or laptop. As there are a huge number of Linux distributions available it might be sensible to offer from a few of the most popular ones e.g. Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Fedora which can be freely distributed at no cost. This would provide a competitive advantage as with zero licensing fees lower prices could be offered to customers.

Because of patent laws in some countries many freely downloadable Linux distributions do not provide certain 'essential' software such as decoders for commercial DVDs and other comon media formats as part of their core distribution. There is at least one company (whose name escapes me for now) that allows a user to purchase a bundle of licensed media codecs that can be legally installed on Linux in most, if not all jurisdictions. Offering somehing like this as an option at purchase would make it possible for users to access common media content without having to jump through hoops or risk straying onto the wrong side of the law.

9 Comments »

Higher end Graphics card in 14.1"

Laptops submitted by notquitehere188 02/17/07

Dell needs to stop pretending that they can't fit a higher end graphics card into a smaller laptop. ASUS puts x1600's and 7700's in their 14.1" laptops and dont have to make them much thicker or anything. 2 Comments »

Preinstall open-source OS (Linux) + fully-functional FREE application software

Linux, Operating Systems, Desktops and Laptops submitted by doctorsuse 02/20/07

Adding to the other posts on this subject, yes, DELL makes great hardware. Facilitating the sale of this hardware by preinstalling an open source Linux OS and fully-functional OpenOffice suite + a selection of some of the other great open source photo editing, Internet browsing, email, multimedia software would be a great idea. This saves the consumer hundreds of dollars per system (have a look at the price of MS office 2007 + Vista, not including Photoshop and so forth). The recent agreement between Ubuntu and Linspire would offer all multimedia codec support for legal use. As well, Dell could no doubt come to some mutually-beneficial agreement with Ubuntu/Linspire as to the CNR (Click 'N Run) software downloading service (though which users can purchase or freely download other software, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of free packages available from the various Ubuntu repositories).

Dell could offer time-limited support for a standard OS and application suite image (community support for other packages, and also for after the support period). The Kubuntu (Ubuntu with KDE desktop) distribution might offer the easiest transition for Windows users. Including a "Dell standard" image CD set or DVD which a user could legally use to restore their own PC back to its original state - as well as legally doing the same to as many other PC's as they want, without going through any arduous and demeaning telephone "re-registration" sessions to do this - would offer another strong benefit to users, and make supporting the systems a snap.

I have always been a Windows user (starting with Windows 3.1), but I mainly have used Kubuntu and OpenSuse for the past 18 months, on all my home systems. I find that this does everything that I need and then some, and I have no reason to ever go back to a proprietary OS or software. I can also control everything that my PC does - what a nice change from Microsoft's efforts! I have installed Kubuntu on others' PC's, and so far they all seem equally satisfied.

Dell could also look at the installation of open-source software as a due-diligence issue. Considering the track record of Microsoft's products, selling such a system which could potentially be used for sensitive Internet transactions or banking to a customer may not be in the best interest of customers (at least, they should be given a choice for an open-source machine). Vista may improve security, but I (and many others, according to this poll) feel that the cost, security issues, and inconvenience of being forced into the morass of proprietary software is just not worth it.

The hardware issue is also and easy issue to deal with. Dell can configure their products for maximum compatibility with Linux. ATI and other companies should also be pressured to better support Linux (and Dell could easily apply this pressure). Still, Ubuntu and other distros have a better out-of-the-box hardware support than do any version of windows (including Vista), and I am happily writing this on an AMD machine with ATI video card, so the status quo is working well for me at the moment. All in all, the idea of Dell supplying open source OS's and software is very exciting! 2 Comments »

Want to choose OS!

Linux, Operating Systems submitted by lenny 02/20/07

I will probably buy a Notebook this year - I guess this Spring - and I would prefer NOT to get Vista on that Notebook. I think, XP Pro does the Work just rigth and I am not the slighest interested in getting Vista with that Notebook, just to make M$ and/or Dell satisfied. Comment »

Linux-Compatible Components

Linux submitted by jtoegel 02/22/07

I think Dell should choose Linux-Compatible components for its PCs, i.e. no components from manufacturers which are supported by the linux kernel, a GPL Driver or at least a binary driver provided for major linux distributions. That would also force manufacteres to publish the specifications of their Products, which would make Life much easier for both Linux and Windows users as well as for PC manufacturers like Dell. 3 Comments »

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. 6 Comments »

Stop designing "For Microsoft" (as most of your products are labled) and start designing for your customers.

Dell submitted by jmxz 03/15/07

I think it's telling of where Dell's priorities lay when most of your boxes has a sticker that says "Designed for Microsoft [XP or Windows or Vista]" on it. Wouldn't it be better if you designed your products for your customers first; and particular software vendors's agendas second?

At my previous company the most important software we ran on Dells came from Oracle - a competitor of Microsoft. I'd feel much better if I could have gotten a computer from you that was "designed for Oracle clusters" rather than the systems I got from you which were clearly labeled that they were designed for a company with a vested interest in seeing Oracle fail. And even more uneasy since that particular vendor (Microsoft, if you hadn't guessed yet) had in the past had projects deliberately making competitors software fail and/or give error messages in unexpected ways:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/11/05/how_ms_played_the_incompatibility/
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+emails+focus+on+DR-DOS+threat/2100-1001_3-22512...
Considering that history - I'd be pretty wary of running Oracle on machines "Designed for Microsoft". 9 Comments »

Notebooks - better quality, better options, better design

Sales Strategies submitted by dspector 02/17/07

I have been in the market for a laptop for almost 6 months now. I have avoided buying one as I havent found one that actually fit my needs perfectly.

14.1" widescreen notebook are arguably the perfect balance between the small, yet mobile, 13.3 or 12.1" screen, and their mid range 15.4". For those of us who want a laptop that is portable yet viewable, 14.1" is the ideal candidate.

Now if we take the 14.1" even further as a multimedia portable machine, it should incluce all the bells and whisles like memory card readers, svideo (d620 doesnt have) and even a webcam. And it should all be packaged in a thin and light casing that is still durable and stylish.

That is my recommendation to dell. Comment »

Build a Dell Linux Distribution

Linux, New Product Ideas, Desktops and Laptops submitted by jemfisher 02/20/07

With the wave of support for the Linux kernel to power desktop PC's, I think its time for a company with the quality build that Dell has to provide users with PC's that work for them. The adoption of Linux to power Dell PC's would give Dell a greater freedom to move forward with innovation. With the adoption of a Linux kernel Dell would be able to sell PC to meet users' demands. Businesses demand different machines than home users, students demand different machines again, machines targeted at younger users, etc. 100 Comments »

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop

Desktops, Linux submitted by skippaul 02/19/07

pre-install SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. Make sure that all dell machines use hardware that is supported by opensource drivers. 3 Comments »

More OS choices

submitted by platinumriver 02/20/07

Offering a Windows only option might have been a good idea years ago, but now even Apple's Mac OS X runs on Intel hardware and Linux is certainly a great alternative.

Buyers should have a choice of OS installed. At least one OTHER choice than just Windows. How about Linux? 3 Comments »

Easy access to fans for cleaning on laptops

Laptops submitted by celticgibson 04/22/07

As we all know, the inspiron laptops get hot once dust builds up on the CPU/GPU grills and it's impossible to clean them without having to resort to taking the latop apart. It would be awesome if you could put blank plates on the bottom of the laptop, where the fans take in air, to allow for easy access for removal of fans and hence the cleaning of the grills. This would save many a problem with overheating hardware and endless tech support problems. 17 Comments »

Recovery Hard Drive partitions are not needed, other solutions are better

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies, Laptops submitted by carganegativa18 04/22/07

When I ordered my laptop, I selected the 120 HD, thinking it would be enough for my school work and photography. To my surprice when the laptop arrived, I only had 85 gigs available. I then took a look at "my computer" and wala, there it was

1. A ten gig partition for Recovery purpuses:
Althoug there are times when one really needs to have a computer back to its factory setting, I think its unfar that the user has to give up 10 GB of disk storage.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
1. Give the consumer a DVD of the recovery ISO,
2. Give the consumer the option, either have it installed or have a DVD for it, I rather pay for DVD, than pay for a larger HD.

2. There are tons of pre-installed software that takes up huge amounts of disk space. Some of that stuff we don't need it, and sometimes we dn't know how to get that software out of our systems.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
1. Ship installations CD's to consumers, and let the consumer deside which software they want to install. Hence allowing consumer enjoy more HD space.

2. Advice the consumer when they are buying the laptop/pc of how much "possible" available HD is going to be available upon arrival of laptop. Had I known I was only going to have 85 gigs left, I would have gotten a bigger HD.

I hope this gets promoted, and I hope that many people feel the same way, that we want what is adverticed (120 gigs, not 85 when the laptop arrives) 21 Comments »