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510

Don't make me boot Windows just to play a DVD.

Operating Systems submitted by jmxz 03/14/07

Lenovo and Sony and Toshiba computers don't make me slowly boot up windows just to play a DVD or listen to music:

http://www.investor.intervideo.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=207065
http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=9538
http://www.primidi.com/2004/01/15.html
...
Please provide similar on Dells. 3 Comments »

40

D420 More poweful

submitted by gbt 03/02/07

I would be great to have a more powerful D420. Graphic card, more memory, faster disks, etc. Comment »

310

Get rid of pestware *cough* demos.

submitted by grayone 02/24/07

Nothing is more annoying than booting up your brand new "clean" machine to find a dozen plus pieces of trial software. Why not just offer the free and open source alternatives? 1 Comment »

7796

Better Styling, More Choices on Video Cards and a Hybrid Video Design, and Definately less or NO pre-installed Software.

Sales Strategies, Software, Laptops submitted by kman79 02/16/07 **REVIEWED**

Dell probably does build one of the best performing notebooks that one could order, well at least you could make it to be one of the best performing notebooks, but they lack in style. Of course the priority of having the notebook is having good performance, but having a stylish exterior adds value and want for the notebook/laptop. The white and gray casing gets old, and needs updating. I like the simple yet stylish look of the M1210, the rest of the line should be updated. Maybe it's just me, but the rest of the XPS line of laptops need to be toned down, it just looks to kidish and has too many things going on with it. Design a better looking notebook with the current hardware performance you have available right now, and you can guarantee it will sell better. The design does not have to be complex, but anything is better than white and gray plastic exterior you currently use. Get ideas from Apple, Asus, Sony, Toshiba and even HP. Give the exterior look of the notebook some curves......maybe evem a glossy finish, and a little texture. People spend thousands of dollars on their Dell Notebooks, at least make them feel better by making the notebooks look like it's worth the money spent on them. Give the notebook some attitude, a personality and a soul and not just a piece of plastic with a keyboard and a screen.

Dell should also give customers more choices with the video cards. I wanted to get an M1210, but was dissapointed that it only had a Geforce Go 7400 as the only choice for video card. I was more than willig to spend the extra cash on a higher end video card. Also, if sony has not patented this design/idea, what about a Video Hybrid design where you have a choice between intel graphics while on battery, and purve Nvidia graphics when plugged in. I think the idea is genious and very useful. You can use intel graphics when your running on battery to save and extend battery life, and switch over to nvidia graphics for full-on graphics power when the notebook is plugged in.

More importantly, let it be the customer's choice on which programs and services they want installed on their ordered computer. I hate turning on my newly ordered computer and having all these unwanted software and services already installed. I hate having to spend the first minutes to hours after receiving my computer uninstalling programs or doing a clean OS install.


Over the past year we launched several laptops that were developed purely for the consumer. Check out all the details on mike_h's post.





10 Comments »

2842

Don't Make Me Go Straight to Crucial after ordering

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies submitted by pepitoe 02/19/07

Memory prices are still ridiculous, and it is common knowledge that if you want more than the standard memory in a dell, you buy it elsewhere. If you priced it more competitively you might actually sell more. At the moment to upgrade from 1GB to 2GB in an Inspiron 9400 costs £211.50, the same from Crucial is £119.94 and you will have 1GB of Dells memory left to sell or whatever. 5 Comments »

589

Improve Inspiron Laptop Design.

Inspiron products submitted by arry 02/17/07

The look of inpsiron is pathetic. The white border around the laptop looks very ugly. Please do cosmetic changes in Inspiron design to make it look better.
On viewing "ideas in action" on Dell ideaStorm, I see no mention of improving laptop Design. Though i agree this may not be relevant as far as technical things are concerned. But still being a fan of Dell , i feel Dell should improve laptop design so that it should look more like a professional laptop like HP, Toshiba, Sony Vaio etc. So Guys log in and vote for this :) 8 Comments »

1777

bluetooth

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies, Laptops submitted by fcnc05 02/17/07

Bluetooth shoud not be an optional so expensive in Dell computer.This made me not buying along with my laptop computer, and now that i have an external one I see how it made my connections so much easier. But why pay 40 for a internal one if I can buy an external for 5??? 5 Comments »

12647

The Clutter Is Forming: We Need A Moderator

Dell Community, IdeaStorm submitted by googideas 02/17/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

Approximately 48 hours into its life, and Ideastorm is filling up with repetition and senseless comments. Since moderation cannot be exercised by the participants a moderator a la Dell Employee must put up her hand. Or his hand. We aren't picky!

One: Repeating the same ideas from earlier posts is a pain to the reader and a waste of space and time. These should be removed.

Two: Suggestions which are without applicability to the issues at hand should be removed: one post states that "Dell should set up Dell Pay to compete with Paypal." Sigh. Why?

For what unique purpose? Dell's business is not online payments, in the same way Apple's is not selling music (they sell music at a loss to sell iPods at a gain). There is no benefit to Dell and it meets no need.

Since this format is experimental and fully funded by Dell, I encourage Dell to cut the wheat from the chafe and remove as much as they see fit. For all of the "I have rights" and "freedom of speech" advocates, you don't. This is a place where the good keep going and the bad go out.

The less posts the better. It provides Dell what they want: the opportunity to test strong ideas properly. Without the removal of clutter, the good ideas will by dint of the time they are posted (e.g. 3am) and the increasing volume of posts, inevitably suffer at times the forest's size despite the grandeur of the tree in question.

I may be going against the grain of popular opinion, but you add your vote to this post if you believe in the goal of this site, and not the freedom it offers to utter the first inane thing which comes to mind.
jackie_c is IdeaStorm's moderator. Also, for any mod updates, check out the talk with the moderator blog at the top of the page.




144 Comments »

21992

Laptop Web Cam and Microphone

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by terrymain 02/16/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

All new laptops should have a built in web cam and quality voice recorder/microphone.


Webcams are standard on all XPS laptops and an option on all Inspiron laptops.




135 Comments »

258

Extendable Laptop Screen

Monitors and Displays submitted by alokjain 02/18/07

I see two usage in desktop environment that have not seen in Laptop environment so much yet, even though Laptop is increasingly displacing desktops. These are:

A. People keep their LCD monitors in a portrait mode as opposed to standard landscape mode. This ofcourse allows for more vertical space to browse website, work on long documents, write code etc..

Monitor in Portrait Mode

B. Usage of two monitors

Dual Displays

Laptops on other hand so far have been restricted to Landscape mode and a single screen only. I think there is value in bringing the above trends into a laptop as well. Ofcourse it's simpler said than done, and has impact on everything - weight, battery etc.. but those are next level issues. First thing is to think if it makes sense from a customer perspective or not.

First the Idea, so here is an illustration of how this my look:

Folding Laptop

This is ofcourse a very very simplified (oversimplified in many respects) view of the concept, but first thing to explore here is the increased screen size and real estate as that is the end value delivered.

< Screen could be folded to get back to current Laptop design format. In this diagram it looks like the folded screen is unprotected, but that can be easily fixed so that whent he screen actually folds the display side faces inwards as opposed to outwards.

The orientation of the second screen could be horizontal as well:

Folding laptop - Horizontal 9 Comments »

341

Two Mode Graphics

Gaming, Laptops submitted by notquitehere188 02/17/07

Take a page from Sony's book, and offer laptops with a integrated graphics card for battery life, and a discrete graphics card for games. except, you can do better than the 7400 that sony has, 7600 at least Comment »

364

D620 Improvements

Latitude products submitted by jeffm 02/17/07

The D620 is Dell's best business notebook, but it's very out-dated. Here's what I would like to see in the next version...

1. High-quality LCD display
2. Webcam
3. Back-lit keyboard
4. DVI
5. Vista compatible fingerprint reader
6. 802.11n 5 Comments »

1294

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 »

3426

Lighter laptops - some suggestions

Laptops submitted by amri64 02/17/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

Would like to see more laptops below 2kg (4.4lbs).

Suggestions:

1. Replace Hard Disk with solid state storage device. Advantage: 1) lighter 2)no moving parts means less probability of breaking down (esp due to wear & tear)

2. External DVD drives. On the road, most things needed are already in the laptop. Leave the movie-watching & software-installing to the home/office/hotel room. The DVD drive can be checked in the suitcase.

3. Option to power off graphics card, camera, etc when not used for task at hand. Prolong battery life.

4. Lithium polymer batteries? For comparable charge densities, aren't they lighter?

Challenge: Fujitsu already has a 15" notebook at 2.4kg, though specs aren't so impressive, imho. Can Dell produce one at 2kg or less, & with specs "to die for"?


Please see jackie_c's comment
24 Comments »

676

14" laptops with DVI-D and Dedicated Video RAM

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies, Laptops submitted by jpkulkarni 02/17/07

Inspiron E1405 (or future 14" laptop models) should have option for dedicated video ram (NVIDIA or ATI chipset) and DVI-D output. 1 Comment »

1137

ATI X1700 and Nvidia 7700 In E1505 Line

Gaming, Inspiron products, Laptops submitted by usapatriot 02/17/07

This would allow more adequate gaming for users who choose a 15.4" notebook as a gaming platform. 11 Comments »

2294

Performance Tablet/Thin and Light

Gaming, Laptops submitted by chungng 02/17/07

What I'd like to be able to buy from Dell:

13.3 ~5 lb Performance Tablet PC with great discrete graphics options (x1700 or GeForce 7700) possibly even upgradable.
Possibly a dual graphics chip option similar to the Sony SZ line to help with battery life.
A nice high res wide viewing angle screen WXGA+ or better option for working with multiple text files
9 Cell (or larger) battery options to get 5+ hours of life
Built in optical drive with swappable drive bay battery options
Latest WiFI (802.11n) and bluetooth
Great keyboard with trackpoint nub and touchpad.
Non-plastic case options. Carbon fiber, magnesium alloy... whatever... just something without the cheapy plastic feel.
Backlit keyboard
All the little extras
- SD card reader
- finger print scanner
- extra usb ports
- firewire
- PCMCIA (for corporate smart card readers) and ExpressCard

External docking station
Possibly a camera options
Possibly a non-tablet version as well 9 Comments »

8235

Stop overcharging for upgrades (memory, hdd, etc. )

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies, Laptops submitted by uklathemock 02/17/07

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 »

1450

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 »

1134

All versions of Windows Vista on Dell computers

Latitude products, Operating Systems submitted by nick_inspironvista 02/17/07

I would love to buy a Dell Latitude D620 with Home Premium. For the Latitude's superb build quality, instead i have to buy a Inspiron. Why cant Dell have the choice of:

Home Basic
Home Premium
Business
Ultimate

The Latitude D620 is a powerful notebook and can handle Home Premium.

PLEASE DELL!

9 Comments »



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