operating system product key
Operating Systems, Service and Support submitted by ghuiber
May 28
Dell should keep product keys on record and provide them to system owners upon request. Since such requests have nothing to do with hardware service, they should be accommodated regardless of whether the system in question is still under warranty. Storing a string of letters and numbers indefinitely cannot possibly cost Dell all that much, and the request can be handled entirely online, with zero labor. A nominal fee of say $10 per request should more than adequately compensate Dell for all this trouble.
I am bringing this up because the Microsoft CoA sticker on my Latitude D400 faded then rubbed off entirely. About a year later my hard disk failed, and I am now awaiting delivery of a replacement. But I will have to re-install the Win XP OS, for which I paid fair and square, and I can't because neither you nor Microsoft are willing to supply me with the Product Key. The Microsoft rep said that OEM pre-installed OS's are the responsibility of the said OEM. And your guy said that since my machine is out of warranty, I am out of luck.
230
Fashionable Dell
Laptops submitted by sboudon
05/05/07
Laptop design is an important factor for customer appreciation, even geeks dislike ugly looks.
Some ideas:
- pink interchangeable cover and wrist pad/keyboard... for a girlie look
- aluminum or any other light alloy cases... for execs
- black resistant plastic... for No-logo adopters
- Brown case, with Nautilus stripes... for Ubuntu freaks
- Orange stripes... for, you name it
etc...
Would you like a car brand, where cars come only in white color? Would like a car with a black interior which turns grayish when using the seats, just because the paint doesn't last?
Use colors in the plastic, not painted plastic... use colors, not only grey and black outfits.
Throw out all the stickers... Make your products to be THE most loved product anybody wants to own, inspire yourself from the best mobile phone producers (i.e. Nokia for example), which manages to sell the same product several times just because they came out with a fashionable look... People love displaying their phones on a table, what about a laptop?
320
Dell Offer Differently Shapped Laptops
New Product Ideas, Laptops submitted by jorge
06/02/07
Dell offer different shaped laptops such as hexagon, pentagon, oval, circle, triangle, amoeba shape, heart shape for the big time lovers or some glob shape. All the hipsters would buy-um up.
Here's an example: (image website is down, its a round shaped laptop use imagination or wait for that website to come back up)
The possibilities are endless, this would catch the kid market and artsy types by storm!
-360
A translucent notebook
Laptops submitted by anordal
Jan 9
Edited: This idea was known as "A transparent notebook", although it was translucent I meant.
Why not make the plastic case translucent? I have seen a translucent calculator and partly translucent computer mice made of plastic that makes the inside look blurred. It gives a sense of quality. Used extensively, the translucent plastic makes a simplistic, clean look.
I have seen XPS notebooks with builtin lights shining colorful out from the fan exhaust. The suggestion for backlit keyboards is well promoted on this forum. I suggest having a translucent keyboard with dark bold letters and *soft* lighting underneath that also makes the chassis shine vaguely.
As I imagine it:
A simplistic, yet quality oriented notebook. More of a workstation than a gaming machine. Off-the-shelf hardware without extra fuss, an absolute minimum of drivers required. An exceptionally good 1680x1050 15.4" anti-reflective screen (anti-reflective, since the type of plastic I am thinking about has a more or less rough surface, definately not iPod-shiny). The light switch should be purely mechanical. By the way, who wouldn't appreciate more than one headphone jack?
Since this obviously is a geeky machine, it would be appreciated to have it available with Linux installed and with a Tux-key instead of Windows-key (Tux, since not only ubuntu people would buy it). To me, it sounds logical to run open source software inside a computer that shows what it is made of.
-100
Bagtop: The Laptop-in-a-Bag!
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by captainsensible
03/29/07
I move around with my laptop, so I'm forever repeating the
following cycle :
power off
unplug power
unplug mouse
unzip bag
stow laptop in bag
wind up power cable
stow power cable in bag
stow mouse in bag
zip up bag
...and the reverse to set up the laptop again.
How about the BagTop: your laptop *is* the bag. A cunningly designed bag that holds your laptop, presents all connected cables eg power/VGA (wound around self-tightening wheels) in a zip-up pocket, and directs the hot-air vents to a handy and safe exit point. With padding, slightly-beat-up-finish, handle and retractable shoulder straps like a rucksack.
You put your bag on the desk, open the lid (side-mounted zip)
and there's your computer. Unzip the port pouch, pull the plug
out and plug into the wall socket. Done.
-50
popup keyboard for notebooks
Laptops submitted by terscare
Jan 3
Greetings,
I would like to suggest an idea for Dell Notebooks.
How about designing a pop-up keyboard for them ?
I Love the Notebooks and thought about how it might
be nice if the keyboard would pop-up to make typing
easier.
80
My Design
Sales Strategies, Software, Laptops submitted by hds272
12/29/07
I enjoy making graphics in photoshop and would love to have the ability to have dell put my designs on the laptop, maybe even engravings! Also allow a set of stuff to put on the fron and sides like the ZUne stuff. I would love to have some sweet abstract vector engravings on my PC!!!
That would be cool,
HDS
100
Dell: Create the first True Laptop (aka notebook, portable) Computer.
New Product Ideas, Laptops submitted by jorge
Feb 26
Dell get out of the Desktop thinking box and step into the True "Laptop" world.
Create a laptop with no connections/ports other than power!
You have:
Wireless Ethernet (802.11) so no need for an Ethernet Port AND Broadband access (left that out originally, for those in remote areas)
Wireless USB so no need for USB ports
BlueTooth so no need for phone jacks
A true Laptop can use these features to accomplish their tasks just fine, for a true Laptop! At the moment Dell is still thinking within the confining space of a laptop that acts like a Desktop, well they are not equal. Yes some customers still feel the need for the crutch of the old ways of doing things but its 2008! Move on to the future and design the "No Ports", "No Dongle", yet self contained Laptop!
You can drop the DVD player as well, its a Laptop not a TV or movie player. Look at the other small video devices, they don't include a DVD player (aka iPod, iPhone).
Moving to this new paradigm will move Dell to the forefront of the computer world, its not just a laptop its a self contained entity! Its so rock solid it needs no extra junk to function! Of course you need to make it with a way to re-install via wireless Ethernet or Wireless USB but it can be done.
This alone would move you to cult status in the Computer World! Apple would be left crying in a corner somewhere. Mikey! Get on the ball!
Almost forgot, make it with both the Windows OS and Ubuntu or OpenSource OS as an option (the OS's are the option not OpenSource) so you can't release it till both are working.
Addendum: Also only include SSD long term memory devices, for the OS and local configuration data
Also, this is where Dell services like the DataSafe Backup play an important roll!
-160
Laptop design rules & guidelines
Laptops submitted by anordal
Feb 26
This is my attempt at defining some basic principles of good laptop design. This applies to hardware, with no specific manufacturer in mind. I appreciate comments.
Guidelines: - Connections for things that people plug in and out all the time, such as sound, USB, etc, should mainly be on the left hand side. This leaves the right hand free of the cable mess to operate the mouse, without compromising connection accessibility. I'm not saying it is wrong to have some extra USBs on the right or back, there should just be plenty on the left anyway. It is important to have redundancy of these frequently used connections.
- Cables that are big or usually stay connected long, such as the power cable and the various monitor cables should be connected to the back.
- The front side is not an ideal placement for connections or buttons.
- The center of gravity is preferrable to have in the front.
Rules: - A laptop has at least 2 headphone jacks and 2 USBs on the left hand side.
- The sound volume is controlled by an analog wheel.
- The left Ctrl-key is placed in the lower left corner of the keyboard. I see no reason to mix it up with the Fn-key.
The following is relevant to all types of computers: - It is sometimes a huge advantage in gaming if the keyboard can sense many keypresses at once, a handicap if it can't.
- A hardware problem can not be solved by software, so don't even try.
- There is a need for standardization in everything.
-130
notebooks: 4:3 screens
Laptops submitted by giosetti
04/03/07
I don't know why the whole industry jumped to wide screens as they all jumped to glossy displays.
I don't want to play games with my secondary computer but writing, calculating, surfing, editing photographs and sometimes music at an affordable price. As it is a mobile device I want to use it outdoors. Dell has good displays for this purpose.
So a 4:3 12', 13' or 14' (maybe matte) display would be wonderful. The Inspiron 640M would hit the nail if it came with a 14' screen.
Linux (ubuntu) driver support (suspend2RAM, wifi etc.) has been called for in this forum and acknowledged by Dell, but ought to be repeated here.
-70
Fashion Computers
Laptops submitted by katlen70
12/12/07
I want a laptop that has a beautiful design that is created by a fashion designer. For example, Marc Jacobs or L.A.M.B would be two design houses who could work with the industrial designers who create the hardware aspect of the laptop.
How cool would it be to be in a coffee house with my cool Marc Jacobs designed laptop!
-110
Fingerprint <> BIOS authentication
Laptops submitted by sebastian_s
02/20/07
allow build in fingerprint readers (esp. in notebooks) to be used for "BIOS password protection/authentication" of the whole system and/or HDD no matter which OS (Windows, Linux, Mac OS,...) is running on the machine.
122
Dell your new Latitude is so ugly (on the exterior; the interior looks good)!
Dell, Latitude products, Laptops submitted by winoffice
Mar 12
Dell your new Latitude is so ugly (on the exterior; the interior looks good). First where have you got Dell rectangles???? It is supposed to have Dell circles! And the divided grey/light grey look of the exterior is the ugliest. As it is no XPS with flashy lights, it should be all black or all silver (but the Dell circles should be silver). And look here. 2.6" height???? Up to now, the thickest Dell laptop that I have ever seen was only 2", not 2.6". 8.98 pounds for a 14.1" laptop???? Dell you really need to improve on your new Latitude.
-250
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