lochness

Environmental Laptop Based on Solar Energy/Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Environment, Laptop Power submitted by gchakra 02/17/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

What's smart for the environment is smart for Dell. Dell should build units that are degradable or can be easily recycled. Sure, its going to be a little more expensive, but it will be a smart product. It will use a lot less energy. The laptops could have a solar panel or be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The first microelectronic implementation of a fuel cell will give Dell a tremendous marketing boost. It will be incredibly popular with kids in college.
Gopal







134 Comments »

Dell make Laptops eject the power cable when a battery is fully charged.

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Environment, Laptop Power submitted by jorge 06/13/07

Dell make laptops eject the power cable once its battery is fully charged. This will save energy and stop the trickle charge waste. Now when I say eject I don't mean throw the cable on the ground, instead switch the power block off or break the circuit to not allow power to enter the laptop or be wasted.

Edit Update for Clarity: So after the power cable/block has been disconnected from the circuit as energy is needed to re-power up the battery at a user predefined level a percentage of max, like re-charge the moment the batter is at 50% or 30% energy left or even 5% what ever energy level that reconnecting the power and using the laptop will allow to re-charge the battery. 10 Comments »

longer battery and watch TV and norton subscription

Laptops, Laptop Power submitted by moo120 06/30/07

I think for the notebooks it would be nice to have a longer 12 cell battery, so usefull for a student in a campus. And, be able to watch TV on a laptop and on PC. So many students live on campuses, who wants to carry around a TV? A full year of subscription of Norton would be nice withan option to pay for another year. Every store that I go to has HP powerfull machinces, so I am thinking why not buy HPinstead of Dell. ALready HP has a PC with wireless lan, watch TV, Quad core processors and 3 GB and 500, with 22 inch monitor for 1399.99$. I think dell should challege HP's PC and laptops. I would bit pay more to dell, for example with HP's PC i would pay 1500$, just becasue my friends had dell and they all said that dell HAS AWESOM TECHNICAL SUPPORT. I had gateway, and sony and their support really stinks. 3 Comments »

Save energy: Beep when your battery is full

Environment, Laptops, Laptop Power submitted by pkchen 06/11/07

I know a lot of people who when charging their laptops, leave the laptop plugged in even after the battery is fully recharged. This definitely wastes a lot of power!

Maybe Dell could build in an alert system (a kind beep every 30 minutes maybe?) to remind the user that their battery is full and they can unplug their notebook from the wall socket.

I know that Nokia is going to be building in this same functionality into some of their cell phones ... check the press release: http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1125979"Nokia has launched the first mobile phones to include alerts encouraging people to unplug the charger once the battery is full, a move that could save enough electricity to power 85,000 homes a year."

Think of all the power we could save with just a simple beep! :)

21 Comments »

eSATA Port! Put it in your notebooks already.

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by benjesuit 07/26/07

I mean, let's see...

Dropped the ball with the Inspirons: No HDMI. No 7200RPM drives on the 1720s. No gigabit ethernet.

OK so when you do refresh these things, and I hope it's soon, please add an eSATA port. USB 2.0 for external HD is so last year. 1 Comment »

Gigabit ethernet throughout

Dell, Simplify IT submitted by boolda 07/09/07

Threre is not point in sticking with old fast ethernet, particularly, when gigabit ethernet is so cheap. Use gigabit ethernet in all your products. 5 Comments »

Offer higher contrast and brighter screens

Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by urackon 07/13/07

The contrast ratio for most dell notebooks is around 300: 1 and it has been so for a while. I know Sony has notebooks with 5000:1(yes 3 zeros) contrast ratio. I don't know if the M1330's LED based screen has better contrast although I would assume it does. As you guys are well aware Notebooks are getting more and more multimedia oriented so better screens are more important(particularly ones with better black levels as that is more important in most cases than resolution).
I know keeping costs down is important but people would pay a huge premium for a screen with over 16 times the contrast ratio. A 16 fold upgrade is just too tempting for most people, even if it is an 200's or so.
Also offer the anti-glare matte finish for all available resolutions . I don't want to have to choose between being able to read my screen and having a higher resolution one. Brighter screens like the one on the ATX would help a lot to( you could advertise how it could still be watched outside) 4 Comments »

MagSafe - Magnetic powercord plug

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptop Power submitted by thorin_2 02/21/07

Awesome feature that all my Mac user friends have on their MacBook Pros.

From WIkipedia.com: The MagSafe connector is a new power connector introduced in conjunction with the MacBook Pro at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco on January 10, 2006. The MagSafe connector is held in place magnetically. As a result, if it is tugged on—for instance, by someone tripping over the cord—it comes out of the socket safely, without damaging it or the computer or pulling the computer off its table or desk.

I checked, and Apple doesn't have a patent on it...yet. They have a patent pending status however there are plenty of examples of prior art. See http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060112/1555226.shtml for example. 13 Comments »

Incorperate wireless USB into Dell notebooks

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by jervis961 07/23/07

Maybe start with the new 17 inch model? 32 Comments »

Continue to supply Windows XP drivers for all systems.

Operating Systems, XPS products submitted by audiofree 07/10/07

Let’s face it, Vista regardless of how Microsoft is trying to possession is not what all customers want. Some of us want to continue to use XP, it’s a lighter faster OS that does what we need. Please continue to support XP drivers at least. I want to buy one of the new 1420s or 1520s but can’t because not all the drivers are available. If you’re not going to sell the laptops with and XP option at least make the drivers available so those of us that want to install XP on our systems can. 20 Comments »

Better Notebook sound and features

Laptops submitted by foxx 02/17/07

I was looking for a high end notebook for video editing. Every Dell model I looked at was missing something essential.

Most serious is the lousy sound. I can understand for low end notebooks, but high end need A REAL SOUND CARD. I would have been willing to buy a sound card, but that required a PCMCIA slot and you had elimintated those. I gave up.











119 Comments »

First 1 TB HDD is here!

Servers and Storage submitted by premcv 07/24/07 **ALREADY OFFERED**

The world's first 1 TB HDD is here and it is from Hitachi. Dell should bring it out to all the hi-end gaming systems.

It features a lightening quick 3Gbps SATA interface and industry topping 32MB buffer. The spin speed is 7,200RPM and there's an 8.5ms average seek time while the 'SMART' technology and quietening acoustics are employed to keep noise down to a minimum.

http://press.insureandgo.com/news/270/Hitachi_to_sell_worlds_first_1_TB_hard_... 9 Comments »

Sell silent computers

Dell submitted by silent 07/28/07

Dell should sell silent computers. I only buy silent computers. 7 Comments »

DVI or HDMI out on all laptops models?

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by tommarnk 07/06/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

this would be a big jump, if dell add "DVI out" on all dell laptops, so people can connect to there LCD Displays or LCD HDTVs natively

the picture quality will be grealy improved

this should be easy to do as most of new chipsets has dvi out

not many laptop manufacturers add "dvi out" to there lower end products, so it might be a wise move to do so

all LCD monitors and lcd hdtvs has dvi or hdmi in so it might work well

and meybe remove the old VGA out and put a singel DVI-I, it can be used as analog (VGA) to, by using VGA-to-DVI-I adapter like tose used on

standard computer graphic cards for years now

many people like me connect monitor via dvi or hdmi to get the best picture and color quality



The offerings for the XPS M1730: Dual-link DVI-I (support for 30-inch displays) and HDMI via DVI adapter. Check out all the specs for the new systems.

69 Comments »

Properly warn consumers about ~3GB Max useable RAM limit with Vista 32bit

Advertising and Marketing, Operating Systems submitted by benjesuit 06/18/07

Only Vista 64 bit can use 4GB of ram or higher. Vista 32bit (such as the recommended Home premium), like XP (32bit) will only report a max of ~3.1GB.

Therefore, it behoves Dell to properly warn consumers at time of configuration that they will not be using the sum total of their 4GB purchased if they choose any Vista edition that is 32bit.

Perhaps using red font parenthetical under the selection of 4GB instead of a footnote superscript.



*Vista Home premium is a 32bit operation system.

See MSFT's confirmation of this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605 59 Comments »

Provide Linux Drivers for all your Hardware

Linux submitted by gergnz 02/19/07 **IN PROGRESS**

I don't care whether the OS is pre-installed or not, I want all the hardware to be totally supported in the Linux kernel without in mucking around. I currently have a Dell M1210 and I wish the modem would work, just in case I need it. The web cam would work, just in case I need it. At least the Intel wireless card is totally supported. Thanks Intel!!
Drivers are available for Linux to make some but not all hardware work. We continue to work with our partners to provide for better hardware support. See more specifics from john_h.




186 Comments »

No Extra Software Option

Software submitted by ootleman 02/16/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

Would love the ability to have a clean Vista install. No AOL software, no earthlink software, no google software - just a clean, original OS.


Check out jeremy_f's update on our current software options.


591 Comments »

Backlit Keyboards

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies, Desktops and Laptops submitted by rarmasu 02/21/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

I find myself many, many times in dark or poorly lit environments having to guess the various keys - would be fantastic to have a backlit keyboard - with backlit individual keys as the best option.

I would actually pay extra for that convenience if the option was available.
This could be done for desktops or notebooks.


Check out Vida_K's comment below on the New Latitude.
300 Comments »

LED Back Lighting

Monitors and Displays submitted by drew08867 06/28/07

Dell should transition all monitors to LED back lighting. More cost effective (in terms of energy use), greener, longer life. 11 Comments »

Pre-Installed OpenOffice | alternative to MS Works & MS Office

Software, Desktops and Laptops submitted by dhart 02/17/07

Provide OpenOffice.org for free pre-installation alongside Microsoft Works and Microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org is more capable than Microsoft Works, and a serious competitor to Microsoft Office, at a fraction of the cost (it's free!)

OpenOffice.org can open, create, edit and save Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

Provide as OPTIONS for pre-installation many other high-quality free software programs such as:
- Firefox: web browser with popup and privacy controls; say goodbye to Internet Explorer infections!
- Thunderbird: email program with free anti-spam and privacy controls
- Pidgin: instant messaging all-in-one program for popup-free MSN, Yahoo, AOL and others
&nsbp;[ed: GAIM was renamed Pidgin in April 2007 to settle the issue with AOL's trademark on AIM]
- PDFCreator: creates Adobe PDF files from any program
- Scribus, Inkscape & GIMP: desktop publishing, freehand drawing & powerful image editing
- Audacity & VLC: multi-track audio editing & universal all-in-one media/video/movie/DVD player
- Stellarium & Celestia: planetarium viewer & outer-space mapping, like Google Earth, but for our Solar System

Pre-installed quality free and open source software drastically lowers the cost of new PCs, and helps prevent software piracy. Cast your vote for Linux and other free software. Cast your vote for the Universal Education PC [ed: article removed/merged by dell_admin] utilizing free software.

CHOICE is what consumers want on their new PCs, not annoying surprise circus-ware (the typical smattering of confusing 3rd party popup-infested software found on most new Dell PCs). Quality free and open source software is well behaved, and may be legally pre-installed on PCs, and legally shared with friends and family, sharing is encouraged! Cast your vote for consumer CHOICE and public transparency at Dell.
574 Comments »