Evaluate using Apple's internally at Dell.
Simplify IT submitted by jmxz
Apr 18
And before voting this down, read about IBM's fascinating pilot program for using Macs internally and the advantages they're finding.
IBM’s Research Information Services launched an internal pilot program designed to study the possibility of moving significant numbers of employees to the Mac platform. The study has already found an enthusiastic response from participants and is helping to drive Mac support for IBM’s business applications. ... IBM is actively working to move away from its dependence upon Microsoft Windows and toward a heterogeneous cross-platform future.
The pilot program document outlined a series of reasons for evaluating MacBook Pro laptops as a replacement for the Windows-based ThinkPads currently in use inside the company:
# Alternative to Microsoft Windows
# Less prone to security issues
# Widely used in the academic world with which Research has close ties
# Many new hires are more comfortable with the Mac and lately asking for it
# Growing Mac community in Research and within IBM that finds the development environment on Mac more convenient
# Growing acceptance of the Mac as a consumer and business oriented client platform
The first phase of the pilot program ran from October 2007 through January 2008.
...
Of the 22 of 24 who responded, 18 said that the Mac offered a “better or best experience” compared to their existing computer, one rated it “equal or good,” and three said the Mac offered a “worse experience.”
Surely you at Dell want to give your employees a "better or best experience". And if you can learn something from it, and bring some of those "better or best experiences" to Dell computers too - it would be good for your customers as well.
-360
Bring back Microsoft Office 2003 Pre-installed.
Software submitted by gear
Apr 18
I have used every version of Microsoft Office including Office 2007.
After extensively testing Office 2007, a decision was made not to change for the following reasons:
- The ribbon interface is not an improvement for me. I do not need it, and everyone I know is familiar with the Office 2003 interface.
- There is no backward compatibility mode to switch back to the Office 2003 interface --- an aftermarket product exist, but why should I pay for something that Microsoft should have provided to begin with?
- There is a serious problem with backward compatibility with Microsoft Outlook 2003 and previous versions.
I have thousands of contacts classified in Microsoft Outlook and sorted according to a proprietary classification scheme. There is no way to import this scheme and convert to the new color code (which is itself impossible for a color blind person to use) without manually recoding every contact.
- There are very few improvements in the suite that I cannot do without.
- Web based applications have become so powerful that I can do much of what Office use to do for me online.
Hence, if Office 2003 was offered as a pre-installed option, I might buy it.
No way I would buy Office 2007.
-70
antivirus option for linux ?
Linux, Software submitted by siger
Apr 19
why is there an option for mc afee for the ubuntu laptop on your website ?
Linux does not need anivirus for the moment and mc afee does not have an antivirus for linux.
90
The Power of Subtract
Dell Web Site, Sales Strategies submitted by stormrider451
Mar 29
I have been doing my bit of web surfing these days on other companies site's and I actually found HP's site quite flexible if not more flexible than DELL's in terms of upgradability and options they offer for their comps. I think DELL needs get working on trying to overpass HP in this aspect because this had always been DELL's strength. One aspect that I have been noticing is that HP gives the power to substract from the total price by downgrading certain parts. Dell should give the costumer more choices where they can [substract] from the cost of their computer. The ability to substract is a sales strategy that is very powerful because the costumer feels hes getting a great deal, a computer which is built just for him and that he has a great deal more of control over what he is buying. Not everyone wants a huge HD, some would rather have more RAM or video memory instead of a huge HD.
While I was interested in the M2010 and the Dell One, I made tons of different setups but always found that DELL did not offer any subtracting ability on those products. All you could do really was to upgrade and thus bump your price higher with every option. I tried to build a XPS 420 and a XPS 210 before making this post just to check and it was the same deal. Everything is add add add add add. Where have the substract options gone?
I propose that DELL gets to working on trying to give the option of AT LEAST ONE product per major hardware option that will lower the price at least by some degree on ALL THE COMPUTERS offered by DELL. That is, RAM, HD, Video Card and Processor. Any other suggestions on where [subtract] options could be given? This will give more power to the costumer and give an additional incentive for that costumer to buy. This should not be so hard.
130
Catchy commercial tunes
Advertising and Marketing submitted by stinkytofu
Mar 29
Dell should have more "catchy" & hip commercials like songs from the MacBook Air commercial (Yael Naim's Youtube listed below). Another comparison is the Mitsubishi Outlander commercial with the French "Je Ne Te Connais Pas" song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjNC0ZFr18s&feature=related) It was so catchy that I had to look it up by going to Mitsubishi's website. Imagine people coming to Dell's website just to catch all the COOL commercials?!?! How much visibility would that bring into Dell, huh??? Think about it, have a cool song that sticks in everyone's head and people will talk about it non-stop even if the product isn't to their liking (i.e. Mac Air book and the yael naim new soul clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YUxbDEPFiM) ...
A happy song is good stuff.
60
IR on XPS M1530
XPS products, Laptops submitted by programatix
Mar 29
Hi,
Since I own only XPS M1530, I do not know whether this apply to XPS M1330.
The XPS M1530 has a consumer IR port in front of it, next to the audio connectors. Why not put in a full working IR controller? I mean the one that can let us receive and send, instead of just receive signal from Dell Remote Control.
Is Dell worried about the power consumption? If so, make a hot key for QuickSet to turn on/off the IR. Or is it too expensive to put it in?
Many people would think, why IR when we have bluetooth?
First, bluetooth on XPS M1530 is optional.
Second, not all gadgets have bluetooth (instead, they have IR).
Third, sometimes to send small files, IR is more convenience. Just put the device in front of the IR port and sent, skipping the process of turning on Bluetooth on the device, then on the laptop, right click on the Bluetooth icon (near the system tray) and click "Receive file". I know, I'm lazy. Oh, before anybody mention that IR is slow, yes it is. That is why I stated that, "to send small files".
80
"Similar ideas" annoyance
IdeaStorm submitted by programatix
Mar 29
Hi,
Everytime we post an Idea, the "Similar ideas" page is displayed. This page is good. But instead, the Ideas that are shown here are not anywhere near the new Idea that we are trying to post.
Dell should improve the "Similar ideas" detection code or instead of helping, it annoys people. When it annoys people, people do not even check if the Ideas are similar, they just click the "No thanks" button on the spot.
Take for example, for this current post that I am posting, the "Similar ideas" are,
1) Pre-Installed Linux | Ubuntu | Fedora | OpenSUSE | Multi-Boot
2) Pre-Installed OpenOffice | alternative to MS Works & MS Office
3) Have Firefox pre-installed as default browser
120
Allow customer to personalize his/her details for support
Service and Support submitted by programatix
Mar 29
Hi,
Everytime I try to contact Dell Support by email, I am required to enter my details. The phone number is incorrect (my number is entered twice in a field). All other fields are empty except my name and email. So, I need to key in all the fields manually everytime I try to contact Dell. Now, instead of filling in the required fields, I just type "NA" or "a" or which ever key that is under my fingers.
I checked everywhere (in the Support page) but found no way of editing my details. It would be great if this is made possible.
140
A Media Vault product like the HP 2100
New Product Ideas submitted by jmxz
Mar 30
The HP Media Vault 2100 is a very nice little box.
From the article
Why, in the midst of a major Windows Home Server push, would HP introduce a little Linux-based NAS at half the price? And why would HP make the $300 Media Vault mv2120 so full featured and easy that its $600-and-up MediaSmart Servers look
A) too bulky
B) too expensive
C) too overloaded
D) all of the above?
Is HP telling Microsoft there's no need for Windows Home Server, especially in light of its recent troubles?
Dell - please sell something like this. Especially if on top of it you also could stack external hard drives designed to fit nicely on top of it. Also note that the HP is not too different from some earlier IdeaStorm ideas like this and this.
170
DO something about the "click click" noise of laptop hard drives!!!
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by cestuila
Mar 30
Hi,
Please Mr head of Dell Support, could you really do something about this noise?
I have it on my D630. But I know people have it on their XPS M1530, on their Inspiron 9400, and other brands have the same problem
( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=100609 )
No, this is not the hard drive indexing files. This is a specific horrible noise, a "click" that pops out once in a while, probably due to the HDD heads parking themselves.
Dell has already sent me another hard drive (Samsung 120GB hybrid in my case) but this hasn't changed anything.
Don't know if the problem comes from MS Windows, the hard drive's firmware or the Sata controller in Dell notebooks, but PLEASE do something!!!
290
Allow Under 18s To Post On IdeaStorm
Dell Community, IdeaStorm, Simplify IT submitted by aikiwolfie
Mar 30
Recently there has been some discussion over on Dell Forums about under 18s not being allowed to post on IdeaStorm. While I am aware there are legal obligations Dell must meet to accommodate children of certain age groups. I think Dell are being overly paranoid in this matter.
COPPA so far as I know applies to children under the age of 13. So I'm just not sure what the issue is here? Perhaps one of the moderators can explain things to us as this new policy has seen the exclusion of some of IdeaStorms most valuable members, davmcn and citreontech. Both of whom have acted very responsibly while posting on IdeaStorm.
Simplify IT Recently Dell has also made a big deal about simplifying IT. Well where XPS gaming rigs are concerned, wouldn't it be simpler to talk to "kids" directly rather than having to go through their parents? From what I've read on IdeaStorm with examples like "Joe Sixpack" and "Mon & Pop", the general American adult population seem to be a bit thick when it comes to using and understanding PCs. That's not meant to be an insult. It's just how it looks from the outside looking in. I think you might need the "kids" input after all. Drop the age limit to 13.
120
Rip off the UK
Dell Web Site, Sales Strategies, XPS products submitted by d3fcon
Mar 31
Dell,
Can you explain why you charge £855 for a 64GB SSD hard drive upgrade in the UK ...when its at $655 on the USA site. That equates to approx $1700 thats almost 3 times the cost. I understand there are shipping costs, taxes etc... but 3 times the cost thats laughable ....any explanation???
340
XPS All in One w/Ubuntu
Linux, XPS products submitted by dlmoak
Mar 31
I would love to be able to order an XPS system with Ubuntu already isntalled. Please make this an option. I would rather support a company that is making Linux offerings than put a system together myself (though I have done that).
220
Make Linux laptops match their Windows counterparts
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Linux, Laptops submitted by lengau
Mar 31
I was comparing the 1525 and the 1525N today. Here's a list of what (as of 2008-3-31 18:39 CDT) the Windows laptop has that the Ubuntu one doesn't:
Processors:
Celeron 540
Pentium Dual Core T2370 (NOTE: The Ubuntu version has T2330 instead - perhaps it would be good to have both options on both laptops?)
Core 2 Duo T5750
Core 2 Duo T8300
The Windows laptop doesn't offer the Core 2 Duo T5450, but the Ubuntu one does.
Display:
1440x900 display (See: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/76248 )
Hard Drive:
80GB (5400 RPM)
The Windows laptop is missing:
250GB (7200 RPM)
Optical drives:
Combo drive
Blu-ray Combo
Blu-ray Burner
Note: This gives only one choice (DVD burner) on the Linux laptop.
Also, Nero for Linux (as well as DVD+RW-tools) burns Blu-Ray discs.
Blu-Ray support on Linux machines has been requested for quite a while now (see: http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/73129 )
Wi-Fi:
Dell 1505 (supported according to http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Accessories/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&... )
Intel 802.11n (AFAICT, The 1505 is an Intel chip - can anyone tell me if these are the same chips?
Dell 1395
Mobile Broadband:
I'm not sure if these cards have Linux drivers, but this functionality should be available to Linux users.
Bluetooth and Wireless USB
Dell Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Bundle
Dell Travel Mouse (with Bluetooth Technology)
Dell Bluetooth Stereo Headset (w/built-in Mic)
Personally, I think that all three of those should be under the "Add my accessories" section, but they should still be available.
Battery:
I couldn't figure out any way to include a secondary battery with the Windows notebook.
Sound:
Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi® Xtreme Audio Sound Card
Whilst that difference is pretty big, I want to point out the few major problems (everything else is, to me, minor):
Processors:
I don't see any reason for the processor options to be different on the two laptops. Both OS's work on all of the processors (obviously - they're just x86 processors, after all)
Display:
Limiting Linux users to a lower resolution is counterintuitive to me. Linux users are generally more technically-inclined and thus more likely to buy a higher resolution display than Windows users.
Optical Drives:
The readers are just generic drives (writing is the only potential problem, but with the right programs, Linux can burn Blu-Ray as well). All that's necessary is a warning on the Linux laptops that they cannot play Blu-Ray movies on the systems.
Wi-Fi:
I mention this here tentatively. I understand that wi-fi chips aren't the most Linux-friendly hardware at the moment, but an 802.11n option would be nice.
470
Is Dell trying to cheat or did I miscalculate?
Advertising and Marketing, XPS products submitted by programatix
Feb 29
Hi,
I'm not sure whether I'm the one who miscaculated or it is Dell who miscalculated. So for confirmation, could anyone help me out?
Take a look at the site,
http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1530?c=my...< the RM2,000 Instant Cash Redemption at the right most, E-Value Code R510217-WEB? The price is RM6,999 (include RM2,000 redemption). This means that the original price is RM8,999.
Look at the one on the left, E-Value Code R510209-WEB. The price is RM4,299.
Looking at both specifications, I can only see that the one at the right has the following added: - Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7700
- 3GB DDR2 SDRAM
- Blu-ray
- 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
- 3-Year XPS™ Premier Service Support with 3-Year CompleteCover
I tried building a system to match the one on the right using the template of the one on the left. - Initial cost RM4299
- Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7700 - Add RM795 = RM5,094
- 3GB DDR2 SDRAM - Add RM379 = RM5,473
- Blu-ray - Add RM1879 = RM7,351
- 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT - Add RM203 = RM7,554
- Dell Care Premium Warranty - Add RM761 = RM8,315
- Since E-Value Code R510217-WEB warranty is not Dell Care Premium, so - Deduct RM223 (I get this by building E-Value Code R510217-WEB and add the Dell Care Premium) = RM8,092
So, the price is RM8,092. If the RM2,000 instant redemption is included, the the final price is RM6,092 only. Why is it stated as RM6,999? Thanks.
110
 track my votes
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