phubert

Re-think & redesign rack-mount methods

Servers and Storage submitted by phubert Jun 25

A recent suggestion called for improvement of the "cable management" arms for rack-mount servers.

Earlier, I suggested improving cabinet design and cable management.

What are the issues:

1-airflow/cooling
2-airflow/filtration
3-reducing cable clutter
4-ease-of-maintenance for rack-mounted systems
5-ease of cabinet movement when needed

Perhaps both the rack-mount _systems_ AND the cabinets need re-thinking.

Are there strong, lighter weight materials (rigidity, strength, heat conductivity?) for cabinets _and_ server cases?

How can both cooling and dust issues be addressed??

IF no server is to be pulled-out for maintenance while connected to power, how can its cables be held together for easy reattachment??? 7 Comments »

Dashboard no longer shows line-item votes! Bring 'em back!

IdeaStorm submitted by phubert Jun 23

O.K. SOMEBODY is going to tell me we VOTED FOR this somewhere and that *I* supported it!!! 40 Comments »

Provide settings map between monitor models to match a monitor being replaced

Monitors and Displays submitted by phubert Jun 19

I just had to replace a failed Dell 2000FP with a Dell 2001FP and can't get the colors/brightness/contrast matched on a Precision Workstation 370 with an nVidia Quadro FX 1400.

I don't know that the system/video card are the issue as the on-screen monitor menus are also of little help.

Matching the red-green-blue values from the 2000FP to the 2001FP doesn't seem to work (white doesn't look white).

My point, however, isn't just these two monitors... I've seen the problem any time one monitor model is replaced with another.

And, right NOW I'm getting a headache using the replacement monitor!!! 15 Comments »

Maintain a FULL customer profile for home OR business users.

Service and Support submitted by phubert Jun 16

If Dell would construct a FULL customer profile for each purchaser, whether home or business, and have it available to both the customers AND service techs, Dell could:

* provide features the customer does not now have
* provide more effective support
* save DELL _and_ its customers costs in both actual $$ and in time spent
* save environmental costs as well 11 Comments »

Don't DUPLICATE manuals/instructions Option to have online or DVD instructions ONLY.

Environment submitted by phubert Jun 16

When multiples are ordered, package together with a SINGLE set of instructions?

Offer the OPTION when ORDERING of having ONLY online _or_ DVD instructions!

This option could apply to all products. 2 Comments »

Acer poised to push Linux - Will DELL be left behind?

Dell, Linux submitted by phubert Jun 5

How many times have suggestions been posted that Dell raise the visibility -and the extent- of its Linux offerings?

How little have we heard back in return?

Acer is planning to push Linux on laptops now.
Isn't it TIME for Dell to join in??? ****

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/77636,acer-bets-big-on-linux.aspx 24 Comments »

If Apple is poised to take Microsoft down... DELL needs to help UBUNTU become the APPLE alternative!

Linux, Sales Strategies, Desktops and Laptops submitted by phubert May 23

Forrester sees Apple ruling the living room

*I* see more people choosing Apple for home, FLEEING from what they see as a Windows disaster.

DELL needs to support UBUNTU development to have an ALTERNATIVE to APPLE! 33 Comments »

Make parts return consistent - and SIMPLE

Servers and Storage, Service and Support submitted by phubert May 8

This week, I had the opportunity to return two different power supplies.

One for a PowerEdge 1750 and today one for a PowerVault 114T.

The return slip for the 1750 was a narrow, multicopy form where you must fill in the sender's name and address, your own name and phone number and some billing reference (for which there IS nothing supplied and I substitute "order number" (note: I've done THIS _many_ times!)).

The return process for the 114T part was a simple "EZ RETURN WAYBILL" that I've seen at least _once_ before. Nothing to fill out (and, please, Dell, TELL ME exactly WHY there SHOULD be???).

Doesn't the latter sound more sensible?

Why does Dell use both and why does the more complicated version seem to predominate???

Couldn't DELL save money by using a single method????? 3 Comments »

Add two buttons to IdeaStorm pages: Most recently Voted, Most recently Commented

IdeaStorm submitted by phubert May 7

Not "recent comments", but a display of IDEAS by either "most recently voted on" or by "Most recently commented on" 5 Comments »

Does Dell have? A "What can I do with my Dell?" web link?

Advertising and Marketing, Dell Web Site, Desktops and Laptops submitted by phubert May 7

The suggestion is that, if Dell isn't already doing this, to have a link off each system description page titled:

"What can I DO with my Dell?"

This could also be a standalone section with different lists of functions for home, home office, SMB, Education, etc. Meaning, depending on the area you select, you would find different 'possibilities' and system options, configurations and accessories explored.

This is LIKE a 'solutions' approach but would be educational (to customers) as well.

It would tie-in well with Dell's new premium services program(s).

Of course a separate path "Dell Solutions" would serve a similar purpose, but from another perspective.

BOTH could be most useful to customers.

As I have said before, ORDER PAGES should have pop-ups highlighting specific features...

ONE example:

When ordering a KVM switch, a pop-up that asks "Have you looked at the supported SCREEN RESOLUTION?" and offered alternatives would have saved OUR site a very annoying (and unresolvable) mistake!! 4 Comments »

Let the customer CHOOSE their web interface to Dell

Dell Web Site, Simplify IT submitted by phubert May 7

Some web sites offer different views...

Whether a consumer or business/government/etc. customer, Dell could improve the customer experience by offering a choice of interfaces...

* bare bones, more information on the page, more of a list format
...with an option for images when they might be useful
* graphical, more colorful

The simpler interface would likely be much faster on refresh, while conveying more information at a glance.

Drill-down with -complete- specs on equipment, perhaps including benchmarks and comparisons could also be VERY valuable.

Dell should address customer skill levels, so an interface could be available to match the background OF the customer.

"Give me no frills! Give me information!"

vs.:

"I'm completely lost when it comes to computers, LEAD ME!!" Comment »

Dell needs to help its customers go green - with Linux

Environment submitted by phubert Apr 29

IBM is doing it internally and with its customers...

Interview With IBM's Inna Kuznetsova on Big Green Linux

Recently Products Editor, James Gray, caught up with IBM's Inna Kuznetsova, Worldwide Director for IBM's Linux strategy. They discuss IBM's Big Green Linux intiative and IBM's own power-saving move to Linux on its own data center. ****

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/interview-ibms-inna-kuznetsova-big-green-... 4 Comments »

Warranty reminder - Online Warranty/Support Extension

Service and Support submitted by phubert Apr 23

O.K. comments?

Could Dell provide an _optional_ service to periodically check the remaining warranty on a system and warn perhaps 3 months prior to expiration? Then offer, as appropriate, a link to extend the warranty online?

This could be available for all levels of machines with any operating system.

Could it be offered as an icon that the USER could periodically check, rather than as a PROCESS (i.e. the user would have to manually run the process rather than having something run automatically at every bootup (which might be very infrequent, anyway, for servers!).

Other ways??? Are there other things that could be checked?
Could this be rolled into a product that checked for firmware and driver upgrades, for example? 10 Comments »

Help Customers to a Better Internet experience - TELL them about UBUNTU!!!

Linux, Sales Strategies submitted by phubert Apr 21

Dell can HELP its customers have a better Internet experience by openly PROMOTING Ubuntu!

As Mark Shuttleworth, of Canonical, points out:

"...if people think of their daily experience as a sit down on the web, we know that people can have a very compelling experience on Linux.

"In fact, we know it is a better web experience because they can do it without spyware, without viruses."

Mr Shuttleworth said he believed there were about eight to nine million users of Ubuntu worldwide. " ****

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7358483.stm 10 Comments »

Order websites need better design and testing! Example: the PowerVault MD3000i

Servers and Storage submitted by phubert Apr 17

Website error? PowerVault MD3000i

In configuring a PowerVault MD3000i, I kept getting a pop-up "compatibility error" with no selection anywhere on the page to address it.

A co-worker indicated he, too, had encountered such an error when configuring a SAN device 12 Comments »

Review the TOU to see if there is a way to INCLUDE younger participants

IdeaStorm submitted by phubert Apr 16

Are there legal issues?

Can the TOU be rewritten to eliminate/circumvent them?

Where does the conflict lie (between age and participation)?

Clearly, according to 'approved' (aka 'over 18') participants, there have been and are younger participants who, perhaps unknowing of the age restriction in the TOU, have registered and participated constructively.

How does this put the site or Dell at risk?

Again, is there a way to redesign the TOU to open the door to them?

After all, there've been FIVE YEAR OLD geniuses who could have participated equally or better to any of us now here!

Isn't it ours and Dell's loss to exclude them???

If you want fresh ideas, where better to go?? 8 Comments »

Enforce the age limit on Ideastorm during REGISTRATION

IdeaStorm submitted by phubert Apr 14

Since there has been a -small- flap over the age limit for IdeaStorm participants,

ADD a "birth year" choice to the registration submission form, and at that point inform those "under 18" of the restriction.

This would end any questions or confusion after-the-fact. 20 Comments »

Dell needs to develop a backup strategy to the risk Microsoft poses to the industry

Dell submitted by phubert Apr 10

Gartner: Windows collapsing under its own weight; Radical change needed

Microsoft’s Windows juggernaut is collapsing as it tries to support 20 years of applications and becomes more complicated by the minute. Meanwhile, Windows has outgrown hardware and customers are pondering skipping Vista to wait for Windows 7. If Windows is going to remain relevant it will need radical changes. ****

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8428&tag=nl.e550 59 Comments »

Make vital system info easy to access

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Servers and Storage, Service and Support submitted by phubert Apr 9

Another suggestion (below) addressed the Windows Product Key Tags.

Of equal importance, however, are the SERVICE TAG and site PROPERTY TAGS.

Provide or offer either a slide-in or snap open/shut clear window on the side or top of desktop machines designed to contain the Windows Product Key tag, the SERVICE TAG and a customer-created PRODUCT tag so that all three are visible.

How this might be applied to rack-mount servers, I don't know, but I've included them 'just in case' :-)

The Windows Product Key tag suggestion is below: ****

http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/10085305/Windows_Product_Key_Tags 1 Comment »

Innovation MUST be OPEN - Dell needs to support this!

Dell, Environment, Education submitted by phubert Apr 9

As this article reveals, all TRUE innovation for the future MUST be open.

Save the planet? Open!
Education? Open!
Resolve world conflict? Open!
FIX government IT? Open!

How Open Source (Ideas) Can Win the War and Save the Auto Industry

"The great products of the future are going to be built on platforms for innovation. Products with broad appeal developed by one company behind closed doors are going to be the exception not the norm. Open products will thrive on open ideas developed transparently and without pride in individual ownership." ****

http://blog.linuxtoday.com/blog/archives/080407-105255.html 35 Comments »