tekmate

Open Drivers

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Service and Support submitted by d0t-bat 05/02/07

Allowing the ability to download drivers from companies other than Dell (ie. Perc RAID controllers and being able to use drivers from LSI). Also providing up-to date drivers for old hardware that is "locked" such as laptops with outdated video drivers which cant be upgraded easily due to software restrictions. 1 Comment »

Better graphics options in dell 15.4 inch laptops

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Gaming, Laptops submitted by deusx 04/21/07

I think that dell should offer better graphics cards in their 15.4 inch laptops in the inspiron line of laptops. Though you have excellent options in most of your 17 inch laptops such as the E1705 and the XPS 1710, the E1505 has no options for decent 3D cards and there are no XPS 15.4 inch laptops.

I propose that you add a 15.4 inch XPS laptop (with an excellent 3d Card) and also introduce better 3d cards into your 15.4 inspiron lineup for the budget-minded gamers out there. 1 Comment »

$299 Laptop

Laptops submitted by jack_satan Feb 1

Dell already sells a completely functional (albeit low-end) Vostro 1000 for $399 with a 15.4 in. screen, 80 GB HDD, Windows, and free shipping. If they just offered the same computer with a 14.1 in. screen, open-source operating system, and 60 GB HDD, they should be able to sell it at $299 with an even better profit margin.

Furthermore, besides for the public relations coup from offering the first fully functional sub $300 laptop, Dell would also be opening up a whole new market of buyers that have been clamoring to get their hands on the OLPC XO, Asus EEE PC, and Intel Classmate. 20 Comments »

Make Dell desktop systems "QUIET"

Desktops submitted by jtome 04/20/07

I currently own a Dell XPS tower. It works great, but while doing professional design work it gets hot and starts making an awful amount of noise. I've tried turning on the AC during the summer, this helps but the system even gets hot in the winter time! I have another smaller Dell desktop in the other room which does not make noise, but it is not as powerful. I've upgraded my XPS system to have a TV Tuner and watch live TV. This works great but after a few hours of watching the fans are running hard.

I've used Apple Mac Pro systems which are more powerful than my 3.2Ghz XPS system and they are super quiet. I've even gone into computer labs which have all XP Intel extreme systems and another lab with all Mac pro systems and the noise difference is astonishing. You could hear pins dropping in the Mac Pro lab while they have to have the AC on 24/7 in the XP Lab to keep the buzzing noises down.

I've had clients over my house before to record audio for a video I was editing, and I had to ask them to be patient while I powered down my XPS system to cool off !! 6 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 »

ISO Image for Downloaded Dell Diagnostics

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops and Laptops submitted by jknauth 04/28/07

Floppy drives are no longer provided on many PCs. However Dell
downloads, e.g., for the Dell 32-bit Dell Diagnostics, come in the form
of floppy disk images. Dell should provide an ISO image of a bootable
CD containing the latest level of the diagnostics. Also provide a small
tool to burn the image to a CD, along the lines of BURNCDCC in
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html, for users who do not
have such software. 6 Comments »

Overclocking options

Sales Strategies, Desktops and Laptops submitted by carlobaluta 02/20/07

Have overclocking options in BIOS, as other motherboard manufacturers have. This should apply to high end gaming machines, designed for people who know what they are doing.
Also, i believe this kind of computers are way too pricey as I can always buy the parts and build such a machine for way less and with far more options...

Carlo 54 Comments »

Make the battery sizes an industry standard.

Laptop Power submitted by rotthund 05/01/07

I remember an old Dell laptop I had for work. It had a battery bay and a media (CD-ROM/floppy drive). The batteries could be installed in either bay. Two batteries could be installed even.

AA, AAA, etc battery sizes are standard and makes life so easy, people don't think about it. I like the fact that my Nikon and a Pentax camera can use CR-V3 or AA batteries. AAs will run all of our cameras! 1 Comment »

Readable names on driver files.

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.) submitted by sangelnet 04/06/07

I suggest, readable names on files that correspond to drivers. most drivers have like code names. Cant tell what they are for just by looking at the file.

Example: ds321pctweb.exe

They're all like that. Give them corresponding names. 5 Comments »

Send Best Ubuntu Laptop (and Desktop?) to PC Magazine!

Linux, Desktops and Laptops submitted by maccam94 05/01/07

PC Magazine is one of the most widely read computing magazines, and by sending your top Linux configurations to them for review, you will get the word out about your exciting new offerings, as well as generate awareness about Linux itself. 5 Comments »

discontinue all Celeron processors!!!

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops and Laptops submitted by ptcase 04/20/07

I know that Celeron processors had their place in the computing world. Maybe they still in the educational arena where most have "dummy consoles" hooked up to a really fast T-1. With the edition of Vista now added to our headache, Dell please don't sell Celeron based computers with inferior RAM and other peripherals along w/ very unnecessary pre-installed programs. Most of them are useless and just piss of the customer or other repeat would be buyers. 18 Comments »

"Trade In" Program

Advertising and Marketing, Environment, Sales Strategies submitted by john_saddington 02/19/07

I'd love to see a "Trade In" Program and/or initiative, where a customer who's been a long time customer could trade in an old system for a new one, or at least, a good sized discount.

I've got an old laptop and seriously need a new one. It's been out of warranty for a long time, but, would love to get a discount for a new one if I could trade it in.

This would also be environmentally healthy! 34 Comments »

Keyboard with no Windows logo

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops submitted by lucabrivio 02/27/07

It would be nice to have a keyboard without Windows logos, especially for those that use other operating environments than Microsoft Windows.

There would be several alternatives to have a Windows' logo on the "Super" key, including:
- having a Dell logo instead;
- having a custom key (maybe less cost-effective?);
- having a key with no logo, and perhaps several stickers with Windows, KDE, GNOME logos, Tux, etc.;
- having some other nice icon;
- ...

Desktop keyboards, which have two Windows logo keys, offer even more chances for alternatives. 23 Comments »

See only Linux compatible components when building your own system

Dell Web Site, Linux submitted by frozenfire 05/03/07

It would be nice when building you own system on the Dell site, you can tick a box and then it doesn't show the components that aren't Linux compatible. 3 Comments »

Dell Could Become the OpenGL Hero to the Open Source Community

Linux submitted by hmwamboldt 05/01/07

For a very long time, OpenGL support in the Open Source community has been spotty at best.

If Dell would take on the role of comprehensive testing, and repackaging (for updates) Nvidia or ATI drivers for several supported hardward (and software) configurations, that would make Dell a hero, at least to me. I've spent an inordinate amount of time installing, updating, patching, downgrading, and repairing damage done to systems by installing OpenGL drivers and OpenGL related system crashes over the last few years. It should be noted, (in defence of ATI and Nvidia) that many, if not most, of these problems stem from interactions with various chipsets, bridges, and bugs in various Xorg components. Hence my emphasis on testing.

Furthermore, if Dell could encourage Nvidia and ATI to release the specs for their oldest propriatary hardware (it's gotta be at least 4 or 5 years old now), that would probably provide a global benefit. But, if nothing else, comprehensive testing of new drivers and providing "Dell certified" update packages for Linux, would probably make Dell a prefered vendor for many, many midtier OpenGL users like myself.

-H- 5 Comments »

At least give an update on the top 3 IdeaStorm ideas.

IdeaStorm submitted by jmxz 04/24/07

If users are to expect that voting is meaningful, please give an update on the top three IdeaStorm ideas.

1. Pre-Installed Linux
   
2. Pre-Installed OpenOffice | alternative to MS Works & MS Office
   
3. Firefox pre-installed as default browser
   

Of those, it seems to me that OpenOffice and Firefox seem like they would be pretty easy. They have practically no hardware dependencies.

I look on Dells' "Ideas In Action" page daily (mostly because I'm shopping for a Linux Laptop
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/ideastorm/ideasinaction?c=us&l...) and am surprised to see updates on many relatively low voted articles (multilingual blogs;plant a tree, bring back older windows). I'm equally surprised to see no updates (that I can find) on two of the top three IdeaStorm Ideas; and infrequent updates on the third that contain nothing we haven't heard before.

Dell - if you want us to have confidence that voting here is meaningful, please give an update on each of the top 3 ideas on your next "Ideas In Action" update. Even if your update is "we don't like this idea" or "we won't do it for fear of one of our software vendors" at least it makes us feel like the votes were noticed.

While the latter answer might not be what we want to hear, at least we'd understand and feel pity for you rather than annoyance. 40 Comments »

Make coloured cases

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops and Laptops submitted by mauricio_martins 04/20/07

The market has elected computer cases colors a standard: or you got it black or you got it white. This resembles the old days where the only colors for cars was only black.

Why do not tightly work with the customers leaving them decide about the colors of their computers? This is a thing that car industries does... a set of basic colours (at no cost) and a set of custom shiny-cool-beautiful-colors at some cost. 10 Comments »

Thank you DELL- ideastorm is having a real impact

IdeaStorm submitted by steveoc 03/28/07

I had a requirement today to quickly get a couple of PC's commissioned, so I hopped online and ordered some components for PCs for delivery by the end of the week. They need to run linux, so its just a matter of choosing the right components, and scheduling some time early next week to do the OS install.

One of the better online retailers in Oz is auspcmarket.com.au - they are not the cheapest, but they have lots of cred and a great reputation. So I order from them from time to time because of this.

They are totally a Microsoft golden reseller (or whatever), and only deal in mainstream items .. but at least you have the option of buying things without an operating system, and they dont play silly buggers with pricing bundles.

Well, what a shock when I get to the front page this time - a big penguin appears in the main menu, and they are running a poll on which linux we customers want pre-installed. Ubuntu is miles in front, followed by Fedora, etc. They are not even considering offering Novell.

This is NOT a publicity stunt on their behalf - go to operating systems, and for $10 you can choose any popular version of linux, and they will burn and ship that CD/DVD with your order.

They have a new section which is 'Machines with no operating system and no monitor - using hardware tested to work with Ubuntu and Fedora linux'. No support is offered directly for the OS - they recommend using community forums. Its almost like they took the time to read the comments on ideastorm, and put together offerings based on the obvious.

I have every faith that auspcmarket.com.au will be offering pre-installed and supported linux on their offerings pretty soon. This is VERY DIFFERENT to the number of existing companies like system76, which were basically built to satisfy the demand for linux. This case is different because its an established player in the Wintel/PeeCee space, with a great reputation, who is making a change.

They have obviously followed what has happened here on ideastorm, and they are providing exactly what it is that Dell's customers are asking for on this site, without all the backroom politics that are holding Dell back.

GREAT !!

Thank you Dell for providing the exposure that was needed to kick things on to the next level. (When are you going to get on board and enjoy the benefits of this though ?) 8 Comments »

Labtop keyboard with soft backlight

Laptops submitted by acquarian 04/23/07

Any ideas in making an optional on/off switch to have a a soft backlight on the keyboard of a labtop,

I find myself working sometimes in poor light conditions, and it would be a great idea to have a soft backlight to illuminate the keys on a keyboard. 8 Comments »

Add Mandriva to the list

Linux submitted by lostinspace 02/21/07

I have just gone through the process of trying several different linux distros as the main OS on a new OS-free PC I bought (not from Dell, obviously). I went through the latest Fedora to OpenSuse to Ubuntu, and finally tried Mandriva One, as well as Mandriva Free. Both the Mandriva versions were the least problematic and most flexible of the bunch, so You should add Mandriva to your list. PLEASE. PLEASE, PLEASE.

The others are okay, but the fits and finishes on Mandriva are the best I've seen. One simple example involves fonts. As a graphic artist, webmaster and editor, that has been the worst of part of trying out Linux. But in Mandriva, installing a font is a breeze, primarily because it automatically links the fonts with the big apps that will use them. With other distros I've tried, you're pretty much on your own. You can install a nice font in Suse, and then God help you trying to figure out how to use it in something like Openoffice.

That said, you should also talk to Warren Woodford, who does Mepis. It was the first I used, and is second best behind Mandriva, in my opinion. 21 Comments »