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7530

Ubuntu Dell Repo

Linux, Service and Support submitted by tekhawk 07/20/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

basicly a simple idea dell to support the ubuntu community a little bit by running a repo for its laptops and desktop if nothing more to support the software that they install on the system and to provide driver updates theses repos should be setup on the machines before shipping so that the users can get the driver updates quick and easy and offer driver on there for all the drivers that there are for dell machines that are support on linux not just the shipping lines

so that user might find that other machines then the ones you ship with ubuntu can easly be made into power ubuntu operating machines


As matt_d has said below, we have repositories for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, Novell/SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, and a growing one for Ubuntu. Check it out here http://linux.dell.com.
76 Comments »

28110

Standardize Power Cables for Laptops

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by badblood 08/27/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

Nothing is more annoying than laptop power cables that are not interchangeable from one computer model to another or from one brand of computer to another. Power cables have been standardized on most electrical applicances, including desktop computers for decades.

Make an effort to promote and implement standard power cables for laptops.


Please see dawn_l's comments below.
105 Comments »

25130

Linux Hardware Compatibility List

Dell Web Site, Linux submitted by s3indiana 02/20/07 **IN PROGRESS**

Create a listing of Dell hardware that's compatible with the major Linux distributions (Fedora, OpenSuse, ubuntu, Freespire) providing compatibility with not just systems (desktops and laptops) but include peripherals (printers, camera's, flash drives, compatible routers, etc.). Include levels of compatibility so the reviewer can make an educated choice. This would provide the greatest assistance for those looking at alternatives...

We're working to add something like this to our linux.dell.com wiki. Click here to see what john_h has to say.





30 Comments »

21630

Make Linux and no Operating system standard options on all future products

Operating Systems submitted by jervis961 08/17/07 **REVIEWED**

OK Dell you have committed to supplying Linux options in limited form. Since you have laid the groundwork already here is the next step. Every new product you release that needs an Operating system should have Linux and also no Operating System as an option in the configuration along side Windows. Since you have to write drivers and test compatability for Vista when making a new product just make it compatable with Linux at the same time. There will no longer be a need for a seperate sections for Linux or no Operating system since all of the products will have the option. this will help make your site easier to navigate for you customers. You can also create an ACCURATE help me choose section for the OS choices.





Check out what daniel_j has to say on the options we offer.





189 Comments »

26740

Put Ubuntu on the list of operating systems when building a PC!

Linux, Sales Strategies, Desktops and Laptops submitted by samb0057 08/10/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

Ubuntu is hidden in a dark corner of the website. I work in IT support, and I have a client who was having virus problems a little while ago. I fixed the problem by installing Ubuntu on their PC. Very recently they called me asking for advice on a new computer, I told them about your new offer providing Ubuntu pre-installed on PCs and they wanted to purchase, but could not find the section on your site (this person is a very basic user, doesn't know what open-source means, probably didn't even see the open source link). There is no way they would have found your Ubuntu section on their own.

I urge you to offer Ubuntu as a choice of OSes in the system configuration wizard, the only way to really sell Ubuntu is to offer Ubuntu as a primary option, rather than a hidden alternative. I personally am looking to buy a new laptop, and you guys have always been my number 1 PC manufacturer (I don't think I've ever bought a new retail PC except from you guys), but I feel that your Ubuntu offerings are lacking. If you offered Ubuntu on some of the great deals you offer on your home page, I would be willing to pay just as much as I would for a Windows Vista system and I probably would have already ordered.







158 Comments »

33450

Implemented: Ubuntu Dell is Le$$ Than Windows Dell

Linux submitted by thebittersea 05/05/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

see comment from Erik down below... [Dell's Pricing Team]

$774 Inspiron 1420 (Ubuntu)
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5250 (1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Ubuntu version 7.04
Anti-glare, widescreen 14.1 inch display (1280x800)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
80GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
Integrated High Definition Audio

$824 Inspiron 1420 (Vista)
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5250 (1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Genuine Windows® Vista Home Basic Edition
Anti-glare, widescreen 14.1 inch display (1280x800)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
80GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
24X CD writer/DVD Combo Drive
Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
Integrated High Definition Audio
The difference in promotion pricing was due to an error on the site, which has been fixed.






412 Comments »

24450

There should be an option of having no trialware on all computers

Software submitted by jervis961 08/23/07 **REVIEWED**

Here is a news article about trialware and how Dell feels that regular customers want it but small business ones do. Do they not look at the ideas here?

"Not interested in all of the trial software that clutters up new PCs? You're not alone: According to Dell's recent research in both focus groups and broader surveys, small-business users overwhelmingly view trialware as an irritant, not a benefit. That research has led Dell to axe the extras from its new Vostro line of small-business desktop PCs and laptops. Eliminating demo applications is a major step for Dell, which has caught flack for the quantity of trialware on its consumer PCs. (One frustrated customer went so far as to develop a "Decrapifier" utility. The company says that consumers who buy PCs for personal use do express interest in preloaded trial software, but that small-business users have different needs. By eliminating the trialware from Vostro machines, Dell says it has cut the system setup time in half. For now, Dell is the only major PC manufacturer to ship small-business systems without preinstalled trialware as a standard practice. (Some competitors, such as HP, allow customers to choose a no-trialware configuration.)"


Dell offers a broad amount of software choice and minimal software shipped. Read jeremy_f's post on the options we give our customers





149 Comments »

7720

Now You Choose - Concept 2

Gaming, XPS products submitted by dell_admin1 04/25/07 **IMPLEMENTED**


Participate in the product design process! Dell is using IdeaStorm to decide between two new product design concepts. Vote on your favorite and weigh in to tell us what you think.



When we unveiled the XPS 710 H2C at CES this year, we also uncovered it. There were a limited number of systems sprinkled throughout the show floor that had a clear side panel allowing easy viewing of the patent-pending two-stage H2C liquid cooling system.


Since then, more than a few people have suggested we offer a “panel with a view” as an option for our XPS 710 line. Now we need you to vote for one of these two options and, most importantly, share some reasons why you like it.


This “Now You Decide” vote campaign will be open from Wednesday, April 25 to Friday, May 11. The design that gets the most votes will be featured in a future generation of XPS gaming desktops.




Check out the latest Idea in Action on the new XPS 730.




108 Comments »

753

Pre-Installed Gimp Photo Manipulation Software

Software, Desktops and Laptops submitted by kyle.burton 02/20/07

Include a pre-installed copy of the open source Image Manipulation software: Gimp with windows based installs. In addition to open-office, a photo manipulation package like this would be a useful add on. Including picasa or other on-line image organization applications would be useful as well. 3 Comments »

700

Linux

Linux submitted by crimlawfed 02/28/07

Consumers should be able to chose whichever distro. of Linux they want. Dell should put a list of the most popular on their website. A consumer could choose between one on Dell.com or any other. 3 Comments »

370

Stop gouging Windows Vista prices

Operating Systems, Sales Strategies submitted by cullend 04/29/07

Come on Dell! You charge an ADDITIONAL $200 to upgrade from Vista Home Premium to Windows Vista Ultimate. THAT IS ABSURD! We all know that you use OEM, as you are an OEM... The price for Windows Vista Home Premium is 111.99 from Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116202) . For Ulimate OEM, it is 189.99 via (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116213) We all know Dell gets a way deeper discount, that is fine. But when you charge $200 for Ultimate, when the real price difference between the two is $78. Where does Dell get off charging a $200 difference?! Dell, lower the price of ultimate... 7 Comments »

600

Dell Modular Computer

Desktops, Environment submitted by reg 04/25/07 **NOT NOW**

It would be great for Dell to make a 'Blade' Type MidTower computer - slotted cartridges for the CPU, Graphic Card, Hard Drive, DVD Burner, 2CD Burner Drive.

All modules slotted - the buyer just picks and chooses what they want : 1 CPU with 1 Nvidia card, 3 Hard drives, and 2 DVD burners. A micro tower should hold 4 slots, a mid-tower size should hold 7 slots, a full tower 12 slotted modules.

Truly custom config your machine - easy assembly, slot, locking lever action - just like the Blade servers and RAID hard drives. Tired of a puny 2.0 GHz dual core? Unlatch and remove the CPU/RAM module - insert your new 3.0 GHz Quad Core with 4 GB RAM module. Keep all your data/software/hard drive/CD Drive in place.

Easy repair, easy upgrades, easy maintenance. Dell should do this: Modular computing. The time is now.

I think they used to call this a 'passive back plane' system - all cartridge modules connect to a high speed bus - so a cartridge would hold a 'motherboard' module (cpu + RAM). The hard drive would be a module, the video card - a module, the DVD drive - another module. Interchangeable parts make easy to configure, easy to upgrade systems.

Environmentally supportive idea too - less waste, less land fill. 21 Comments »

637

Dell should not promote Windows Vista

Advertising and Marketing, Operating Systems, Sales Strategies submitted by rst 02/20/07

Dell does not have to promote Windows Vista. 8 Comments »

1530

Provide a Dell Update function on the Dell support site

Dell Web Site, Service and Support submitted by scotty 02/26/07

Provide a Dell Update function on the Dell support site.

Updating Dell-specific system files on Dell computers is ridiculous. The way the updates are classified, you need to browse each category, click each update and read each description in order to even just see the date and version - so that you can decide if you need each. Then for each, you must either remember whether or not you have it already, or you must look through the computer's updates to see if it's already there.

There should be a website function (a la Windows update) or a universal updater application that you can download and run (one that would work with ALL Dell models - not one for each model). Either way, you should be presented with which ones are important, which are optional, which are already installed, and when they were posted/installed/etc. And then the download and install can be managed by the app as well. Again, like la Windows Update.

This should be made available to all owners of any dell computers - not only to enterprise or large businesses. 23 Comments »

1060

Dell E-vote on which linux distro Dell will offer- "The Dell Linux Distro Elections"

IdeaStorm, Linux submitted by arclight 02/24/07 **IMPLEMENTED**

Why not have a online E-Vote about which linux distro to offer.

As the Ideastorm community update pointed out, even though there is a lot of interest in "linux"- there is diverse opinions about what is the best distro and which ones Dell should offer. Its not practical to offer all of them, yet in the end any single distro will result in complaints and be a compromise.

Rather then try to decide independently which distro to offer first, host a online e-vote election where distro's can be nominated and run in a large online election.

By having an organized election:
*it will be limited to clear choices (distro's that were nominated)
*Each will get the same exposure to voters, and in the same time frame.

In the long run, any number of distros could be offered but this could help make it clear what distro has a lot of support and take the 'heat' off Dell for whatever choice it does make. If a distro team is angry they did not get elected its the community not Dells fault, and they could always run again next year in another linux election.

Consider this excerpt from the Dell IdeaStorm February 23, 2007 release:

"As this community knows, there is no single customer preference for a distribution of Linux. In the last week, the IdeaStorm community suggested more than half a dozen distributions. We don't want to pick one distribution and alienate users with a preference for another. "

Dell does not have to pick, the community can choose for them with an election.

--Update March 13th--

They heard! From Ideas In Action:

March 13, 2007

Linux – We’re listening... Now Tell Us More... : )
The IdeaStorm community’s interest in open source solutions like Linux on Dell platforms has come through loud and clear. Many of you have suggested a survey to help Dell determine which distribution is most popular, and we think that’s a great idea. Based on your idea, we now have a short survey, which will be open until March 23, where you can tell us more about your favorite distribution of Linux, your preferred method of support, and more.

To access our Linux survey, see today’s blog post on Direct2Dell. We hope you’ll continue to be a part of this discussion on Direct2Dell and IdeaStorm, and check back for more details as we gather your input.


Here are the links (survey ended)

Link to the blog here here

Link to the survey here (survey ended link removed)

--Update March 24th--

The Dell linux survey ended.
Check out the Idea in Action that gives the details on the Linux survey.




22 Comments »

5650

IdeaStorm should check to see if your post is similar to existing posts

IdeaStorm submitted by hjwasson 04/26/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

One of the greatest failings with IdeaStorm's otherwise wonderful concept is that many similar posts are created - and although they all get votes, no one post gets enough votes to rise to Dell's attention.

When you submit a post, I would like to see IdeaStorm search for similar posts, and if it finds any, prompt you:

Your post seems similar to this/these post(s):

1. Yes, it is. Please make my post a comment to the existing post instead (& I will vote on that post).

2. No, they are different - but related. Please associate my post to the existing post.

3. No, my post is not related - continue posting.

#2 is related to my suggestion to be able to be able to associate similar posts:

http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/66450/Provide_a_way_to_associate_simila...

For all of this to work, Dell would have to vastly improve it's search ability within IdeaStorm (perhaps collaborate with Google?)! Use Google's advanced search features, with www.ideastorm.com as the domain to search, if you want to see for yourself the differences in how well the search features function.



Duplicate ideas suggestion feature has been added.

41 Comments »

520

XP vs VISTA

Operating Systems submitted by fcolao 04/20/07

Unfortunately, Dell has to march in lockstep with MS.
As long as Dell offers ONLY Vista on most of it's machines, I won't buy one.

Give me a choice - XP or Vista. I'll consider Vista after SP2, thank you. 7 Comments »

84417

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 »

120784

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 »

1230

BOYCOTT VISTA!

Operating Systems submitted by reg 03/21/07

Dell Dudes,

Microsoft reserves the right to spy on your computer.

The more you learn how Microsoft EULA has the right to enter your computer, check out what software you are using, and also use the DRM tools in Vista to prevent you from seeing files, data, videos, or hearing 'unauthorized' music files - the more you get a sick, sinking feeling in your gut that someone else has taken control of your machine.

US Federal Government Agencies have BANNED Microsoft Vista, and for good reason.

The Microsoft EULA takes control of your machine, stating directly: "this agreement only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights." Even potentially deleting files or disabling programs.

Compared to the costs of Apple OS X or any Linux Distribution,

The Costs of Windows Vista are Unacceptable.

Keep in mind that Microsoft was convicted by U.S. Courts for its criminal behavior, and is being forced to pay $4 million A Day by the European Union for being in violation of their judgments.

Anti-freedom Vista takes away your rights - do you want to Confirm or Deny?

BOYCOTT WINDOWS VISTA MACHINES!

If you support Linux, freedom, democracy, or just want to keep control of Your own machine that You buy with Your own money, PROMOTE this idea now.

Microsoft - Where in the world did you think you were going to go today?

Let Dell know - You Don't Want Windows Vista. 995 Comments »



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