Option of Matte or Glossy (TrueLife) on all Inspiron and XPS notebooks

Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by crysalidzzz 07/02/07

The new XPS M1330 does not have a matte option. Also, the new Inspirons only offer matte screens on lowend models.

Personally i will not buy a notebook with a glossy screen. And i think many people feels like this. They do not want to buy a biz notebook like the latitute.

So Dell, offer matte screens throughout the XPS and Inspiron range.


178 Comments »

switch to LED monitors

Monitors and Displays, Laptop Power submitted by yardsale Jan 16

I dont know why dell hasnt done this yet. switch all monitors on desktops and notebooks to LED. did you know that you can run an LED screen at full brightniess and it uses less power than a LCD monitor at the lowest brighting level?!? its cheaper, its energy efficent, and it needs to be done! promote this, if you demote i wanna know why! 40 Comments »

Laptop Touch Screens

Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by pablohs May 7

There should be an option to purchase any laptop with a touch screen. 5 Comments »

LED Screens for All Precision Laptops; Power Options for Precision Laptops

Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by rjasso Apr 27

For the market (engineers, architects, etc.) that is being catered to by the Precision laptops, these laptops should have LED screens that offer better and richer colors and are less power-hungry. Further, the M6300 should have a media bay battery option as do its smaller siblings, the M2300 and M4300. 2 Comments »

HDMI/DVI input on HD laptops.

Dell, Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by impulse 2 days ago

It's great that Dell offers HDMI and DVI-D outputs on their XPS laptops, but is it possible to add HDMI and DVI inputs as well?

For those that already have a Blu-ray player or Playstation 3, it kind of sucks that we can't take advantage of the 1080p capable screens that Dell offers on the M1530 and M1730.

I think being able to use the HD screen available on at least the M1730 as a monitor for consoles or Blu-ray players would be a great idea, as it would save people such as myself from having to buy an external monitor or new TV. 1 Comment »

All Dell monitors must support 32 bits color

Monitors and Displays submitted by winoffice Apr 29

Just now I came across a Dell widescreen flat panel LCD monitor, the E198WFP (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&...). Alongside the fact that this monitor does not have 1920x1200 (which already makes me unlikely to buy it), even worse, the monitor only supports 24 bits color (click "Tech Specs" and see "Color Support' under "Display")! Today there exists much software that will not even install or run (without 32 bits), and yet some Dell monitors come with only 24 bits! That makes this monitor completely not viable for most use. Dell needs to upgrade all non-32 bits monitors to 32 bits color. Comment »

Higher quality lcd screens for XPS M1530

Monitors and Displays, XPS products submitted by marcusesq Jan 13

My brothers XPS M1530 arrived today fitted with a WSXGA+ screen and its horrible and grainy. I didn't get a chance to see weather its fitted with the Samsung or LG screen.
I don't know weather this is a quality control issue or just penny pinching by using cheap screens but until its fixed there is no NO WAY I'll be placing an order.
How anyone could design a laptop this good only to ruin the whole deal by fitting nasty screens is beyond me.
It seems this is not an isolated case either.

To see the extent of the problem look

http://www.notebookreview.com. ( search for "grainy screen"

http://www.google.com ( search for "dell laptop grainy screen" ) 23 Comments »

TrueLife LCD Display Screens Should Have An Optional Anti-Glare Coating (like camera lenses & eye-glasses)!

Gaming, Monitors and Displays submitted by hjwasson 05/09/07

There are many posts regarding the fact that TrueLife displays are far too reflective for brightly backlit conditions. User responses to the complaints suggest getting a business class display with anti-glare filter - but these displays have not kept pace, are too dim, have poor pixel response rates and often have poor color rendition.

My suggestion is a compromise: Have the option to have TrueLife displays with an Anti-Reflective coating applied - just like those found on photographic optics or eye glasses! Such coatings are not as effective as traditional anti-glare matte screens, but significantly reduce reflections without greatly impacting light transmission (which is why they are used in photographic optics - they actually enhance contrast and reduce unwanted light scatter). They would moderately eliminate most reflections, while still allowing TrueLife displays to be bright and punchy.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-reflective_coating 
 http://www.firstvisionmedia.com/uww/2005_ar/enhance_properties.html 
 http://www.firstvisionmedia.com/uww/2004_ar/ar_product_showcase.html

I'm sure that Seiko, Hoya, Essilor, iCoat and others would vie for the chance to open up a new market for their coatings, and thus bring more profits to them (and lower costs to us). Some IdeaStorm members might be concerned about scratching the coating - but consider:

1. LCD panels are already prone to scratching, and care must be taken in their cleaning.
2. Modern Anti-Reflective (AR) coatings, with their multiple layers, are far more resistant to scratching than they used to be.
3. AR coatings tend to repel dust, so the need for cleaning would be less frequent.
4. With the use of a microfiber cloth (and mild liquid cleaning formulations when needed), the AR coating and display will remain pristine for many years of service.

If you would like to see modern Anti-Reflective coatings applied to TrueLife displays (as an optional upgrade) please promote this post.

6 Comments »

Higher Screen Resolution for Vostro 1310

Monitors and Displays, Vostro products submitted by ccpljat May 3

I know it is a 13.1" screen. But can't you put a higher resolution on it? I want a thinner and lighter notebook, but I can't sacrifice my screen resolution. It would take away from my productivity. That is what we are all after...right? 4 Comments »

External Touch Screen w/ Windows CE

Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by pablohs May 5

I would like to have an external touch screen (3.5” X 3.5”) in my laptop running windows CE that allow me to access my HD without having to boot the whole machine. I may access and change my office files, control and listen to my mp3 with my bluetooth headphones, show some pictures, use the WIFI card to quickly access the internet and check the weather, etc. 2 Comments »

xps 1530 display

Monitors and Displays submitted by winekfam Apr 24

Please provide the option of a higher pixal Led/lcd display for the 1530. Right now we have to choose fewer pixals or brighter display. Many people who would upgrade their screen would want both. 6 Comments »

Use better LCD panels in laptops.

Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by mlazarov Feb 26

In order for laptops to be a viable platform for graphical applications, the color reproduction and viewing angles of their displays must be addressed. Most laptops use TN/CCFL displays that suffer from poor color range and color shift. Dell should at very least offer an S-IPS/LED display option in their workstation-class laptops. I realize several of Dell's laptops already have LED backlighting, but there would a significant improvement quality if S-IPS panels were used.

Update: I thought it'd be best to illustrate the difference between TN and S-IPS displays. Below is a side-by-side comparison of a TN (left) and S-IPS (right) display from an off-axis vertical angle.

http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/10884.jpg

Having such dramatic color variation at different angles almost precludes any sort of in-field collaborative image editing or similar application. The laptop on the right is a (discontinued) ThinkPad T60p.



2 Comments »

Matte (NOT TrueLife) Display on XPS m1330

Monitors and Displays, XPS products submitted by mw 06/27/07 **UNDER REVIEW**

The XPS m1330 seems to be the perfect machine, aside from a few imperfections (no Gigabit Ethernet, for example). However, there is one feature that is an absolute dealbreaker for me--the glossy TrueLife screen. I remember the day before the shiny screens, and what a beautiful day that was.

If the XPS m1330 were available with a matte option (along with LED backlighting, of course), I would order one right now. I just don't think I can deal with the TrueLife panel.











17 Comments »

LED backlight TFT-Displays (for laptops)

Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by svenmeyer 02/20/07

If you use your laptop for a while, you will notice already after a few months that the brightness of the display decreases, the color changes, what was white a the beginning starts to look more blueish or greenish ... all this could be avoided with LEDs instead of flourescent lamps as backlight. Also the save power and distribute the light more evenly across the screen.
I'm not buying a new laptop until it has LED backlight (and HMDI/DVI ports). I'm not willing to spend another $2000-3000 only to see my display fade away after a few months ... 3 Comments »

XPS M1530 Led Monitor lighting

Monitors and Displays, XPS products submitted by valerio.gioia 12/27/07

Led lighting for XPS M1530 displays would be a really interesting option. Many people would choose that display since there is less power consumption and led life is really higher than CCFL tubes! 23 Comments »

Service Tags on monitors

Monitors and Displays, Sales Strategies submitted by ekozel Apr 14

It took 3 hours to get a replacement monitor for a bad monitor. Unfortunately Dell does not service tag monitors. In a 350 PC environment the business user doesn't always have access to records 1 or 2 years old. Also in this environment monitors and PCs move around and sometimes the pc it was ordered with is no longer the PC it's attached to, or if it was ordered without a PC makes it's very difficult to get a replacement monitor. You should consider placing a service tag on all monitors so that they can easily be tracked back to the origin of sale. Expecting the customer to maintain a record of hundreds of monitors and which ones were purchased when and the order number just isn't a feasible solution. It aggrivates the customer and takes too long to find a solution to get the replacement monitor they need. If not a service tag a serial number. 3 Comments »

Stop the TrueLife Madness!

Monitors and Displays submitted by jmecc 03/28/07

First it was all the laptops and now even desktop screens are getting the TrueLife garbage (SP1908). Just keep the screens mat like they were - there was nothing wrong with it and the manufacturers had to screw with it.

TrueLife brings this terrible glare onto the screen that mat screens avoid. In stores, you see this fishbowl screensaver and you know why it looks good - because a real-life fishbowl is glossy! As soon as you try to get work done on these the glare is a big problem though.

Each manufacturer claims to have some anti-reflective coating, but they all look shiny. You know how to recognize something that is reflective: if it is shiny that means it is reflecting light, otherwise it would not look shiny. Please, please, please return to the mat screens!!! 6 Comments »

Offer 1920x1200 on all of your 17"+ desktop monitors!

Desktops, Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by winoffice Apr 8

Dell offers a 1920x1200 screen resolution on its 17" and even 15.4" notebook displays (the Vostro 1700 is a 17" notebook and it offers 1920x1200; the Precision M4300 is a 15.4" notebook and it offers 1920x1200).

And yet for some reason Dell offers only a 1440x900 screen resolution on its 17" desktop displays (they offer 1920x1200 only on the monitors that measure 24" or greater).

So Dell thinks that desktop users have less vision than notebook users? Or Dell thinks that I sit close to my notebooks, but not to desktop monitors? I can tell you that the answer to both of the previous questions is no! I use both desktops and notebooks and of course my vision is the same, no matter which of those I might be using at a given instant. And I sit close BOTH to notebooks AND to desktop monitors.

If Dell can offer 1920x1200 on its 17" notebook displays, then they can definitely do the same for 17" desktop displays.

So offer 1920x1200 on all of your desktop monitors that measure 17" or greater.

Now before you anti-1920x1200 people demote this, note that I said "offer" so it would only be an option, and you could always opt out.

And yes, this is a duplicate, a duplicate of my own post even. But I want to buy a 17" Dell monitor, and without 1920x1200, it becomes difficult. 3 Comments »

Dissipate heat from the back of the LCD; not the laptop's bottom

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by endolith 06/10/07

The name for these devices has been changed from "laptop" to "notebook", because the bottoms of these things get so hot they slow cook your legs if you try to hold them on your lap. I've been using mine with a big cloth pad underneath since I got it, and it still heats up my legs.

The problem is that the heat is designed to dissipate mostly from the bottom. That's why the modern Dell laptops have little rubber bumper feet, so that, theoretically, you'll use it on a table and the fan will draw air past the bottom surface of the laptop. Back in reality, everyone just uses them on their laps or couches and the little rubber feet break off and get lost.

What you should do instead is route the heat to fins on the back of the LCD, where it will easily be dissipated. (You know, the part that's almost vertical, prone to convection, and always exposed to the environment instead of legs?) The parts that contact the lap should then be thoroughly insulated.

Options for routing the heat into the LCD:

• Actively liquid-cooled laptops with little pumps and such.
• Passive liquid heat pipes using alcohol or other working fluid that condenses in the heatsink, drips back down by gravity into the main body of the laptop, is warmed and evaporated to flow back up and be cooled in the heat sink, etc.
• Active air cooling with the normal laptop fan blowing air into open ducts that go up the LCD housing
• Very passive cooling that just leaves open ducts for air to naturally convect up the LCD housing like a chimney.

For connecting the main body to the LCD:

• Rotational coupling built into or coaxial with the LCD's hinges
• Flexible hoses

11 Comments »

HDMI on all laptops

Inspiron products, Monitors and Displays submitted by blackkitty 06/27/07

I would like to see all Inspiron laptops have HDMI connectors standard, or at a minimum make it an option on the 17" screen version. 3 Comments »