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 »

Backlit Keyboards

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies, Desktops and Laptops submitted by rarmasu 02/21/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

I find myself many, many times in dark or poorly lit environments having to guess the various keys - would be fantastic to have a backlit keyboard - with backlit individual keys as the best option.

I would actually pay extra for that convenience if the option was available.
This could be done for desktops or notebooks.


Check out Vida_K's comment below on the New Latitude.
301 Comments »

Make it easier to clean the Fans on laptops

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by pwl2706 Jul 10

It is very difficult to clean the fans on laptops...and the more dust that builds up over time increases the heat inside.

There should be either a way to open a couple of screws then pull or slide out the Fans so they can be 'hoovered' or cleaned with compressed air, or a software to make the Fan run in reverse mode that might clean it... 10 Comments »

Optical mice only please

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.) submitted by falbert May 22

How come we can still get in 2008 mechanical mice. Come on guys, in 2008 there should be only optical mice available. Also please make it clear on the web site what people are purchasing. 26 Comments »

Slot-in Drives should not accpet two DVD/CD.

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by ddguy Aug 6

In our new Studio 15, I got my first Slot-in DVD Drive and within 2 hrs of usage my 8 year old managed to jam the drive as the drive happily accepted one more DVD to be slotted in while one was already there. Of course, one could blame it to the kid but I see this happening to anyone as its not that tough to push the 2nd DVD in.

I have two ideas on this
1) If a DVD is already in the EJECT touch button (in the top multi-media button area) should lit up. This will serve as a visual pointer to the user and over a time users will get used to glance at this button before they try to slot in any DVD

2) If possible, there should be some kind of a simple mechanical interlock in the drive which prevents 2nd disk to be pushed in. How hard can that be to get a lever to come down and block the disk, once a disk is already in? 2 Comments »

More Updated Video Card Drivers

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Service and Support, Laptops submitted by kalparker Aug 7

Many of your laptops have ATI or NVIDIA video card drivers, but the only source to get drivers for them is through your site. You don't upgrade them anywhere near the schedule ATI and NVIDIA do for there desktop cards. It would be nice if you updated them more often or did something so that we can use the graphics card companies own drivers. There are bugs and performance issues in drivers that are fixed over time, and we dont have an option to get them. I mean if you buy a gaming machine like the xps laptops game manufactures encourage us to update your drivers, but the ones on your site are over a year old. Please find a solution so we can update the video card drivers more often to improve performance. 10 Comments »

Multimedia Buttons on Studio 15 laptop should be backlit

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by ddguy Aug 6

I recently got my Studio 15 which has touch sensitive mutimedia buttons at the top area. However these button are hard to make out against the black ground, specially in dark. I have a back-lit keyboard on this laptop but the backlit function doesn't do any thing to the multimedia buttons, making the operations during dark very difficult. In fact there is every chance that in dark one might by mistake Eject the CD mistaking it to be the Volume increase button...or some other mistake like that.

I would suggest that when the user back-lits the KB, the multimedia buttons should lit up too. This should be provided to existing users through a BIOS update, perhaps?

PS: You guys need a STUDIO category too !! 3 Comments »

NEW XPS RANGE NOW!!

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), XPS products submitted by aliii Jul 30

With Nvidia 9 graphic cards, Centrino 2 Processors and illuminated keyboards.

Its about time 3 Comments »

batteries

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Service and Support, Laptops submitted by nd86 Aug 11

Two things regarding batteries. First, if batteries in the laptops are planned to run out to keep us consuming them, then you should have them in stock. Essentially you have been out of stock of insiron batteries all summer. 3rd party reseller was the only alternative.

More importantly, you must allow your sales rep to answer customers honeslty when they are asking questions about battery availability. Reps avoid the in-stock/out of stock question, and instead answer "sometime in the next 30 days it will ship". A direct company should answer directly. 2 Comments »

Avoid Glare On Screens and Notebook Frames

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Sales Strategies, Laptops submitted by bobetsue 02/20/07

Glare and reflection from high glare screens, screen frames, and notebook computers is annoying and distract from function and use.

In stores, this may be a marketing ploy. Consumers may not fully understand the problem of glare. Online sellers like Dell should inform buyers when shopping whether the screen and case are "glare" or "nonglare."

When "nonglare" was introduced to television, shoppers considered it an advantage worthy of extra expense. In the art world, nonglare glass is considered worthy of extra expense.

How did we ever get glossy screens?

Dell should offer customers a choice between "glare" and "nonglare." 244 Comments »

Dell version of an All-In-One PC in a keyboard.

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops submitted by kld3 Aug 16

I like the ZPC-GX31 design by Cybernet (specs: Intel Core 2 Quad, 4GB DDR2, 750GB HDD, Internal Wireless LAN) but it needs a decent video card. Dell should come up with a similar design.

14 Comments »

finer grade notebook fan controls and minimum speed

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by claudio_ch Aug 10

Seeing other ideas regarding either noise or too hot laptops I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to give users more fine grade control about the fans. This would need on one part hardware which allows fans to turn at a whole range of speeds at not just 1 or 2 speeds and software which would allow the setting of the minimum speed of a fan.

Thus if I want to avoid my laptop getting noise when the fan kicks in I could tell it to run at some minimum speed - at which it is still quiet enough for me - all the time, minimizing the need for the fan to go really loud.
This is also suggested in http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/10091345/Dell_Studio_15_fan_noise

On the other hand if I want my laptop to stay cool because I actually have it on my lap and don't care about noise or battery consumption I could set it to full speed all the time to keep temperature low. This could be made more intelligent, by having me not set a minimum speed, but rather an upper limit on temperature. E.g. if normally the fan would kick in only when system temperature is above 60*C, I could select to lower it to e.g. 45*C. The fans would then kick in earlier to keep my laptop cool, even if the hardware itself wouldn't need it as it can stand higher temperatures. Comment »

Stripped down, fast Linux Box

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops, Linux submitted by pawprintz 02/17/07 **REVIEWED**

How about a fast, Internet ready Linux desktop. Small form factor, pretty monitor, mouse & keyboard, the O.S., OpenOffice & Firefox. Cheap'n'fast


Dell sees the value of this idea, and is keeping the sugestions for a Linux small form factor on the radar. john_h will let the community know of any new information as it comes.




130 Comments »

Aftermarket illuminated keyboard tray

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.) submitted by redcore 3 days ago

I'm actually a bit surprised an aftermarket tech company hasn't come out with this - but it would be pretty cool to buy aftermarket keyboard trays with either lights built into the keys or just on the tray behind the keys. Easy to swap out and could be purchased as an "upgrade" on the site when customizing new laptops - but keeping this aftermarket as well would make it available to current laptop users.

Even just making a lighting kit that can be attached behind the keys on the tray would be cool so long as it can be plugged into something like a fan power port. 1 Comment »

create stronger keyboards

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.) submitted by siger Aug 16

instant messenger, text writing, internet, .... all these uses destroy keyboards and in the end it has difficulties to display the letters. It has to last long time. 2 Comments »

Choice of the graphic card

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), XPS products submitted by enibas Jul 31

For the XPS M1530, we can't chose a graphic card other than 8600 mGT. I think it could me good, given that this card as a default of made, we have the choice to take a 8700 mGT or 8800 mGT.

What do you think about it? Do you agree with me?

Enibas. 6 Comments »

Offer an alternative power supply

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Environment, Desktops and Laptops submitted by jscott Aug 11

A DC-DC power supply is needed as an option for computers in locations that are powered by alternative energy, such as wind, water or solar. It doesn't make sense to invert DC energy to AC, so I can plug in my computer, when the first thing my computer does is to transform that AC power back to DC to run the motherboard, fans, drives, etc. Typical inverters and AC-DC transformers run at 70-80% efficiency each (and produce heat). DC-DC transformers can be 95% efficient or more.

The home and workplace of the future will have DC sources of energy (sun, wind, etc.), as well as AC from the grid. Provide a DC-DC alternative to the standard AC-DC power supply in your computers, so people can take advantage of the inherent efficiency increase of not inverting to/transforming from AC power. 10 Comments »

Increasing laptop performance

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Laptops submitted by markeread Jul 30

Focusing on some performance fundamentals, can Dell push to increase the following metrics (specifically around precisions workstation laptops):

Larger SSDs
Hybrid configurations including SSD and spindles
64-bit configurations including support for 16-96GB RAM
numeric keypads
faster graphics
latest intel chips (why lag so much?)
memory that matches the FSB speed of the chips

I know I'm pushing a lot of thermal and battery limits, but I would rather lug around 10 lbs than sacrifice ANYperformance. 2 Comments »

Dual Duty Bluetooth Mouse

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.) submitted by stratboy Yesterday

I have a Studio 17 and love the built in bluetooth. I purchased a Dell BT mouse (PU705) have used it for a week, and like it very much.

I use my laptop to test a web-app I'm working on. So on my desk, I have a mouse for my dev machine (standard desktop machine) and my awesome bluetooth mouse for my laptop.

I'm always grabbing the wrong mouse.

If the mouse had two BT receivers, and a toggle to switch back and forth, I could pair it with both machines and be the coolest developer in the office.

Seems to me that all the stuff to pull this off is already in the parts bin.

Thanks for listening. 8 Comments »

More Slots for Desktops

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops submitted by nakajimy Aug 10

More than 2 slots for Dell desktop (Mini)tower computers can be more convenient for those who want to use an extra removable harddisk drive in addition to a 3.5 inch floppy drive, a regular CD/DVD slot, and another slot for, say, sound interface, etc. In fact, there is no Dell desktop computer which has 3 regular built-in slots in addition to a floppy drive. I really wish to use 3 built-in slots!! 3 Comments »