Vostro 1720 Mini-Review

not bad. not bad.

 

Thanks alot for this review.


I recently purchased my Vostro 1720 after reading this lol and it doesn't look too bad.


I was just wondering about Crysis, it can't play Crysis properly under high settings, how do i sort this out?

 

with the 9600gs, you're looking at low-medium settings i reckon.

 

I have this laptop thanks to this review.

 

Oops lol I already posted here.



afhstingray yeah lol medium and low settings. completed it now!

 

Hi Guys,

I asked this in its own thread with no response, then found this thread so:

I am looking around at a few 17" laptops. The Vostro 1720 comes up well on the list of specs.

I would be using it as a desktop replacement for 3D applications like Luxologys Modo, Zbrush, the free Blender 3D app, Lightwave. Also for web design apps - dreamweaver and the like.

With respect to 3D I am not too worried about Render speeds once reasonable, more concerned with real time performance. This will be down to the NVidia video card / GPU and the screen.

Just wondering if anyone is using a model like this for some 3D / Cad work? If so feedback please. I would not be using it for professional production work, more hobby.

I realise one can get the XPS and the like but budget is in around the 1740. It has an NVidia Card as opposed to ATI ( ATI seems frowned upon in 3D App land ), it also has 3mb of level 2 cache. I note too that it has a FIREWIRE Port but no HDMI. The Firewire port is of interest for external Audio Firewire boxes I use now and then.

Any info / insights appreciated,
Aidan

 

I like how this laptop looks tbh,

Simplistic and minimalistic, no weird oval shapes, everything is square and black.

I like thin bezels around the screen and keyboard.

 

Hi Guys,

I should have read this review more thoroughly, especially the added edit about FAN NOISE.

This is my only gripe with this unit. The Fan on the left STAYS ON all the time.

I got the 1720 with the NVidia 9600M GS and the XP downgrade.

In a nutshell if you are going to be in a quiet place - library - with your laptop forget this unit. The Fan is loud enough. Like a traditional desktop fan.

At boot up it is at its loudest. The only relief is after a while of no activity it stops. However launch an app and away it goes again.

On the right hand side front under part their is also another constant fan type noise. I think its where the harddrive is.

This unit is a rare unit to come with a firewire port these days. A reason I bought it. I intended to attach external firewire audio I/Fs for recording. Well, forget that unless you want constant fan noise in your recordings.

In reading around, it seems the Fan issues are as a result of the GPU. Past Nvidia cards in these units had internal hardware issues which caused fast overheat. Dell then updated their BIOS to force the fan to remain on to prevent this overheating.

The BIOS is now at A04 and doing just that.

Its a pity really as the unit does what i need at a very good price ..

By the way - with respect to my query re this unit and 3D apps, I can say it does the trick fine. Not the fastest, but handles OpenGL as needed. I run MODO and also a bit of beta testing with Blender 2.5 - both work fine so far. Alot of this is due to the Video Card being an NVidia with 512mb. In some opinion, for some reason, ATI cards are second best for 3D Applications.

Aidan

 

Interestingly I removed the battery from my 1720 and just ran it from mains. As quiet as a mouse it is in this state. No fan noises - perfect.

Anyone hazard a guess why this is so - no battery=quiet laptop ..

aidan

 

Does the battery block any air intake ports?