17" w/ 1080 truelife screen?/ discussion

Hi everyone
I am ordering the alienware 17 and trying to decide on the 1080 screen. Can anyone chim in that has the 1080 truelife screen or those that know about it. Not really thinking about the3d aspect of it but that is a plus. Not so concerened about the extra battery drain as it will be plug in most of the time. Are the viewing angles better, colors, quick motion? Those that have it on there 17 do you regret getting because it is gloss and the reflection are bad, instead of the matte screen? Any thing someone could add would be helpful. I did search the forum and found a few things about it. A configures it would be maxed out except for the 4930 and all the hard drives.

Thanks

 

I dont have the 3d 120hz panel but i love the matt screen on my alienware 17. It is sharp with no backlight bleed at all but what i have heard is that 3d panel is semi gloss with great viewing angles. .

 

I also have the 1080 matte option but I am thinking about buying the 3D screen and adding it myself later on. This screen has really grown on me as I have come from an R4 with a glossy screen and really liked it. Over time I have come to appreciate the colours and the loss of the reflections from the glossy finish. It is a good screen but if you prefer the deeper colours that the glossy screens usually reproduce then you might want to go with the truelife option.

 

Each side has ups and downs. Glossy is fine if you stay indoors all the time (my R2 didn't have an option for a matte 1200p option) but the colors are richer than a matte panel would be. However in a higher light environment or if you are facing the sun more often, glossy will be the death for you. Also if you use your laptop outdoors with a glossy screen, forget about it.

 

I had the chance to see the 'standard' vs the 120Hz screen before I made my choice.

It was NO contest. 120Hz.

Viewing angles are better, clarity is better, 3D is better, the screen itself is better.

Keep in mind, however, I travel with my AW17 15 days a month, but NEVER use it on battery. If you are going to need it when it isn't plugged it, the standard screen will be better.

With the 120Hz screen, you cannot use the iGPU (4600 in my case), only the NVidia. Just that will cut your battery in half. (3 hours to 1.5 hours)

 

Hey all
Thanks for replying about the different displays. I ordered it this morning with the 120hz display, will post again when I get it.

 

You'll love it. The only downside is battery life.

 

You will definitely not regret.

 

BTW - another 'downside' to the 120Hz screen (that has nothing to do with the screen).

If you use Handbrake to encode video, you cannot use Quick Sync support. Since you can never activate the IntelHD iGPU.

An Intel HD 4600 encodes the AppleTV 3 preset (1080p/AAC DD5.1) almost twice as fast as my Intel 4900MQ/780M combo.

Intel Quick Sync Video - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I have the Matte display and hate it. Had a Dell Studio 17 with the glossy HD screen and I didn't do my research before I got the ALW17. So I am upgrading to the 3D display as soon as I can find one. I have one question: Is my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M enough or will I need to upgrade that as well?

 

Hi, thanks for the info.

The 765 may well be powerful enough but the problem might be that Dell only sell the 120hz 3D with a 780m. There is some sort of screen/gpu/machine ID in the BIOS that is used to validate the config. You will still get the great 120hz truelife panel benefits but 3D might not be available . Dell may have put all the current NV GPU's in the BIOS but only one way to tell...

 

Thanks for the info. I tried to find the information via Dell's chat and I couldn't find any americans working and who I did find wouldn't go off script. Got bounced to 4 different chat departments. I'll try again Monday morning if the cold hasn't snapped the cable lines.

 

You're just going up for more of the same on the chat lines. Unfortunately they are the bottom of the food chain in support and can only go on scripted generalised procedures.

Call into support, give then your tag and ask about getting upgrades. You should end up talking to an AW specific person. Took me less than 10 mins but of course country differences apply .

Good luck (and with the weather!)

 

Hey all
Computer came in last week, been working great so far. The 120hz screen is great no problems don't mind the glare at all. loaded a few games up all run ok, hooked it up to my 65" Samsung tv to check out the games on it looks great. I do have one question, what program are you using to check cpu temps?

Fred

 

user6482
You have a screen of 120 Hz. And it doesn't glare at bright light? You can look at the producer of the display in AIDA.

 

I use core temp and then download the gadget for Windows 7 which shows my temps on the side bar all the time as I have it set to auto start with Windows then just hide it.

 

Hi
Yes is does have glare if it is behind you, say sitting with a window behind you during the day. It really depends on the angle the light hits the screen. But like I said it really doesn't bother me.

 

I was thinking about using the temp gadget from Microsoft. Then I went to Microsoft web site to see what other kinds of gadgets they had for windows 7 and they say they don't make any more gadgets for windows 7 for security reasons. Was not sure if I should use any of the gadgets for windows 7. I guess I will check the net to see what people are saying about using the gadgets. I downloaded cupid hwmonitor form cupid which redirected me to another site which had adware attached to it. But defender caught it as soon as I was installing it and deleted the adware.

Fred