M17x R3 About to Pull Trigger LCD Question!

Hey guys,

I'm about to pull the trigger (today or tomorrow) on this M17X R3 but am a little concerned about the LCD Panel.

1) I am coming from a M1730 which has a resolution of 1920x1200. I love it, lots of space for me to program on. Has anyone experienced dropping to 1920x1080? Losing that 120 pixels is a bit scary!

2) Anyone know how this LCD stacks up against the M1730's LCD? Better/worse? In terms of brightness/viewing angles. I'm getting the 3d screen just because I heard it's brighter, so you can see I'm a bit paranoid! I also have a 3d TV so I also like the 3d option, but honestly for my laptop, I doubt I'll use it much.

3) I've heard rumors they are coming out with a new LED-RGB for this R3. If they do, how hard is it to upgrade the LCD? Even if I payed dell to do it... I am not completely dumb at computers, but I would assume changing out the LCD is not an easy task.

Specs:
1 Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
1 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
1 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D
1 1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
1 320GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD
1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Thanks
Jeff.

 

I have no comment on the screen, and I know that is why you created this thread. However, I could not help but notice that you are getting 8GB RAM. Do not do this!!!! Dell charges way too much. Go with the stock configuration of 4 GB and get yourself 2 sticks of Hyper X from Kingston. It will be considerably less. (keep the original sticks in case you have to send it back)
Plus the upgrade only involves removing the back panel. If you get the 4 DIMMS and want to upgrade later, you have to pull the keyboard. Joebarchuck has a video on youtube showing this. Not that hard, but I would rather not.

 

scottiemon,

Thanks. Yea, I thought about that too. It's just easier for me to get the 8GB than to save about $60 for the hassle of doing it myself.

I am going to get an SSD though, which is why I got the stock HD.

Jeff.

 

It's worse than that. You'll actually be losing 1920 x 120 pixels

 

Jeff,
I get the whole hassle factor. But really, this upgrade takes about 5 minutes, including updating the BIOS!
So, $60 bucks at 5 minutes = $720 and hour!
Creative math that is

 

Techno,

You aren't making me feel better, lol!

Anyone else have a thought on my 3 questions!?

Thanks
Jeff

 

Yes, Jeff, I have an M1730 and an Alien R2, and recently bought an XPS 17, which has the lower resolution screen. I really don't care for that screen, but I think it's more a situation of resolution than it is screen format. My Alien (with a high resolution 16 x 10 format RGB LED) is hooked up to a 16 x 9 format screen, but it's of incredibly high resolution (look at my signature) and programming on that screen is great, whereas on the XPS 17 (with same format but lower resolution) it's kinda no good.

Personally, I would try to wait for a machine with a better screen OR plan on getting a really good external monitor.

 

My only question is how long would I need to wait for a "better screen"? 6/mo 12/mo?

I HATE the idea of downgrading my resolution, but I also can't get the R2 knowing it doesn't have the sandy-bridge processors.

I'm only getting the 3d monitor because I've seen it has better brightness, but I'm still concerned about losing pixels and quality.

Jeff.

 

That is the question of the month now, but others here on NBR are claiming that a better screen is in the works right now. I would estimate you won't need to wait 6 months, but if you are planning to go big on an external monitor then it really won't matter either.

 

Yea, I've seen some of the chatter about the better screen. I just wish I had some concrete info on when that might be available. I could wait a few months if I knew it was definitely coming.

I use an external monitor about 75% of the time, but would like a NICE LCD screen to use the other 25% of the time.

Problem is I don't know!

Jeff.

 

Lol, seriously though, I'll be looking for a new laptop myself soon, either the m17x R3 or Clevo P170HM. In each case I'll have to take a hit to screen resolution as well. I don't really understand why the majority of manufacturers are dropping to 1920 x 1080 for 17".

I gotten quite use to the higher res, everything is so sharp in films and games, I think I will notice the difference. I'm dual booting XP and Win 7, and for some reason Win 7 looks slightly lower res than XP. I'm guessing going from the higher to the lower resolution will look like that. Would be nice to pop into a shop and see the x 1080 res in person.

I would also be interested in hearing the options of people who have dropped their res to this. Maybe you could do a poll?

 

The resolution hit didn't bother me nearly as much as the overall loss of quality did.