E1705 - no more NVIDIA Go 7800 !!

I personally wouldn't recommend anyone to go that route unless they were loaded. If the 7900 go does in fact come to the E1705, then IMO it would be a waste to not wait, and go for the 7800 GTX.

The 7900 go should cost no more then the 7800. Also it's likely to use less power then the 7800, and have performance in between the 7800 go and 7800 go GTX.

For ~$300 less you would get similar performance, and better battery life. The only trade off really would be having to wait for it.

 

As for the 7800 Go going out of production because of imminent 7900 Go release, well that seems kinda odd considering they still make the 6800 Ultra for the XPS M170....

 

Agreed... but OTOH, 6800 has a value proposition by being cheaper than 7800.

Given both 7800 and 7900, however, there no reason whatsoever to choose 7800, as 7900 is cheaper, less power-consuming and a better performe.r

 

I was probably among the last people to order Inspiron 9400 with geforce 7800.

I ordered it on 17th March and they said it's going to be delivered approx on 10-14 April 2006.
I don't like waiting but when I receive it, gf7800 will be much better than x1400.

BTW, they said that stock will be ready on 7th April.

 

I ordered an E1705 w\7800 on March 2nd and still haven't got my laptop. Don't believe what they tell you. My laptop deliver date has been pushed out twice now, both times they told me stock would be available on the 3/21 then 3/31 , now they told me stock would be available on April the 14th.

 

wow this is some horrible ****--i was strongly leaning towards a dell laptop but the delay you are all experiencing is certainly making me think otherwise...

they have to get their act together!

 

you can't even say c.r.a.p on here? hehe sorry

 

I saw this the other day on dells site, no 7800 cards for the 9400/1705, I was thinking to myself dam, glad I got my 9300 with a 6800 go. NO way in hell would I buy the 9400 with a ****py ati 1400 card in it, my 6800 card is better than that, Dell will lose alot of customers on this model if they dont put a decent video card in there like a 7800 or something better and if they think that a majority of 9300 owners would then be pushed into buying a 3thousand plus laptop THEY ARE NUTS, we will just be buying from someone else!!

 

Maybe Dell s****ped the go 7800 from e1705/9400 because those laptops were cutting into the XPS M170 sales. After all, the e1705/9400 w/7800 is a much better value than the M170...

 

I'm quite sure that dell just ran out of 7800's. Nvidia needs to get their act together and start producing more cards for Dell.

 

Any leads on where the 7800 go cards could be sourced from ?.

 

My due date still says March 22nd 0_o

At least it sounds like they will be getting stock in rather than forcing us to downgrade.

 

Eye of the beholder tbh, the 7800 GTX in the M170 is clearly a better card than the 7800 Go ever was. Expresscard instead of PC Card was a killer for me as I use PC Card Modems (kinda minor I know), Dual Core gaming performance err... well yeah in like 2 games. Price wise they've been letting XPS machines use Inspiron Coupons which has brought the prices down to reasonable 15-1600s level.

 

hey guys, so earlier in this thread i posted about how i placed an order for a E1705 with the x1400, but cancelled it after I found out that the x1400 is not nearly as good as the 7800. Today I found a nice deal on a refurbished E1705 with a 7800 from the dell outlet...so for people interested, I recommend keeping an eye out there.

The system I went with:

Intel Core Duo Processor T2400 (1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
100 GB EIDE Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
Intel Pro Wireless 3945
8x DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
9 Cell Battery
17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 677MHz (2 DIMMs)
256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7800

With a coupon I found at the last minute, it came to $1337.29 with shipping included!

I'm pretty happy with the system specs and price. Hopefully I don't have any problems with it being a refurbished system and all.

 

You bought it from NZ? I'm in NZ too, still gotta be shipped. What's your specs? And what price did you pull it off for?

 

Core Duo 2600 (2.16GHz)
2GB 667MHz RAM
17" UXGA (TrueLife)
Nvidia Go 7800
80GB 7200RPM HDD
Bluetooth
DVD+RW drive
Windows XP home (though I will install linux on it and dual boot)
Spare AC adapter
and a Mediterranean colour kit

I also got as freebies a deluxe leather case, $500 off, free delivery and free RAM upgrade (though in the end I bought the extra RAM). I also was "forced" to take a 15 month subscription to McAfee, which I shall never use. All up, it was $4497 or so (after discount).

 

I had a voice message from Dell. I ordered my E1705 on March 7th with a ship date of April 6th. Jeff from Dell stated "Due to an unforseen issue with the technical enginerring platform my new estimated ship date has changed to May 21 2006 and If I accept this date. I will call him back tomorrow and see if they will tell me what this technical problem is grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Allen

 

"Due date" is just estimated date of shipping based on average statistics and it doesn't indlude any expected delays like stock shortage.
My estimated date is 31th March. I also ordered one m630 at the same time. Estimated delivery date was also 31th, but I received it just few days after I ordered it.
I'm expecting my 9400 with gf7800 on 10th or 14th April or few days later -when school holidays start .
It's gonna be worth waiting for gf7800 .

BTW, geez Nigel... didn't know prices are so high in NZ... I ordered almost the same computer for AU$3200- after $500 discount as well. Bit less memory, but more hd space- also 7200rpm.

 

I also just got a call today that they're having to push back my order to May 21st because of the 7800. I can also call in and get them to change my configuration, or just cancel the order. Sucks.

Where did you find a coupon for the Outlet store? The normal ones I've found don't work.

 

May 21!?
Are you serious?

OMG, that's f***** crazy. When did you place order? Hope it won't happen to me.

If they don't manage to get enouth gf7800 they could order ATi x1800 and not some mediocre x1400.

 

My point is that it's past that date... so nothing is being updated there . They're hardly doing their best to keep me informed on a new ship date.

Do you guys have GST in oz? I can't remember if you do. Even then, mine still seems much more expensive. Oh well, too late now

 

March 8th, and yes I'm serious. I just checked the voicemail again.

 

Just tell them that you wan't decent replacement for 7800 like ati x1 800 256MB and not some mediocre x1400. They obviously signed contract with ati. Why didn't they rather sign for x1800?

 

I am going to see if they will put the go 7800gtx in my E1705 and pay the difference to get it quicker. Hope they go for it.

Allen

 

I found a dell outlet coupon by searching for "dell outlet coupons" in google, and then looking a little bit. There was a 25% off coupon that I found, which lasted for a day or so, and only the first 250 users. Good luck searching.

 

Yeah! I notice few days ago. I wonder why they did such disappoint thing to E1705, Geforce 7800 is a awesome card in anyways, but, why ATI X1400, it even is not great as X1600, it's a average card. If they really want to change.. they should change to ATI X1800 that equal to Geforce 7800, or a good ATI X1600..

 

Ok the way I see it the DELL people just pulled what they did with the 9300. They found out that the 9300's 6800 was in running with their $3000 XPS, for only 1600-2000 bucks, so they switched to the X300. Well now they realize that the E1705 is 2200 bucks Roughly with the 7800 (And Believe me this Card Cooks! Especially paired with 2 gigs of ram I can tab out of Photoshop into Battlefield 2 with no wait!) So they knock it down to the X1400 which is extremely dim in comparison with the 7800. It's just Dell's way of attracting gamers to the XPS for another grand or two.

----- Now I take Sigh of relief that I got my E1705 with the 7800 and stay in awe of its beauty------

As for putting SLI 7900 in these HAH!

I have the 6 and the 9 cell battery and if I keep the brightness all the way up on my True Life With the Wirless card on. Now I run this on my 9 Cell and if I am lucky I can get 2 Hours of battery life. Thats it! So if they put an SLI version or even the 7900 They would have to make space for two 9 cells just to give you mobility (Then Again I guess this is a desktop replacement so they dont' expect you to go too far with it)

To everyone out there all I can say is I hope they bring back the power for you, because these lappys are absolutely amazing when they are all decked out

 

Holy ****. I got this -

Core Duo 2600 (2.16GHz)
512MB 533Mhz RAM (upgrading aftermarket)
17" UXGA (TrueLife)
Nvidia Go 7800
60GB 7200RPM HDD (upgrading aftermarket)
Bluetooth
DVD+RW drive
Windows XP home (I'm going to be dual booting Mac ox86 and Windows MCE)

And the same freebies as you (excluding RAM upgrade, and including 2 free memory keys)! Mine ran me $3615! Where in NZ are you? We should meet up for a LAN game sometime

 

Although I agree with pretty much everything you're saying here, this point I quoted above is wrong. The 7900GO takes less battery power, and runs a whoel lot cooler, with the performance of a 7800GTX.

Or so I've heard (and read)

Oh and, my Dell rep clearly said to me that they're getting new shipments of the nVidia 7800GO card on April 7th at their Panang base in Malaysia, that's where all Dell computers for Australia and NZ are built. W00t!

 

My Dell rep said that stock will be ready on Apr 7th as well (maybe we spoke to the same rep from Sydney).
I think (and hope) there won't be any delays in Malaysia.

 

Ha! What was your rep's name?

 

I'm in Wellington. Yours is definately cheaper... I guess perhaps I wasn't looking hard enough for a good dea

Still, I reckon I'll get my money's worth, seeing what's happening to Linux desktops recently. KDE4 with XGL and this rig is gonna be sweeeet

 

I just talk to Jeff from Dell. He said there is a problen with the E1705 Bios/motherboard and that its locking up the computer with the go7800. he said they are working on it. He gave me a few options. A $750 coupon towards a M170 system. Let it ride until they fix the problem or cancel the order. I'm not sure what to do. Go for the m170 but then again it doesnt have to duo core. Confused

Allen

 

Hard choice. Depends on what you want. I would go for the M170 if I could find it for about the same price. Or ask them if you could use the coupon when the updated M170's come out.

 

Need some help these or the two choices I have to decided.
XPS M170 Intel® Pentium® M Processor 780 (2.26 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7800 GTX
Hard Drive 100GB 7200rpm Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 1 Gigabit Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO 2915 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) PC-cillin Internet Security: AntiVirus, Firewall, Spyware removal 15-months
Primary Battery 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr)
Hardware Warranty SAVE $70 with Dell Gift Card 4Yr Ltd Warr,At-Home Srvc + Nights and Weekend
XPS Specialized Support Inspiron XPS, Specialized Support
Accidental Damage Protection (Except in Florida) Add CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service to 4Yr Lim Warranty

or E1705 Intel Duo Core T2500 2 GHz/667MHz FSB
Memory 512 MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7800
Hard Drive 100GB Sata 7200rpm Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO 3945
Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
Primary Battery 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr)
Hardware Warranty SAVE $70 with Dell Gift Card 4Yr Ltd Warr,At-Home Srvc + Nights and Weekend
USB TV Tuner/with remote control
Accidental Damage Protection (Except in Florida) Add CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service to 4Yr Lim Warranty

There both about the same price but is the DUO Core better and worth waiting for when they fix the E1705?

 

Wow, I just placed an order for a refurbished E1705 with a 7800. Is this something I should worry about, enough to cancel the order?!

 

Personally I would go hands down for the top one. Just because of the faster Proc, more ram and better video card. But then again, that is just me.

 

I just received a similar order from the Dell Outlet I had placed. The machine arrived without flaws and is perfect as far as I can tell. The machine is a beauty, and has not a scratch on it to be seen. The performance out of the box rocked. I am curious exactly how fast it will run once I get rid of bloat ware, and do some tweaks.

 

I just got the call too, with the $750 discount for the XPS M170 as an option I didn't consider. I have a bit of time to choose, so I'm going to wait until Thursday when the new promotional deals go through. There are no real deals on the XPS M170, and it's sitting at $1999 base price (where it usually is).

The setup I'm looking at is:

XPS M170
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
60GB 7200rpm Hard Drive (8MB cache)
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Intel® PRO 2200 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7800 GTX
9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr)

Total comes to $1500 after tax, and I believe he mentioned he'd give me a discount on the shipping as well. The real difference between the two laptops is that my e1705 had the Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz/667MHz FSB), only 512MB RAM (same speed), a 5400RPM hard drive (SATA...don't know what the XPS one is) with a 2MB cache, and only a 6cell battery. The latter three could be upgraded later, but would cost me.

...and the fact I can get this within a couple weeks vs May 21st.

It's extremely tempting. I'm mainly getting this for gaming, replacing my 5+ year old desktop. I'm not sure what difference I'd notice on games such as Everquest 2, FEAR, Half-Life 2, WoW with the Duo vs the Pentium M. However, the huge bonus of getting it while I can take advantage of it in school (I graduate in May, this is my graduation gift from my parents) is almost too good to pass up.

Therefore, I'm going to wait until Thursday to see if they lower the price (they had it at $1799 for a while), offer bonuses such as a free upgrade (my original e1705 had a free DVD burner), or even offer a mail-in rebate (which stacks with the $750 coupon).

What do you guys think? Would the Core Duo at the same speed (sorta) make that much of a difference in gaming compared to getting the more powerful graphics card, as well as a more guaranteed ship date? (early April)


Also, Ryan, the Dell rep, kept referring to the video card on the e1705 as the GeForce Go 7800 GTX. I also remember someone on this board doing a hardware scan after using the driver optimizing the clock speed and it registered it as a 7800 GTX. Could the e1705 be using GTX chips that for one reason or another could not be certified as a real GTX (i.e. could not safely hit the normal clock speed) so they repackaged them as normal 7800s? I know ATI does that with some of their desktop cards.

 

He's got it wrong, unless there was a major policy change by Dell, as well as an engineering update (for the size of the heatsink etc).

On NoteBookForums there is a whole thread on how someone managed to get the GTX in, but it was quite a job by the sound of it...

Also, if they were able to offer genuine GTX cards in the E1705 then it would definitely kill sales of the XPS M170 - so I reckon he is getting mixed up between the 7800 Go and the 7800 Go GTX cards...

I am so glad I bit the bullet in Feb (even without coupons - set me back over $3000 USD !) and bought my 9400 with 7800 Go - as if I'd waited I might have got a coupon, but I would have had to wait for the 7800 Go or it's replacement.

 

On the contrary, the 7800go gtx is compatible with the E1705. It is PCIX and will be used to support the new XPS systems. Its on dells site for $599 right now ( The card ) I verified this with a dell rep.

 

The 7800 Go in the E1705 cannot be replaced with the 7800 GTX without significant internal work - for starters, they're not compatable with each other (meaning you can't just pop out the card and replace it) and have different power/cooling needs (the GTX needing more of both).

 

Just a curiosity for those who got a call from Dell about replacing their e1705 with 7800 Go with XPS 170, has anyone actually gone for it?

I just got a call from Jeff (he's very popular on this site eh!) asking if I want to get the M170 instead of my e1705 also. He said that M170 would be a bit cheaper for me with the similar configurations. But when I tried to config. X170, it turned out to be $200 more. I know that X170 does offer better standard features than e1705, but is it worth trading all those for Core Duo?

One more note, I think I got everyone beat as far as the length I've been waiting for this e1705. I ordered my in February and still haven't received it. I'm really tempting to get X170 at this point.

 

Well, I know some people have managed to get it done, however, it requires a lot of internal work because of the increased power/cooling needs of the card. The M170 isn't worth it IMO - I'd look at getting a Sager NP-5720 first before the XPS.

 

Im just quoting what I was told by a tell rep. there is a PCIX 7800GTX that is compatible with the E1705. And yes, there is a 7800GTX card for the XPS system that is not compatible, however, Dell has one that is, and it is supposed to be offered in the XPS2 Let me past the text here:

As far as power and cooling needs, Im sure the PCIX bus can deliver more than enough power for the card, however, as far as cooling is concerned, I cant really comment. My guess is that it probibly doesnt run much hotter than the 7800go

 

I really hated the hotkey "is there anything else i may help you with regarding this concern? every other min with this guy. Dell support is such a joke sometimes.

 

Moozye9 I canceled my E 1705 also. I was offered the m170 with a $750 coupon but since they may have an up graded M170 in april I would wait. But the kicker is from Dell (Jeff) was I had to use the coupon by April 7. I asked Jeff before I knew of the rumor of a possible upgrade with the M170 and he told me there was none coming soon lol then i hear the rumor about one. Dont you just love the dell reps hehe.

 

Hmm...

I still say its a no-go with the 7800 GTX in a E1705 - Dell reps. aren't the most reliable. I know putting in the GTX is doable, but I'm still concerned with heat issues the card may have, and I know you can't just pop the 7800 Go out and stick in the GTX and expect the notebook to run smoothy.

 

I think I'm going to go for it. I'm waiting until tomorrow to see what deals change (I'm hoping for lower price or free ram =P), but it looks like I'll be taking it. Basically I get better graphics, battery, hard drive, as well as more RAM at a sacrifice of the Core Duo, all for the same price or cheaper than the e1705 (this time I won't forget the $35 discount from eBay). While I don't really like losing the core duo, all the other bonuses for lower price seems too good to pass up.

 

I would have to agree with you on this. I cant say definitively, but Im not going to let my new 1705 be a crash test dummy for it either.