I've searched a lot and don't see but one person having trouble with this system, the 17R 5720 my question is

Did I do all right grabbing one in the outlet with 8 GB of Ram, 1TB hard drive, sadly NO discrete graphics, but I am a surfer forumite, I don't work with gaming or graphics. If it can do Youtube and Netflix I'll be happy enough. I got a certified refurbished machine, which is going to be the 4th Dell Outlet refurbed laptop in my household. My son is anxious to get my old 17R 7110 which is still running smoothly. I also got Win 7 Home Premium, I just couldn't bring myself to get one with Win 8. It looks like a xbox to me. And I don't like it, I want my computer to look like I am USED to it looking. Anyway, I got it on that 35% off 17R coupons they ran this weekend, and it should be delivered by Friday. Oh and it's an i5. I didn't want to pay more then $500 for it and I got it for $466 Just about what I paid for my 17R 7110.

So does it sound like I did all right? I am looking for a little reassurance is all as I can't find much ON this model and that is a double edged sword in my mind. I saw one member here had nothing but problems, but if that's one member having trouble with a new machine, well that's only one person, what do you think of the 5720? I don't care about having a 1080p monitor, and I don't use it for being portable except to move to my desktop to share the printer. I know, UPGRADE That to a wireless printer and I'm set! LOL! Thanks in advance for the feedback and I appreciate your time.

 

I recently purchased a 17R 5720 for my older sister and she loves it. She's not a gamer or graphic designer as pretty much all she does is office work and watching online TV streams so the notebook fits the bill nicely. The Intel HD 4000 graphics is up to the job for HD video playback, I played some 1080p HD content on it and it had no trouble decoding them. Aesthetically its not the slimmest machine around but its pleasing to the eye with the brushed metal look. Our one came with the Peacock Blue lid top so it does stand out!

I am quite impressed with the Samsung HD+ panel fitted to the system, sure it's not FHD 1080 but I found the colors to be crisp and vibrant with the viewing angles to be more than satisfactory at a distance. Plus generally its a quiet machine on day to day activities, I would be honest and say it's not the coolest I've seen as I found idle temps to be on average around the 50c mark. I think a repaste job can take it down slightly but I just didn't feel like tearing a brand new machine apart so soon!

Other mentions would be that USB 3.0 ports are standard all round which futureproofs the system, you can also add a second hard drive (MSATA SSD drive) to the system for more storage space. The keyboard is OK to use though a bit squidgy for my liking, the ability to turn off the touchpad while doing typing duties is a welcome feature on the system. For my sister she prefers Windows 7 to Windows 8, thankfully unlike the recent HP consumer lines it is relatively straight forward to put Windows 7 on the 17R 5720. Overall it's a nice budget desktop replacement, for the basics it ticks the right boxes and I think you would enjoy your new system.

 

Just what I wanted to hear Hearst! Thank you for answering! I am really excited and I think it will suit my needs perfectly as I do basic office work, and light surfing, with some youtubin' and netflixin' tossed in for good measure. Yeah I understand what you mean about the repasting job, does your sister use it with a notebook cooler? I have a coolermaster and am thinking of grabbing another brand of cooler for it. Not sure what one yet, but I know a cooler notebook is a happier notebook.

I have my touchpad disabled on my current 17R the 7110 and love that feature, I use wireless mice myself because I just don't enjoy using touchpads. And my system's keyboard definitely has some flexing to it, so I think all in all I will be pretty pleased with it. I just got notified it's delayed, so we'll see. I hope I just get it at this point.

Thanks again for your input on this!

 

Last month I got a 17R SE and immediately after receiving it went for a screw driver and AS5. The paste on the CPU and GPU was like stone and came off in pieces. IMO you should definitely consider repasting if you can handle it.

ThePamster, I also think you made a good choice. The SE version is not worth it as it has major issues. I had to return mine.

 

I wonder if my DH would be up to the task of repasting the CPU on my new one....Have to see. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it and the SE version not being worth it. Makes me feel a lot better. Thank you veselatakurabiika!