Inferior 9400/E1705? Dropped down $2K for this??

I was really inspired by all these posts about the 7900GS, and I bought the laptop with all the trimmings: 2gb OCZ 667mhz ram, 2.16 Core Duo, the 7900GS, even a G7 black mouse etc.

But when I got this laptop... first, the lower right corner of the screen was defective, after I plopped down $150 for the true life upgrade... and Dell is saying it will take 8 days to replace this, after I get a box (after I argued with them for 2 hours)

And now.. I am wondering, did you all get the Phillips DVDRW+-? That piece of crap that can't even read DVDR+s???? 3/8 DVDR+s I put in don't even work (Data ones, not even burned games).

I have 5 notebooks since I actually work for Dell on campus, and the 1505 and my other inspirons read the DVDs, my HP ZD8000 reads em, even my friends Sony--all except the X1 I have which doesn't have a drive.

I'm hearing that people here got the NEC one and not the POS phillips.. and I've had that ND3500A in my old old Alienware, and that was the best 8x burner back in the day.

So, did I get jipped? I don't even see the model's firmware on Dell's website: I just see NEC ND-6650A slim 8x DVD+/-RW

instead of: PHILLIPS DVD+-RW SDVD8820

what DVD drives did you guys get?

 

uh oh, i have the exact same burner, the philips 8820.
and about the bottom corner thing, if you're talking about a darkish spot thing, apparently this is normal on all dell laptops, includin the xps line, something i was worried about too (thinkin it was a defect), and i guess any screen you'll get will end up with the same prob.

but now i'm worried about my drive....

edit: yea, they also don't even have this model on the driver site, luckily windows just had the driver with it when i reformatted.

 

Well I guess this is a little more darkish, meaning... you know when you hold a Magnet up to a CRT? Its like this for about 1CM, and it's spreading to my say 4:08AM -- it's at the M right now.

I'm really worried about this drive... I mean, if I paid for it, it should work. I didn't even try burning with it (which I'm going to assume it's going to be a headache)

I might as well chuck this out and get a NEC off newegg, but this laptop is 1 day old! argh POS

 

Yeah, that screen thing is definitely the same situation. It's a lil gray/dark spot that stretches into the time (touching my M in 4:17 AM, too). I actually noticed a little bit in the bottom left corner as well when I had some blank screens running during the reformat.

As far as the drive, I've only really used it to read DVD-ROM's, DVD's, and CD's, and that it hasn't had problems with, but if what you're saying is true....geeh yah. Mine, too, is just a day old.

 

How bad is it compared to other 17 inch laptops you've seen in the store. I'd expect some light fall off on all LCD screens. To check all you have to do is set the screen to all grey or maybe blue.

Mike

 

does this happen with the E1505? or no?

 

This is why I'm done getting Inspiron laptops. My E1405 is great in most respects but the build quality is horrid. No matter what spot I pick it up from I can feel the plastic going down and I can hear creaking.

 

I would like to thank (almost) everybody in this thread, for helping me make up my mind on getting a Sony rather than a Dell.

 

The gaming performance on this machine is phenomenal.... 1920*1200 High everything, Doom3... but the build and construction is not that great.

I just got off the phone with sales, and am getting a 100% refund for both the laptop and my 2 extra years of accidental protection/limited (=3 total)

I am not going to deal with this headache, especially since Core Duo 2 (conroe) is slated for August release. I can wait until then when we'll get a better graphics card (hopefully 2 heatpipes) at the same price.

Btw. Intel just released news of price drops

Everyone: Hold Off on the 1705! It's a really nicenotebook, but.. not worth it right now!

 

I have ordered over 20 e1505 for clients and I have not had this problem

 

Were they using the same Phillips DVD+-RW burner? Or self-created DVDR-'s or +'s

 

Isn't the Core Duo 2 (conroe) release just for the desktop machines? The notebook version release date still hasn't been announced.

 

Oh I didn't mention Meron--that's the notebook version. Expect it 2nd week of August.