Inspiron 17R or New 17R

At the moment I can get either the Old Inspiron 17R or the New Inspiron 17R more or less in the same spec that I am looking for. The New is about 10% higher in cost, but not enough to totally put me off.

So what are the pros and cons of either and which is the best one to go for?

The Old one uses a: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3210M processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz) and the New one a: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3337U processor (3M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz). Which is better or are they much the same?

The Old one uses a: 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 630M Video Card and the New one a: AMD Radeon™ HD 8730M 2G DDR3. I am not into gaming, so not so important to me, though the AMD Radeon™ HD 8730M 2G DDR3 should be better?

The New on also uses a 65W battery compared to 48W of the original, so better battery life, but as a desktop replacement most of its time it will be on mains, so not really an issue.

Apart from that the specs are much the same, though the New one is thinner and lighter, which is not a major issue for me.

Any comments would be appreciated, particularly from anybody who may have had some experience with both?

 

After finding the following detail I think I will stick with the Old 17R: Dell Inspiron 17r 5721 Fan Speed problems - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community and Dell Inspiron 17R-5271 17.3-inch Desktop Replacement Laptop Personal Computer Review

There are bound to be teething problems, as indicated, which I can well do without plus the change in processor is going to provide a lower performance. So I think the existing 17R, for me, is the better way to go.

 

Just curious, why do you think this? I just ordered a new one and the only battery that comes with it is this:

312-1315 48 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Battery

EDIT: I was thinking the 7720 I ordered was the "new" one

 

Review Dell Inspiron 15R-5521 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews Test of the new inspiron 17R.

Not too impressed, screen seems to be very average and NOT matte. ULV CPU gives some reduced CPU performance but also lower temps and longer battery runtime. And yes battery is 65Whr, at least on the review model. AMD HD8730 is better than the old GT630M, but not by much. Seems to be about same as GT640M.

 

DesignTech SpecsRating and Reviews

Processor
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3337U processor (3M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz)
Operating System
Windows 8 64bit, English
Display
17.3in HD+ (1600 x 900) Backlit Display with Truelife
Memory2
4GB3 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
Hard Drive
1TB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
Video Card
AMD Radeon™ HD 7670M 1G DDR3
Optical Drive
8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
Case Colour
LCD Back Cover : Black
Wireless
Dell Wireless 1704 Card (802.11n + BT 4.0)
Security Software
McAfee® SecurityCenter 15 Month Subscription
Primary Battery
Primary 6-cell 65 W/Hr
Services and Support
1 yr Next Day In-Home Service with Premium Phone Support
Advertised System Weight

 

Hmm, interesting, thanks for that info rudge. Personally I wouldn't get this "new" model, its nowhere near as powerful as the 7720. I don't even see a 1080p screen as an option. No quad cores either?

 

Yes, I have decided to go for the Old 17R 5720 version rather that the New 17R 5721 or the 7720 as I am not into gaming or playing videos and so don't really need a 1080p screen which will make text much smaller. I know you can reduce the screen resolution but that can cause problems and I don't see the point of having a high res screen and then not using it. It generally pays to stay with the native screen resolution.

Other than that I can get a 5720 with comparable spec to the 7720 for my needs (apart for a 1G video card instead of a 2G) and as far as I can make out the only other difference is the 7720 lid cover and palm rest that are in anodized aluminium rather than the plastic of the 5720, which is a lot cheaper. Not sure if the New 5721's have anodized aluminium lid covers and palm rest's?

When the 7720 SE versions were released they had a higher spec and more attractive styling to the std 5720 R's. However, over the lifespan 5720's can now be had with similar spec's to the 7720's and it would seem that the new 5721's can also be had with similar spec's to the 7720's apart from the processors which use a lower power and as a result do not seem to have the same performance?

I assume there will be a new SE at some time to address the balance. At the end of the day it's all a marketing ploy.

There are New 17R 5721's that comes with a 1080p screen, or at least here in the UK?


DesignTech SpecsRating and Reviews

Processor
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3337U processor (3M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz)
Operating System
Windows 8 64bit, English
Display
17.3in FHD (1920 x 1080) Backlit Display with Anti Glare
Memory2
6GB3 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
Hard Drive
1TB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
Video Card
AMD Radeon™ HD 8730M 2G DDR3
Optical Drive
8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
Case Colour
LCD Back Cover : Silver
Wireless
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 Card, 802.11b/g/n + BT4.0
Security Software
McAfee® SecurityCenter 15 Month Subscription
Primary Battery
Primary 6-cell 65 W/Hr
Services and Support
1 yr Next Day In-Home Service with Premium Phone Support

or

Processor
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3537U processor (4M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz)
Operating System
Windows 8 64bit, English
Display
17.3in FHD (1920 x 1080) Backlit Display with Anti Glare
Memory2
8GB3 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
Hard Drive
1TB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
Video Card
AMD Radeon™ HD 8730M 2G DDR3
Optical Drive
8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
Case Colour
LCD Back Cover : Silver
Wireless
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 Card, 802.11b/g/n + BT4.0
Security Software
McAfee® SecurityCenter 15 Month Subscription
Primary Battery
Primary 6-cell 65 W/Hr
Services and Support
1 yr Next Day In-Home Service with Premium Phone Support

 

between the two you list I would take the second one, see if you can delete the McAfee for a little bit of credit. Also, can you get a ddr5 video card where you are from? And how much is the second one going to cost?

 

The price in the UK for the second one is currently £749 less 12% inc taxes and free postage. You can't get it without the McAfee, so no saving there. Don't think that there is DDR5 video cards available as an option?

 

Ouch....... 749 less 12% is roughly just over 1000 Canadian. My 7720 was only 1041 CDN, maybe you can get a 7720 off eBay from a reseller maybe for roughly the same amount you are paying???

 

Unfortunately here in the UK we get screwed on all electrical's, very often paying the same in UK £'s as a direct equivalent to US $'s.

The US and probably Canadian public do not tolerate being ripped off so the companies can't get away with it as they can in the UK.

As previously indicated I have gone for an Inspiron 17R 5720 and not the new 5721 or the 7720 really due to the extra cost.

In the case of the of the 7720 you are paying an extra £100/£120 just for the anodized aluminium screen lid cover and palm rest, everything else is the same and in the case of the 5721's they are using a lower powered processor which as a result lowers the performance and they are more expensive at the moment as there are higher discounts on the 5720's as they are being fazed out and replaced by the 5721's.

 

I paid £728.10 for my 7720 (still in shipping) so don't know how that compares in Canadian dollars? (They did want £809 but I found a 10% code online)

As for the ddr5 grfx card, I am 99% sure the gt650m being shipped with mine is the ddr5 version... wasn't a choice, so presumably (read: hopefully) ddr5 is as standard.

 

Well I got mine on 15th and within a few hours it has failed with error 2000-0332.

Have now got to wait for a replacement. Not good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

ya, I read your other comments on it failing but didn't really know what to say about it? What about dazzlers comments above? Can you consider a 7720 now?

And dazzler, as of right now today 728.1 British Pound Sterling equals 1131.33 Canadian Dollars

 

I will stick with the 5720 at the moment as it is about half the price of the 7720, with discounts I paid £430, as I don't need a full HD screen.

Replacement came today when I was out, so will have it delivered tomorrow. So raising a complaint about having a faulty unit on 18th and a replacement sent on 19th is not bad.

Hope that the second one lasts a bit longer.

Have also managed to get them to provide a set of System Recovery Discs which in the UK you have to pay for but in the US/CAN I understand they are supplied free on demand?

 

Well I got the replacement today and as soon as I switched it on I found the speakers crackling randomly. Then the next time I switch it on it tells me it cant identify the battery and hence can't charge it. Front panel battery led flashing between amber and green.

Am I just unlucky or are really this unreliable?

 

I would guess some of both.

 

Well it's going back to Dell for a refund now.

They have offered me a bit of compensation against another Dell laptop so now I might consider the 17 R SE 7720 but can't decide on whether to go for the HD 900p or the full HD 1080p screen?

I am not into gaming but would like the best resolution but that can have an impact on the text size and I don't what to be in a position of having to reduce the resolution to be able to read the text? Would be nice if there were some photos showing the text size difference between the 900p and 1080p screens to get some real idea of what the difference is?

 

I think this may be a BIOS issue, I would check your settings. My Inspiron 17R SE cost me 1,300 CHF (over £800?), but considering the spec., etc., I think it's worth it for the HD screen, the 3D glasses, etc. Once you get over the teething issues & Dell's lack of after-sales service (unless you nag them to death), then all should be well for a few years. I am being careful & charging the battery up then right down every day, as it does not seem to be a particularly powerful battery. Best of luck with your machine...

 

The 2nd 17 5720 has gone back for a refund, not prepared to have a new unit repaired with out of box faults.

I have now ordered a 17 R SE as a replacement as Dell have offered me some extra discount which will be delivered on 28th, so hopefully this one will have no problems?

 

Ahh, welcome to the 17R SE world rudge.

 

Thanks.

Hoping that it will be 3rd time luck? Will report when it arrives.

 

Every machine is different I guess, for example, if you read my old posts in the xps 17 section I think I went through 6 or 7 units before I finally just gave up on that line and ordered my Alienware M18x instead. With this 7720 I was absolutely expecting to have to go through at least 3 of them before I was probably going to be content because I also knew before this one even showed up that I had the dreaded chimei screen in it. But let me be the first to admit I was extremely pleased with this thing and it's the FIRST one that showed up??? This thing is solid, everything works great, awesome screen, quiet, cool, nothing loose, tweaked my 8 start button, disabled right swipe charms on touchpad, and even my extra power supply that's 150 watts that I had kicking around from my xps17 fiasco days even works with this thing but would not work with my wifes xps15.


One of the only things I wish I could change out on this thing is the touchpad, alps sucks, synaptics would be in here so fast if it was possible which oddly enough is what the xps17 had I believe, so does my M18x

 

Well the 17 R SE arrived today. Very please with the overall package, the backlit keyboard is neat.

No major problems at the moment, though I have not attempted to download and burn the System Recovery Discs yet, which was the downfall of the original R.

However, there is one problem. When you press the Windows Mobility Centre button nothing happens? The button illuminates for a few secs and then goes out but the WMC does not launched?

Is there a setting that has possibly been disabled, the 2 previous R's worked OK out of the box, but this one does not. Any suggestions?

 

Is that the 2 sprockets button? I read somewhere else that that button does not work in windows 8 right now. Whats your warranty date on this one?

 

Yep, it's the 2 sprocket button.

However, it worked on both of the two previous R's I had both of which had W8 installed so can't see why it's not working on the R SE? So I will have to take it up will Dell.

Delivery and Warranty dates are correct for the SE and the McAfee is also enabled for the full 15 months.

Spoke to Dell about the 660 and they are supposed to be ringing me back today. Claim that it is is/was a new unit but still registered to Dell and not to me which was why the warranty and delivery dates were 30/12/12, which I assume was the initial build date?

Update: Contacted Dell and they had to uninstall and re-install the Quickset software application, so now the WMC launches from the button.

 

uninstall and reinstall the same software, go figure eh? lol.