Is Dell Inspiron 1720 worth the nerves about the reinstall issues?

I am buying my first laptop and would like to ask the more experienced latop users about doubts concerning some specific issue.

After doing the research, a retail version Dell Inspiron 1720 with C2D T8100 is my favourite. But it turns out that with this line of latops, when you totally reformat the hard drive after you receive the machine to get rid of all the unwanted software, the Vista installation freezes in the final step.

Searching for more information about the problem (included the posts in this forum), I found out that this behaviour is quite a common occurence. One of the solutions (in essence) is to recover the Dell Media Direct partition and then give Vista the SATA drivers from the included drivers CD during it's installation. And, as described in the fifth comment from above at www.fbtz.com/forum/blog.php?b=64, you should even not install Vista on C partition because if you do it, the moment you press the Media Direct button, the Vista installation is shifted to some other partition to leave place for Media Direct to install itself on C. Then it is not bootable.

Well, I don't mind so much having my OS partition not called C, but I am rather frightened by a machine that does such stuff and does not even tell you. I don't even have half the nerves of the user whose post I linked above. What he experienced would probably drive me mad. At least for a while.

Why I post this is that I am still inclined to buy the notebook because in it's price category it is a pretty good deal, and, moreover, it comes with a three-year Next Bussiness Day on-site service. In fact I would probably not hold on to the idea of buying this machine had it not had this additional warranty. I've already experienced what "hardware failures" really mean and having to repair our family PC up until now myself, such a warranty makes a big difference for me. Going to sleep knowing that if, or rather when, the trouble comes, I won't be the one having to deal with it, is really soothing . Plus, going in three months from here, the Czech Republic, to the UK, the easy transferability of the warranty is a very thick icing. Probably thicker than the cake, as I would probably not be able to do anything other with my Czech warranty than burn it in the UK. So I am completely dependable on the producer's extra warranty provided besides the standard one required by law.

So I thought I might still go and buy this laptop, knowing what to do when I reformat the drive. However, buying a machine I know has such glitches creates some doubt in my mind, especially that there might be more problems, of which some might not have a definitive solution on the Internet. Therefore I wanted to simply ask what you as experienced users would advise. Buy or keep away from it? When that 3-year NBD is really so sweet that it makes sleeping with the paper underneath my pillow quite an experience.

 

I was one of many who re-installed vista on the 1720. I did the step you mentioned (SATA drivers) and it went off without a hitch. It now starts up faster than my windows xp that i had on my E1705.

 

hmmmm i've been on the fence about this since i ordered my machine. I still do not know exactly what i will do now that i have it. First boot will be tonight and as of now i basically feel like this....... I want 64 bit vista to take advantage of the 4GB ram installed but will 64bit support all my favorite applications that i have in 32bit xp flavor now? then if the answer is no you will not be able to run many of your old apps well then is it worth reformatting the 32bit version and reinstalling given the risk involved? I've built many machines and torn down and rebuilt my inspiron 9100 many times over the years but the complications in this make me feel like rather than an afternoon delight this reinstall could turn out to be a hellish weekend. ugh.... why must i feel so uncertain about a beautiful new machine.... it should be love at first sight not unanswered questions.

On a side note my 9100 had the most amazing sound i have ever heard on a laptop.... might have something to do with the 2 tweeters 2 midrange and 1 subwoofer built into it..... does the 1720 even come close or am i looking at typical laptop blah sound?

to the OP I think the 1720 is a great deal no matter if you reinstall or not. I am very glad i made this purchase when i did. We will see if that rings true when i unbox it tonight :-D As for both of our concerns i think if one has a full day to devote to the process and follows the well documented procedures carefully there won't be any problems.

 

Well I very much prefer stability to high performance that comes with "when there is no problem" footnote attached, so great deal on screen itself is not so appealing to me.

Anyway, as of now I suppose I will go into this laptop. Hopefully it will be possible to create an image of the HDD with Clonezilla before I start messing with it, though the SATA drivers issue renders me a bit unsure about this. Seems like no way am I going to get a nerve-free ride.

 

I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 and am having the same re-install issues. In my case, I didn't have a choice because the original HDD crashed and needed to be replaced by Dell. They sent me a brand new one and left it to me to re-install Vista (32 bit). I re-installed and it too froze near the end of the install process and I can't get passed it no matter what.

My problem is that I am overseas for a few months and even though I brought what I thought was the necessary media with me, I did not bring the Cyberlink MediaDirect CD with me. DOH!!! After reading this thread, I realise now why I cannot go any further.

I have searched everywhere but cannot find anywhere to download the MediaDirect software.

Can someone tell me if it is possible to download it off the Net and if so, where?

Thanks

CSGS

 

You can call Dell Support and request the media, perhaps asking for an ISO instead of the physical media.

However, for the installation not to freeze at the end, you also need either the Drivers and Utilities media or download at least the SATA drivers from the internet, but I don't know how to determine the correct ones.

 

ok!! for those who don't have the driver for sata with them, i just uploaded those specific ones needed to install vista

heres the link,
http://www.zshare.net/download/15408655f13b3259/

its in zip format 165KB unzip them and follow my instructions they are easy

1) once you unzip them, you get a folder which contains the following files
- iaachci.inf (thats the main driver file)
- iaahci.cat
- iastor.cat
- iastor.inf
- iastor.sys
- txtsetup.oem

2) now all you got to do is burn all of these files onto a cdrw or cd or dvd whatever, but make sure you copy only the files not the folder

3) once thats done boot up your laptop, hit f12 load your vista dvd

4) now the setup begins, now when you reach the partition page, there will be an option to load drivers... click it

5) it'll ask for the cd, remove vista insert the cd with the driver files, click next

6) it will locate one file named iaahci.inf, yes thats the one click ok

7) once the driver is loaded, insert the vista dvd back and you are ready to go

 

Weird I haven't had any problems re-installing Vista on my 1720.