Just got my new Inspiron 1420

Just got it, it has a SEC4457 LCD and I am very happy with it. Maybe a bit brighter at the bottom but I am happy. I was able to make Vertical Banding happen with a test picture but I played a HDTV x264 version of Fifth Element and it looked perfect so as long as I am not staring at test patterns all day I am happy with it. I installed a new WiFi card that I bought online and I am reinstalling Vista Home Premium now without all the Dell stuff plus I like doing my OS's myself so I know whats going on. Haven't had an issue yet and I will probably write a review as soon as I have had some time to play with it. If anyone wants me to check something or test something specific ask me and I will add it to the review I am going to do. My specs are in my sig so thats what I got. The only thing I found was it was a bit heavier than I thought it would be for a 5.5-6lb laptop. I turned Virtualization on in the BIOS and intend to play with some VirtualBox/VirtualPC stuff so thats my next goal after I'm' all setup. I will post anything I find in this topic but the review will probably be a new topic.

 

Hope you enjoy it. Can't wait for the review.

 

I'm glad your screen is a good one. Can you PLEASE test the audio on that laptop? Does it have any stutter/choppy sounds?? Listen to at least 4 MP3's and don't fast forward or anything... just listen for any skipping of the audio.

Let us know how the audio is please!!! Thanks.

 

I played Fifth Element in its entirety using Media Player Classic and AC3Filter was the audio codec. Which audio player would you like me to use to try the MP3's? I usually use WinAMP on my PC.

 

Pictures!!! This thread is USELESS without pictures

Anyway Congrads, I'm starting to like to like the 14in over my 1520

 

I heard people had problems with Windows Media Player. But I think it's pretty much with ANY program. They keep saying the audio skips, towards the last 20 secs of the song especially.

 

Can you also check for HISS when you listen with earphones?

 

Well I just played 4 songs using WinAMP and they had no skip or stutter and I was copying a lot of stuff to my laptop at the same time and reading the music off samba. As far as hiss I did notice that when I put my earphones that Dell gave me on that there is the kind of static you get when you are playing nothing but have the volume really high which my volume was not. Once I played anything I couldn't hear it, so only in silence did I notice that. This is a fresh install of Vista btw using my own Vista disc and not Dell's. As far as pictures I could snap off a few if you like but I am sorta just setting things up atm and gathering info to make my review as useful as possible to potential 1420 owners.

 

Thanks man, that was very helpful. A nice picture of your LCD display would be nice. I'm still deciding if I should get the 1440x900 or the standard 1280x800. Is the text hard to read on your 1440x900, I'm afraid the font will appear too small.

 

I have no problem with it but I have good eyes, never needed glasses or anything. I tried changing the DPI to 120 just because I had heard that was optimal but I found it to be to large. I could see reading a book on this laptop for 5 hours might require a break but I found it fine. Taking pictures now. Up soon.

 

Thanks man, I gave you a rep point. I hope you do a review of your 1420.

 

Ok here is a few pictures. This was done in ok lighting with a 3MP camera so be kind. Also this is hosted on my home server so be kind there also.






These are pretty raw, I resized them by 50% and saved them with High (8) JPG quality. I will do better for my review.

 

That looks readable... now I'm curious about what the 1280x800 looks like. LOL.

On that 3dmark picture, it looks like you can see all the grids of the screen..... is that noticeable in real life or is that just the camera exaggerating?

 

Hi there, can you please tell us if you suffer from the CPU Whine??

This is like a static/modem noise coming from where the cpu is located (near the fan).

Thanks a lot.

 

I can't manage to see any of the bad stuff my camera picked up. I got my nose almost touching the screen and I don't see an issue. I am pretty picky usually so I would ignore that camera effect.

 

No I don't hear any noise other than a soft fan noise. To soft to hear unless my ear as a few inches off. I check for the whine and the HDD clicking noise as soon as I got it because I had read some bad stuff about that. Dell had updated my BIOS to A03 already for what its worth cause I had heard someone saying that might fix things but I never had any version but A03 so I can't say. Either way noise wise it is very quiet.

 

When I do my review I will record a MP3 using the Mic built right into the laptop. Sort of a double whammy test.

 

OMG... I think you are one of the lucky people who got a perfect system. I am jealous. LOL.

 

Heh, I'm nearly problem free myself. I do experience the slight stat that MrTrx does on my headphones (it does go away when playing audio). I have the SEC screen and have no graininess at all. I also think that the screen is a tad brighter on the bottom than on top, but thats really a non-issue. I have no audio skip either. I also have no noticable CPU whine or HDD clicking.

I forgot to mention that I have a Vostro 1400, but they are essentially the same thing, just different case colors.

Feel free to PM me as well if anyone has any questions!

 

Well besides it being a bit brighter at the bottom which I only see when its showing pure black and its not that bad. But ya I am trying to find problems and haven't been able to find many yet. I wish it weighed like 1lb less and that this damn power adapter fit in my laptop bag better but besides that I am very happy so far.

 

Heh. I wouldn't complain about the power adapter. My old asus adapter was TWICE the size of the Dell one, so when I got my Vostro I was extremely happy

I'm glad to see MrTRIX has very few issues like I do.

Is this a sign Dell is shaping up QC? probably not but I'm happy

 

I took some more pics but I don't like the way my camera is taking them as they look nothing like what I am seeing in real life so I am going to get a better camera for when I do the review. Something with 7MP and better color.

 

I just got 1505 in 3DMark06 which seems pretty good, I guess me slimming down Vista after a fresh install helped.

 

Are you absolutely certain that you are not suffering from CPU Whine at all?

I dont know why, but i tend to think that ALL 1420's suffer from cpu whine in some degree or another, as well as the noise in the headphone jacks, as both are the same problem which has to do with design flaws and the CPU power saving states....

 

Well my headphone jack noise I think was just I had it to loud and thought I didn't I tried with my Sony DJ headphones and I can't hear a thing until I am playing something. The Creative Earbuds Dell gave me had a hum but I had the volume maxed out. I don't hear any kind of whine. I have experienced CPU whine on PC's many times. Mostly when using Vista or Ubuntu but using Home Premium I hear nothing. Its very quiet so I can hear the fan and I don't even hear the HDD when it is doing things, not even head seeking. If there is whine then I am listening for the wrong thing cause its pretty quiet for me.

 

Ok I quickly captured a video with my camera were I basically had the camera humping the exhaust on the left side of the laptop. The fan sounds pretty loud on this wav but I assure you it is a whisper and this camera was an inch away and has a loud mic. I didn't edit this at all so you can probably here me ramabling. http://www.ilovespyware.com/pics/meow.wav

If I am in the wrong spot or anything I can recap it for ya or do something longer.

 

Heres a pic of the bands I see, it's a really hard thing to see with the camera and with any ambient light. From a dead on view there arent any vertical bands, but when Im sitting on the left side of my gf watching movies, theyre noticeable on the letterbox or anything dark black.

This is an SEC4457.

 

Now that I see what you mean I might have noticed something like that. It didn't happen till I was looking at it at a very bad angle but I did see something like that on pure black. With something on the screen I don't notice anything.

 

Its odd that something so small can bother me. Im actually on the phone with Dell again. It's only because I happen to sit at that exact angle quite often that I noticed it. Its weird how if youre looking straight on, its not there or even at a far left angle its not there. Its just this odd sweet spot. I will see soon enough if it's native to all the SEC4457 panels. At the moment the Dell rep is telling me that she can request a specific part number from the plant, meaning I wont receive a field return or another AUO as a replacement lcd (which they have all been either or). Good luck to me.

P.S. Dont eat my brain, I dont have any super powers.

 

After extremely close inspection, I think i can see a hint of of banding about 1.5 inches from the right side of the screen, but the effect is SOOOO small that I wouldn't have ever noticed it without all this discussion about it.

It's a shame that people have so many problems with Dell computers. My old Dell Desktop still runs top notch (on year 5) and my girlfriends e1505 runs top notch as well.

Since Dell uses refurbs for replacements I'm thinking its almost easier for people to just RETURN and reorder a laptop, that way they can get new parts.

I've been thinking about whether I wan't to send my notebook in to fix that audio buss/hiss from my headphones, but the potential for me to get other problems I think far outways the good that COULD come out of getting it replace.

My only concern however, is that on my Dell account it shows a 16.95 charge for shipping me the DHL box... I hope they don't expect me to pay that. heh.

 

Great overall review. I'm debating the 1420, or waiting for the 1525 to come out. Not sure yet, but your review makes a strong argument for the 1420. Very responsible and objective review. Thanks alot! See my posting and you will understand my reluctance. (jrsryder)

 

I've had my Vostro 1400 for over a week now and LOVE the smaller form factor. I was at Micro Center other day and was appalled at the size of the 15.4" notebooks.

Then I saw some 12.1" notebooks and was like OMG MUST HAVE NOW! lol

 

My wife's 1420 is coming in about a week...can you describe (in detail for a somewhat intelligent computer newb) what to do to the computer upon receipt..I am referring to cleaning it up. I did modify the BIOS, etc. on my E1705 without any problems when I got it (using detailed instructions of course)...

 

Well you don't have to do anything it will work just fine off the start. All I did with mine is took a Vista install disc I had and redid the entire install fresh without any Dell stuff. Then got all the updated drivers and just turned Vista features off I didn't need.