Magnesium Alloy Case E1705?

I just got mine and I have to say, this can't be magnesium alloy. I've used various notebooks with a magnesium shell, such as the Dell 610, and this certainly doesn't look like it.

From what I can tell it's painted plastic. Anyone else have input on this?

Aside from making my first complaint about the machine, I have to say that overall it looks pretty nice. I haven't found anything horridly wrong with the machine.

I'm just know noticing the part under the right hand side of the keyboard is somewhat hot, nothing else so far.

Mike

 

All Dells are made out of plastic.

 

My E1705 is made out of magnesium alloy...unless Dell switched their notebook making methods since the 7900 Go came out, which I doubt. Push the back of your screen - just by doing that you should find that the notebook is made of metal rather than plastic. Also the bottom covers/case are made out of mag. alloy, at least on mine.

Juz_Follow_ATI: That's incorrect - the E1705 (to my knowledge) is made of mag. alloy, and so are the Latitude and the Precision lines.

 

i can tell it is, when it gets cold the case has that metel cold feeling

 

That's how mine feels too - if it were made of plastic, it wouldn't yield as much of a temperature difference.

 

I'll allow it to cool down and see if there is a temperature difference. However, it certainly not like the magnesium alloy on the 610.

BTW how long ago did you buy yours?

Mike

 

I bought mine in late Feb. right before the Nvidia card shortages (7800 Go).

 

If it is metal why does it get scratched so easily?

 

I think it is metal - but it is painted over. I know on mine that the white bumpers are metal, but the silver area is more plastic. Even on the bottom where I know it is metal (such as the RAM cover), the paint peels off very easily.

The reason that it is not like the D610 is very durable and uses the best quality of material. While your laptop might be made of metal - it might not necessarily be the same quality as the latitude series.

Realize, this is just my 2 cents - not actual evidence or proof. My statements are based on my laptop and just knowing Dell.

 

I'm pretty sure Inspirons don't have Magnesium alloy casing, it's just plastic with metallic paint. Nowhere on Dell's website does it say that the E1705 is made of magnesium alloy, it just said it's "Road-Ready." And every review I've ever read says that Inspirons are plastic. And Juz_follow_ATI, Precisions, Latitudes, and XPS Dells all have magnesium alloy casing. AFAIK, Inspirons are the only ones without it.

 

The bottom of my case is black, and I'm pretty sure it's plastic. Is everyone's bottom on E1705 black?

Looking at the white edging on the backside of the screen, it is evident that it's made of some sort of metal, left and right but not middle. Looks like a base type metal. I guess they did this to provide rigidity to the screen case.

Mike

 

E1705 is mag alloy.
I think dell is not advertising it as mag alloy so they can switch to plastic whenever they want to.

 

That just doesn't make sense to me. Why would everyone say that the build quality of the Inspirons is not nearly as good as the Precisions/Latitudes if they're made of the exact same thing. My M90 has some plastic on it, but nearly everyone I know will agree it has a better build than the E1705. Even IF the E1705 is metal, I doubt it's a magnesium alloy. At the most, an aluminum alloy.

 

I'm curious to know if Dell would give us the answer the the composition of the E1705 case material.

This morning, when I went to check on the PC I touched the outer shell and sure enough it was cold! This indicates to me that the lid is indeed metal. It's probably magnesium alloy, but it's probably not as thick or the same as what I'm used to seeing on the D610. The D610 shell seems to be thicker and smoother to me.

As far as the M90, I've never had the chance to see the whole DELL lineup in person, so I can't speak to the build quality across the lines.

Mike