Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
I didn't want to post this to the "Official Studio 17" thread because I may hit upon a few points that take it somewhat off topic. You can skip the first part if you don't care about backstory and just want to get to the thoughts and questions. I bolded for those that want to skim through quickly.
First some quick background - I had an Everex XT5000T, which was a great bargain until it died due to an inherent design flaw (not sure what it was, but many people have reported the same issue). Fortunately my $200 extended warranty through Office Max refunded me the purchase price in full. I basically "rented" the laptop for a year and a half for the $200 extended warranty purchase price - not a terrible deal I suppose.
After going through 3 HP dv7s from Costco (each with more dead pixels than the last), a Toshiba x305 (great speakers, great GPU, average screen and too bulky) and 4 Gateway 7811 (fantastic GPU, nice design, but too heavy and runs unbelievably hot), I had almost decided to settle with the hot-running Gateway, even though I had just placed an order for my fifth one trying to find one without issues.
While waiting for the fifth Gateway, my wifes three year old HP started acting up more so than usual. The cd\dvd burner was already dying, and now the RAM upgrade was defective (blue screened randomly, took out the ram, acted just fine). She was now working with WinXP with 256mb ram and a low end Turion. It was painfully slow. I decided it was time for both of us to upgrade. Of course, we couldn't afford for me to get a $1300 latpop AND a $500 - $700 laptop for her, so I had to find something less expensive but at least equal to my dead Everex (dual core AMD processor, Geforce 7600 Go, 17" 1440x900 LCD).
My thoughts about what I bought - After a lot of research, I decided I would finally buy my first Dell. I don't have anything against Dell (I'm very middle of the road - I can find the positive and negative in just about any brand), but I hadn't owned one before. Helped my dad buy one, but that was about it.
I got a coupon for 15% off Dell Outlet purchases. After doing some reading on this forum and others, most folks said Dell Outlet purchases were almost as good as new (if purchased "Certified Refurbished" or better). I ordered identical Studio 17s (one for my wife and I), except hers is Ruby Red and mine is Midnight Blue.
Let me just say, even after reading online, I was shocked at the condition these laptops were in. Other than the "refurbished" packaging and the green sticker on the bottom (and the fact they don't put any soft felt between the keyboard and LCD for shipping...), the laptops were in fantastic condition. After careful inspection, I couldn't find a noticable mark, scuff, or ding. I inspected the LCDs and couldn't find a dead or stuck pixel on either of them. The power supplies had been previously opened but all of the software cds (including Vista OS cds) were in new sealed packaging. I was suprised to see the laptop shipped with the battery (partially) attached to the laptop. Oh well.
The speakers suck. They really, really suck. Compared to my 4 year old eMachine laptop, they suck. Compared to my wifes 3 year old HP, they suck. Compared to my iPhones speakers, they suck. They lack lows and mids to the point they actually start to hurt my ears. They really suck. Also, I haven't heard this much crackling and popping since my last bowl of Rice Krispies.
That being said, I love my Studio 17. It's light compared to the Toshiba and Gateways I tried, the keyboard is very comfortable to type on, the build quality seems pretty solid, the countless USB ports are great, almost making up for the lack of an eSATA port. The generally limited amount of crapware is nice, the Dell Dock (a Stardock app) is a nice freebie for those that want to use it. The screen quality is great (just 1440x900, but it's what I'm used to and costs less, so it works). The slot loading cd\dvd drive works well.
For the price I paid, I could not find a better equipped machine for my purposes. The GPU isn't as good as those prior machines I mentioned, but it's good enough for the games I play and I paid almost the same price for TWO Studio 17s as I would have paid for those other laptops.
But some new Studio 17 owner questions...when I close the lid of my laptop, I hear a noticible "click" sound from the left-rear hinge. It's like a click caused by the plastic, somehow. I don't hear it when I open the laptop, only when I close it. Mine does this, my wifes does not. Has anyone else experienced this? It almost sounds like maybe it's tightened too much. Hard to describe.
As I mentioned, the speakers suck. The majority of the time I use my laptop in my lap in the living room. I don't use headphones all that often. I'm looking for something that might offer slightly improved sound. I found these on Sears.com for $20 and I am not expecting much out of them, but if they're better than the built-in speakers, that's a start. I also saw a "B-flex" speaker, but reviews of it on Amazon are fishy at best - a few 1 - 3 star reviews, and a ton of 5 star reviews (submitted by people who work for the speaker company, perhaps?) I figure if the speakers I ordered from Sears suck, I can return them to the store. Does anyone have any good suggestions for speakers that somehow hook or mount on the laptop (without having to be glued or actually STUCK to the laptop?) I know it's an odd request, but I'm hoping there's something out there.
Those are the only things that pop into my head at this point, but I'm sure something will pop into my mind later!
New Studio 17 owner, some thoughts and questions
Discussion in 'Dell' started by evancg, Oct 10, 2008.
