OFFICIAL: Inspiron 1720 Owner's Thread

Perfect! Looks like you thought it out and got just what you need. Congrats!

Let us know your estimated shipping date when you place the order.

Bukket

 

Could you shed more light on this?
That's what I intend to do ... clone my existing xp image , dual boot with Vista, I have read that to get xp on this thing you'll need to include the SATA drivers on xp-install cd or turn off a certain setting in BIOS ... but are there any problems with dual booting from SATA ?

 

Does anyone have the dual hard drive 320? If so tell me how it is? Also how does the speaker sound?

 

Does anyone regret getting the 9 cell battery?

 

@ Auzie Gateway

yeah u said it..... those are the only problems ......

@ trisha1678

i don't regret getting the 9 cell battery....... onlydownside is it sticks out.....

anyways it depends on how u use the laptop..... for ppl like me who get frequent power cuts....... i need something which can stay up to 5hrs.......

for gamers i'd recommend it 100%........ coz the 8600gt gets really underpowered with the 6cell 85W battery......

next point is for those who connect to the internet on the move using wireless conections...... 9 cell is essential..... coz wi-fi is a power hungry technology......

 

Well, i´ve tried an Ubuntu/Vista dual boot so i couldn´t fill you in on the XP part, but you indeed need the SATA drivers of the Dell cd. If i were you i would try to put the drivers on some sort of Memory Stick/SD-card or, like you said, include it on the XP-cd since the BIOS are pretty much useless (It doesn´t give you useful info or options at all).

 

i probably wont be needing the 9 cell... its too huge to move it around.. and plus internet is wired and always on... the speakers are pretty decent.. but lacking in bass... which i guess most laptops suffer from ...

 

Hi All,

I've been lurking on this thread for a while and just wanted to post that I received my 1720 yesterday, after only waiting a little over 5 days - that's from time of original order. Do you guys think it's because i got the black cover?

Anywyas, I love it, so keep going - it's worth the wait.

Cheers,
-Sean

Insprion 1720
Intel Duo 2.2ghz
2gb 667mhz Ram
Nvidia 8600m GT 256mb
17" 1920*1200 HD Display
160gb HDD
9 Cell Batt

 

Yes, Sean, I think ordering a model that is one of the less popular colors and possibly one of their preconfigured combinations, without asking for any "special builds" could very well play a part in getting yours more quickly... That flamingo pink being out of stock is also probably why Bukket is waiting a month for hers; but since she's happy with waiting for a color she's always wanted, that's her prerogative to make the wait... I know if I had always wanted something a certain, special way, and it was finally available that way, I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer for it.

Happy Computing, everyone!
Jeff

 

DEFINITELY! See http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=143183

 

I have to wait for 5 weeks and 2 days and a guy from dell called me and told that there was a shortage in screens. That's why there is a hold-up, in Belgium...

 

I certainly was not intending to make anyone upset, i too would wait for the configuration I wanted. The main reason I posted was because a lot of people waiting for theirs seemed to have questions that were not getting readily answered. I am far from the most computer savy guy ever, and this is my first time with vista, but I would like to help out any I can. So if anyone has any questions about this particular model - or general questions let me know and I'll do my best

Cheers,
Sean

 

Can anyone do a test with their 1720. I seem to have a lot of light leakage with my lcd if I put a black wallpaper. I even tried to put the blank screensaver and I get huge light leakage.... to the point where my screen is more gray than black. I did a side by side comparaison with a toshiba satellite and the difference between black level has huge !!

Should I return it ?

my lcd is the 1440 one.

Thanks,
Sam

 

No light leakage here with the WUXGA screen Sam

If you´re not happy with the quality, you should return it.

 

I have the "HD" screen (Wuxga?) i think. I did notice at first that blacks were "grey". If you got the nvidia card i found that they have complete settings for this, try adjusting your contrast and brightness settings. The 8600m GT that i have even allows me to set different settings for movies than for windows itself.

Maybe that will help, but if not I agree, if you're not happy don't just put up with it, but i'd try this first.

Cheers,
-Sean

 

Order Placed Friday July 27th. Est Ship Date Aug 23rd.

Hopefully it won't take that long, my old 5100 is barely keeping up these days

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
Vista Business
Inspiron 1720

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
[
System Color Sunshine Yellow

MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz

LCD Panel High Resolution, glossy widescreen 17.0 inch display (1920 x 1200)

Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT

Hard Drive FREE! 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)

Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem

Optical Drive CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)

Sound Card Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™HD Software Edition

Wireless Networking Cards Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card

Camera Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Webcam

Battery Options 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)

Bluetooth Options Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)

EPP Discount $288.00
EPP 6% Off over $1600.00

Total Shipped
$1,633.72

 

I ordered my 1720 on July 20th and its been in the production stage since then. I am from Canada. I was wondering if anyone from Canada can tell me if this seems normal for production times, based on my components?

Thanks,

-Specs-

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (4MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB), English
Expresso Brown Color with Microsatin Finish
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
LCD Panel High Resolution, glossy widescreen 17.0 inch display (1920 x 1200)
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
Hard Drive 160G 5400RPM SATA HDD
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Edition, English
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08
Optical Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R
write capability
Sound Card Integrated Stereo High Definition Audio
Wireless Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card
Integrated Webcam Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
Batteries 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

 

I'm in the same boat, though in NY not Canada. Ordered on 7/20 (actually received *two* confirmations with same order #, one on the 18th and one on the 20th... weird). The status is still in Production -> Build stage ... hasn't even moved to testing.

I'm getting a little peeved as the estimated ship date is 8/6, which is now only six days away. My rep said the delay was due to it being back to school season and having a lot of orders. We'll see... if it doesn't ship on time I'm going to push for some free swag (carrying case =). Configuration follows:

1 222-8601 Inspiron 1720, Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, 1.8GHz, 800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache
1 313-5489 Spring Green Color with Microsatin Finish
1 466-8374 2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm for Inspiron 1720
1 320-5503 17.0 inch Wide Screen XGA+ TL LCD, Inspiron 1720
1 320-5468 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600
1 466-8379 160G 5400RPM SATA hard drive 5400 RPM
1 420-6556 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English
1 430-0493 Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem, for Inspiron
1 341-4715 24X COMBO CD-RW/DVD
1 313-4783 Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
1 430-2307 Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card
1 320-5681 Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
1 412-0968 Creative Earbud EP630
1 312-0520 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, Inspiron 1720

EDIT: forgot the Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Mod

 

I ordered mine with an international credit card from a kiosk in Canada on 7/25. It took them two days to verify my cc and then it sped through production and shipped on 7/29 from the US(?). How come if they ship from the US to Canada, I can't order a Linux system??? Anyways, apparently if you order from a kiosk, things are sped up because a Dell rep approves the order right on the spot. Also, if you order a fancy system colour it may delay your production. The estimated arrival date for my system is 8/13.

System specs:
Inspiron 1720 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (4MB cache/2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB)
System Color Jet Black Color with Matte Finish
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 Dimm
LCD Panel Glossy, high contrast, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900)
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
Hard Drive 250G 5400RPM SATA HDD
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Edition, English
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08
Optical Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Card Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
Wireless IntelJ3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
Integrated Webcam Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007
Batteries 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Wireless Personal Networking Card Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)
Media Center Enhancements Dell Travel Remote Control, IR

 

buy linux os and install i am sure it will work

 

I plan to dual boot with Linux Mint.

 

Why would you need to buy a Linux OS? They are available for free.

 

My Inspiron 1720 got delayed a week because of the Midnight Blue color...

 

I choose Black over Blue because I wasn't patient enough to wait one more week. Both are nice colours, IMHO.

Regarding Linux, I'm already dual booting XP and Linux Mint on my old P4 Desktop. The setup works very nicely.

 

Well, I finally returned my 1720 and bought a new one with the WUXGA screen.... the waiting game starts again...damnit !!

-Sammy

 

Can I upgrade the video card in this to a nicer one later on down the road? I heard you can send the laptop back to dell and get it upgraded

 

A couple of Questions

My 1720 colors seem washed out? Any idea what needs adjusting

Is there a driver for the LCD screen or is the generic PnP the correct one?

Love everything about my machine but the washed out color (I am running at the native resoultion of 1440 by 900 on a 8600M gt

 

Putting the beta drivers for the Nvida solved it (gave me back the d.v. slider)

yeah

 

It's official! Finally ordered my Inspiron 1720. Base price of $1,554 - $300 coupon - $20 Instant Savings (adjustment for colored lids price increase) = $1,234. Also included $100 Dell dollars, free next day shipping, and the IR remote. Specs are in the signature. Estimated shipping date of 8/15/07. Quite the deal if you ask me!

I also plan on taking some decent pictures once I get it. It'll be a couple weeks, but hopefully that'll take care of the lack of decent alpine white photos.

 

I ordered my 1720 on july 16th it was delayed until aug 3rd and now it is delayed again until the 28 of aug

 

did anyone with the pink flamingo receive there 1720?

 

Out of glass? LCD screens?? Your case color???

I just ordered my HP today and it's supposed to ship Aug. 14. My BET is it will ship AUG. 14.

No offense, but Dell is REALLY dropping the ball on these 1720s -- EXCEPT for offering the 1920 x 1200 screens I see NO advantage, and I'm getting mine with the 1680 x 1050, which I think is plenty for a 17" monitor... Dell offers NO Gigabit Ethernet, NO TV tuner card, and if you match systems as closely as possible, the Dell system prices out more expensive...

Sorry guys, I just don't see it... I'm going to unsubscribe from this thread now, so I don't keep throwing sour grapes at you folks, but I think enough of you reporting your own delays (and I'm even getting news in email from CNET about Dell gripes at this point, too)... If you're REALLY HAPPY with 6-week delays due to "no LCD screens" or "no cases in that color," oh well, more power to you.

I hope all of you who HAVE a 1720, and all of you who are WAITING for one, and all of you who go ahead and DECIDE to get one, nonetheless, have a WONDERFUL experience with it... still looks like a pretty fine laptop to me... I'm just NOT WILLING to put up with what Dell is dishing out at the moment!
Jeff

 

Nice thread, fellow 1720 owners unite! I just ordered mine today. This is my first experience with Dell, and so far so good because I'm happy with the deal that I got for $1290 (free next day shipping). My highlighted upgrades from base configuration (but note that I have no DVD writer or webcam, and have the 6-cell Li-Ion):

T7300 (2.0 GHz, 4mb L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
2GB SDRAM
17" WUXGA+ TL LCD
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
160GB 5400RPM hard drive
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic card
Intel Wireless-N mini card
Midnight Blue

 

free next day shipping that's really fast man

 

Yeah I guess... but unfortunately the estimated shipping date is not until Sept 7th!

 

oh i c. when i placed order my sales person told me i will get my laptop within 2 and half weeks and now when i got my order number. and when i saw estimated shipping date 21st Aug. it means total 4 week. i am really angry on my sales person now.

 

I think i am cancelling and going with someone else

 

^^^ What are you ordering and why are you cancelling? Because of the delays, or...?

 

i'm thinkin about cancelling mine and getting a asus g1s.....its ben almost a month since i ordered mine and i'm pretty sure I have another delay coming tomorrow since its still in the build stage....

 

^^^ I'll probably sound like a 1720 fanboy here, but I'd encourage you all to call the reps and get them to give you concession coupons, accessories, credits, or other perks (like have been discussed in other threads), which might help make it worth the wait. But then again I don't know how quickly you need the system.

 

i've tried numerous times they refuse to give me more than one concession on an order....i got teh $100 credit for the 8600m gt false advertisement

 

^^^ I've read that several people have received 2-3 credits, plus there's the free IR remote, free next day shipping, and such. They did it for each delay. But I know that it did take several calls. I do like the idea of the credit for the false advertisement though - you mean about the DDR2 vs. DDR3?

 

ya gddr2 vs gddr3

i've been rejected 3 times so i kinda gave up on it

 

I ordered mine to Canada on 7/25 and it arrived from Texas on 8/03; I can only guess that ordering from a kiosk is quicker and getting the black case doesn't hurt, either.

 

Jeff i think i am ordering hp also. Let me know if u have any delays

 

Yep, 6th is here and still in the build stage. I'll be emailing my rep today to politely request compensation. I'm thinking it must have been the green case, right? Ugh ...

Funny how the recorded voice on the hotline now says "no more information is available" where it once gave the estimated ship date (today).

 

I can't believe no one else has the same problem I have - I ordered mine with dual 160gb hard drives, and can't for the life of me get a clean install of vista ultimate to work with Media Direct. I've tried 1000 times, followed all the instructions and guides, no one can help me.

Also, I've tried reinstalling Vista about 10 times through all this, and verified that I've installed it on both my physical drives, and no matter which drive I install it on, it becomes the secondary drive. It's the weirdest problem ever. I can't boot from my primary drive at all.

Also, it use to say I had 4GB of memory in Vista, now it says I have 3.5GB. I've researched and found this is a "common problem" in 32 bit versions of vista, and I'm basically out of luck and stuck with 3.5 GB. But before it saw all 4GB. It pisses me off. (And FYI the bios sees all 4GB).

 

i've found this in another thread:

Yep, that's right. "In any 32-bit operating system, the virtual address space is limited, by definition, to the size of a 32-bit value"
That results in only 3,454MB being usable.

 

Same here... I ordered my 1720 on the same day, was originally due to arrive August 10th, now it's been delayed 'til September 6th.

 

What did ya'll order? Ordered mine on the 31st, and today it said it was testing. Is it just the colors that cause the delay?