Opinions on Dell E1705

Im placing my order for the E1705 in about 2 weeks. (Or until a 30% coupon pops up). I was wondering, does anyone have the E1705, and could they share with me what you think of it? I've read reviews on it, and im pleased with what i am reading. But are there some things about it that you just don't like? Please share what you think. Thanks!

 

I dont have the E1705 myself, but from what I understand it's a pretty good notebook.

The only things I know of that are not so good is the screen quality, and battery life (although the second one is just my opinion). According to SG, the more expensive screen looks quite a bit better... but it's resolution is very high, so some things are going to look small.

Also IMO the wuxga screen is not ideal for gaming. Its hard enough to find games that run in 1440x900. Plus running in 1920x1200 is really going to bog down your GPU performance.

 

truth be told you are better off with an I9300 and then doing some upgrades to it I have a 2.26 ghz processor and a Go 7800 GTX in mine and I wouldn't trade it for any thing new even if it was a Yonah core e1705 or a 9400

 

Uhh... well if he wants a new notebook, the 9300 wont easily be an option for him.

 

actually the are comming up pretty frequently on the dell outlet site you just have to check periodically

 

So your saying i can get better? Because the screen is very important to me, and i will be doing some gaming.

Since when does WUXGA bog down the gaming preformance?

 

The wuxga is a much higher resolution. The higher the resolution the harder it is on the GPU.

I mean you could always run it at 1280x960, but that would be using very little amount of the screen. Something like 1600x1200 would take up most of the screen, but like I said it would also be a lot harder on the GPU. (resulting in a lower framerate, or less graphical detail)

 

But the computer itself sets it on the right setting. believe me, im doing it right now with my computer.

Most gaming laptops are WUXGA

 

Inspiron E1705 Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz/667MHz FSB) Might change it to T2600
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 512MB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 7800
Hard Drive 60GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive (Could Change)
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives FREE!8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) Microsoft Works Suite 2006- Includes MICROSOFT WORD plus much more!
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) PC-cillin Internet Security: AntiVirus, Firewall, Spyware removal 24-months
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 2Yr Ltd Warranty, 2Yr At-Home Service, and 2Yr HW Warranty Support
Dell On Call Dell On Call, 30day, Getting started Assistance, unlimited incidents
Accidental Damage Protection (Except in Florida) Add CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service to 2Yr Lim Warranty
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Operating System Backup & Recovery Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition backup CD
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
TOTAL:$2,038.00

What do you think? this is with tax and a $650 off coupon. if i get a 40% coupon, i could upgrade something

 

this article gives some info on e1705


http://www.smartcompany.com/article/Dell+Inspiron+E1705/168528_1.aspx

 

I'd up the RAM to a gig if you're going to be gaming... unless of course you plan on upgrading later.

 

Of course, there is no way ill pay that much for RAM. 2GB's of RAM is already $375 Dollars...overkill.

Im still deciding if i should get a lower HD, and then get a T2600 Core Duo. What do you think?

 

Still trying to decide, eh? I say stick with the 2.0GHz unless you really need the extra power - the T2600's price is pretty steep. The faster HD will give you a larger performance gain over the T2600.

 

I was thinking of getting the lower HD and RAM first, and then i get the Higher CPU. That way, ill upgrade aftermarket, so its cheaper. You know what i have now, and getting this will be amazing

 

I guess you could do that - you'll have pretty deep pockets to do the upgrades though. The T2600 IMO doesn't offer a big performance gain over the T2500. I've also heard that Dell is lowering the amount of coupons they're going to offer (especially the big 35/30 discount ones), so I pulled the trigger last night on my E1705.

 

Wow, congrats on that.

What are your specs? Im still trying to figure out on what i should get for mine

 

I had a budget of 1500, but I went over by about $177 to get everything I wanted - I used the $650 off coupon:

Intel CoreTM Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz, 2MB Cache, 667MHz FSB)
XP MCE Edition w/ backup CDs
17" WUXGA Truelife Screen
512MB RAM (going to upgrade to 1GB)
100GB HD @ 5400 RPM
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card
256MB NVIDA GeForce Go 7800
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

The Total was something like $1677

 

make sure you get it through www.dell.com/epp

 

Yeah, my father has a buisness account. So more than likely im going to save even more if i use his account. (The Large Buisness, not Small)

So, let me go configure it, and ill post it here. I think i might get a T2600, and then the minimal HD and RAM. Then i upgrade after market

 

Nice plan - ordered mine through my dad's small buisness account - tell us how everything goes.

 

I hope mine still goes pretty easy, on account of, im using the Large Buisness account. I have only used it once, but forgot the whole process. Now i wonder what name will be on the notebook. Probaly 9400

 

yes if you order from small business, it will be 9400. Home buyers are E1705... no idea why the name is different.

 

It costs $160 to upgrade from a T1300 to a T2300. Is it really worth 160 McChicken Sandwiches for the performance upgrade?

 

I talked with them online. They weren't sure why the names are different (yeah..give me a break).

Although on all computers, Dell Inspiron E1705 will be printed on each notebook.

Oh, they said also that the E1705 can have the 7800GTX. I might talk to a different rep to confirm this

 

Hmm...

I wonder if it's one of those DIY GPU upgrades from the Dell depot.

 

I have had my E1705 for 5 days now, I FRICKEN LOVE THIS THING MAN!! I cranked the Settings on BF2 all the way up it is beautiful! I bought a 9300 about a month ago, then the next week the E1705 came out so I returned my 9300 and got the E1705. Trust me you want the UXGA w/ True Life. Ihad the WXGA Matte Screen on the 9300 and it can't compare to how beautiful and sharp this screen is. My specs are in my sig and from what I have read, don't bother with the extra .13 Ghz upgrade man it's tooo much money and if you want to upgrade later that won't be a problem cause whole bunch of sources are saying that the Yonah will have a price reduction (including the 2600). Like I said I love this laptop it is absolutely perfect for what I am doing, the only other advice, go through the steps of getting Xtreme G Forceware drivers for your laptop instead of the crappy Dell drivers. Saw a drastic increase in smoothness when playing BF2

Good Luck

Dunc

 

I agree with Jrunkin. Go for the UXGA with Truelife esp if you game a lot. My gf has a i6000 with a matte screen, and color isn't as rich or deep compared to my E1705. Also the contrast isn't as pronounced.

Higher resolutions do tax the GPU a lot, but the 7800 has enough horsepower to run those games fairly smoothly. There's always a tradeoff here and there. I'd rather run a game with more screen area, and loose some minute high res details. I've installed Quake 4, NFS:MW, FEAR and BIA. Every time I ran each game, I just drooled in awe at the graphics. (I'm moving from a desktop to P4 2.4 9700pro to this beast) Mind you these are all games that really tax GPU's and I ran almost all of them at almost high settings. I also play WoW a lot; I have that maxed out completely, game ran without so much as a hiccup.

Also if you have spending limit, go Processor>HD>RAM in that order, as it's always easier to upgrade the last two later. I went with stock 512MB from Dell and picked up dual channel 2GB(2X1GB sticks) from newegg for about 167. I just noticed the price went up on those to 185.

Edit: Using XTreme-G MobileForce 83.90, 3dmark05 went from 3830(stock) to 5480(350/850 OC); running all games stable.

 

Well im for sure getting the Truelife

Now i just want to decide, if i should get a T2600, and the lowest HD and RAM, and then upgrade shortly afterwards

 

Yes Nick,

Upgrade aftermarket man...alot cheaper.

 

Im just thinking if $550 is worth it, but im wanting a top system, so i guess i will.

Oh, and i have to get a Dell, because i can get a great deal. So if anyone wanted to know, thats why im not getting a ASUS W2j or the Sager 5720

 

Well, that should be a new design of the 7800gtx card. I've been reading about the e1705/7800go and found that the 7800go isn't the same form factor of the 6800, 6800ultra, 7800gtx. Something about how the pin placement for connection to the mobo on the card is somewhat moved. That would mean a new 7800gtx card for the new xps system coming out. Maybe it has to do with the new i945 mobo. I'm still looking into it though.

 

Oh, i also figured out the naming scheme for the E series.

E = Entertainment

17 = Screen Size

And the unknown 05 = Something to do with the Screen, but i cant figure out what it could be...

 

I just bought this laptop and returned it the next day. The screen had light leak problem, I couldn't belive DELL is still trying to sell the defective LCD's even after so many months of knowing it.

Will never buy DELL laptop again, just for the reason that they still shipping to customers what they have already known as defective few months back.

It also had the loud Sony DVD drive.

Just wanted to add this.. DELL Customer Service has been very good.

 

What screen did you got, the non truelife? If so, that is probaly the reason why.

Im defiantly going with truelife for sure

 

Got mine! Its awsome used Fat Wallet $750 off coupon and dpa and got fat cash. My price about $1200. Got the truelife screen, nec dvdrw, 100gb HDD, 7800go and 1gb ram 1.83ghz duo. Runs very fast quiet and has no screen light leakage. Im happy here.

 

Huh? Since when was there a $750 coupon out?

 

You don't have to run games in 1920 x 1200. I'd like you to tell me you can see a difference in games at less then the native resolution? You can't. The screen does however allow you to do so for games that you want to where fps is not a problem. It is however hard to read anything on it but that's why i got a 20 inch panel for the main display with a nice 1600 x 1200 native resolution.

 

Well the specs in my sig are the specs im more than likely to get

What do you think? Im doing after market of course. Im excited because the T2600 is going to do great

 

Im shortly after ( dont know when) but probaly getting the Dell 2405 24inch screen. (Or 20 inch maybe)..so it wont be a problem.

Only game ill be doing a lot is Counter Strike, which if this GeForce Fx 5200 can handle it "fine" then this is going to be amazing on the E1705

 

I purchased my 9400 with 1gb ram and have since doubled it to 2gb and I have to say I noticed a huge difference in performance. Just make sure you order a single 1gb simm or you will be stuck with 2 512mb simms to get rid of like me. Also, make sure you don't cheap out and buy 533mhz ram, go for the 667mhz ram and feel the power. Blazing fast machine I can't believe how fast it freakin is.

 

Nope, 512MB will get me by. But if i have a little more money to put towards it, i will. But im more than likely upgrading shortly after from newegg.

Why would i get 667mhz, when i will be upgrading it again? Dell alrwady charges way over for RAM

 

"I'd like you to tell me you can see a difference in games at less then the native resolution?"

What?

 

Eh, Dell overcharges for their RAM (their 2GB of 677 RAM was $500! - you could do the upgrade yourself for around $350). I say get the lowest amount of RAM you can and upgrade it yourself.

 

Lmfao @ "feel the power". There really isn't much of a difference between 533MHz RAM and 667... other then the fact that one of them costs a lot more.

 

Still think if i should get the T2600. I think its a good idea, but not completely sure yet...

 

hey!!!...i just ordered my e1705 with the 1.66ghz core duo, 1 gb of 333mhz ram, cdrw/dvdrom, 60 gb HD, and the nvidia go 7800...and i wanted to know how well would it perform with the newest games...i will use it mostly for connecting to the internet, gaming and watching movies...please tell me what do you think...and do you think that the 1.83ghz core duo would make a big difference compared to the 1.66ghz core duo?

 

It should perform very well with the newest games...and no, there isn't a big difference between 1.83ghz and 1.66ghz core duos. I'm going to assume 333mhz ram is a typo.

 

Has anyone ehard if the E1705 can accept a 7800GTX? Id be willing to crack this puppy open if the GTX was a possibility.

 

I too have been having problems with my 1705. It will not hold a wireless connection. Having seen so many threads on defective 1705's, I am beginning to think that lemon is the norm, not the exception and I should start the return process as well. I did not realize that they have only a 21 day return policy. I guess I better start cracking (squeezing) this lemon out the door.

 

I wouldn't classify defective as the norm. The wireless problem is most likely and Intel issue and not Dell. I have seen many a threads about different laptops with problems with the wireless. Hard drives and stuff are also the manufacturer's problem.

Dell to me seems like a decent company....granted that they need better support, but not too bad.

I know alot of people with Dells that are happy as a clam with everything. But the old saying still applies. "Have a good experience get told to 2 people, have a bad experience get told to 10 people."