Upcoming; Inspiron 1520 and 1720

wow yo, he's right, this was copied and pasted from Microsoft's website:
If a computer has many installed devices, the available memory may be reduced to 3 GB or less. However, the maximum memory available in 32-bit versions of Windows Vista is typically 3.12 GB.

Back to the top
WORKAROUND
For Windows Vista to use all 4 GB of memory on a computer that has 4 GB of memory installed, the computer must meet the following requirements:
• The chipset must support at least 8 GB of address space. Chipsets that have this capability include the following:
• Intel 975X
• Intel P965
• Intel 955X on Socket 775
• Chipsets that support AMD processors that use socket F, socket 940, socket 939, or socket AM2. These chipsets include any AMD socket and CPU combination in which the memory controller resides in the CPU.
• The CPU must support the x64 instruction set. The AMD64 CPU and the Intel EM64T CPU support this instruction set.
• The BIOS must support the memory remapping feature. The memory remapping feature allows for the segment of system memory that was previously overwritten by the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) configuration space to be remapped above the 4 GB address line. This feature must be enabled in the BIOS configuration utility on the computer. View your computer product documentation for instructions that explain how to enable this feature. Many consumer-oriented computers may not support the memory remapping feature. No standard terminology is used in documentation or in BIOS configuration utilities for this feature. Therefore, you may have to read the descriptions of the various BIOS configuration settings that are available to determine whether any of the settings enable the memory remapping feature.
• An x64 (64-bit) version of Windows Vista must be used.

So, even Vista will only see 3.12 gigs of 4 gigs, unless you use a 64bit vista. That suckles. But the good thing is here in a couple years with the new version of windows, from my understanding, will be completely 64bit thus forcing software developers to finally switch. Then we can go memory happy as 64bit supports 16,777,216 TB of memory...lol I think we will be using 64 bit for quite some time. God, could you guys imagine having to use 1 TB of memory? I mean, how fast will the core's be by then? I would think computers of that time will be running at the speeds that the supercomputers of today are running. But I doubt that will happen in my lifetime, but who knows...

Just glad I found this out now, before I went out and wasted my money on 4 gigs of ram instead of 2 right now.

 

OH YEAH, you wanted the links for the 4 gig mem.

This one is 279.99 up front, but you get a $80 rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144066

I am sorry, but for me, its not worth the money to upgrade to 4 gigs, if my system will only see 3.


And this one is 224.99 no rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178166

 

anybody find the option for an express card remote for the new inspirons? i still can't find them !!

 

Maybe if you order bluetooth?

 

OK, I did some searching, in the ordering of the system, you will find nothing. But you do have to get bluetooth to make it work, and in a search through their accessories this was the only thing I came up with:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A0691231

It's about $50, and from the reviews it works very well, it recharges itself by the laptop, but that is one of it's two down falls. Meaning, one guy said it killed his battery over the course of a night. The second downfall is that it sticks out about 1/4 of an inch. If this isn't good enough for you, I suggest doing some web searching by going to google and typing express card + remote. About the best I can do to help you my friend.

 

Sorry TaiMaiShu, I used your sig as a template for mine hope you don't mind.

Oh yeah, and I think your name is one of the funniest I have seen.

 

yeah i found that remote too, but some websites like cnet review the inspiron 1420 and say that there is a remote similar to the one that comes with the xps 1330.

 

does it come with it standard? If so wait a month and hit ebay, I guarantee you will find some because I have never even thought of using one, and honestly still can't. I have my desktop for movies and music, so if I am going to be using my laptop for that I would be sitting in front of it.

 

wow, I guess the person that taught my vista training was wrong about that. Guess I should have done the research on my own. I don't get why they don't sett a 64 bit option when they are 64 bit capable any way. Plus, why are they selling an option for more memory then the OS can handle? oh well. no point in complaining about something I can't change. any who...

Yeah, the remote sticks out just a tad... I have heard mixed reviews about it. I would be careful about it draining the battery though. I can see why it would.

As far as the new XPS', well I no longer work for dell as of this week. Finally quite and got a real job off the phones and into a carreer. Before I left I checked on any release info and there was not much. There was information saying, yes there will be new xps out late 3rd quarter to early 4th quarter but nothing more then that. no info on sizes or anything else. I am still in touch with a few people there and they said they will let me know once something is announced. I will let you guys know as soon as I find out

 

Not at all and thanks.

 

Might be a bit late then, but couldn't hurt to ask:

Do you know what type of OS media we get when we order from Dell? Specifically, do we get a reinstall disc, and do we get a disk to install a 64-bit version if we want?

 

From my understanding from reading somewhere, Dell has completely went back to giving us discs, if not you can call and request them. As for the 64 bit thing, I extremely highly doubt it, because I guarantee that MS would make them pay for dual licensing then. My guess is that you just gotta foot the bill to switch to 64bit. Now my question on that, if anyone knows, is does MS have a really cheap option for us to switch vista premium 32 to the 64. I mean, its essentially the same software, why should we have to pay a crap load for it again?

 

Thank God I have MSDN

As soon as I get my 1420, I'm whiping it of Home Premium and installing x64 Business!

 

Why didn't you order Home Basic then, and save money?

 

some more pictures:

http://www.clubic.com/actualite-75813-inspiron-1520-1521-1720-1721-8-couleurs-chez-dell.html

 

Sir, you have just lost all relevance as a member of this forum.

Congratulations!

 

I hope the yellow one looks as good in person as it does in the pics. Anyone know what the return policy is if you don't like the color?...lol

 

YoJr and others-
this is my first post, but i've been reading and learning from you all for a while, thanks for that.
Any thoughts on a d830 vs. the Vostro/1520's? I'm looking for a $1300-$1400 or so laptop for grad school, no gaming needs but the ability to drive a 24" display at some point, and to run photoshop/illustrator for fun. i'm more into reliability/performance than flashiness.
thanks.

 

Because Home Premium was a free upgrade for me...I told my guy that, and he said it doesn't matter...Home Basic would of raised the price...

 

You will get an OS, driver, media direct, and any software you purchased. I.E. antivirus, office/works, stuff like that. If you don't get it and it is listed on your invoice then you can just call and ask for them.

It can't be that bad. Plus, I didn't want to stay in a call center for the rest of my life. Had to move onto a career job eventually. Plus, I am not one to bash but Dell was great to work for but the outsourcer, well, ummmm, I think being the person that cleans up at the dog park has it better then what they provided!! But like I said, I try not to bash to much since legalities might play in (hence no name on the outsourcer). Don't get me wrong though. Dell provided great incentives to their outsourced employees (and even better to their direct employees from what I was told by the people that helped open our site)

Well, Looking at those two, I really think you are comparing a green apple to a red apple. They are very different as apples but they are still an apple. Identical specs, just mainly looks. If it was an old inspiron model then I would say a latitude all the way. The new models offer a lot of inovated features. Also with the Latitude, you will not have media direct. (not sure if that matters to much). You will also have to OS' to pick from, Business or home premium. Honostly though, don't think either one will fit you. Mainly for one reason. Neither have a DVI port. If you are going to want the ability to run a nice display in the future, you will want dvi or hdmi. Neither of which are on these models. If you don't need it right away, I would keep my eye out for an update on the XPS line. Before I left dell, I was told that they are redoing the line but there was no date. If i were to guess it would be late 3rd or early 4th quarter. (september to october) They would be smart for a holiday release. might drive sales up. Since you want the ability to run the larger screen in the future, I would look at the smaller xps m1330 or a different brand. I love Dell, but I think their down fall is no DVI.

 

That's not entirely true for the D830; you could buy the docking station and get one. I don't think the 1520 has any way to dock at all (except maybe some Belkin expresscard expansion station).

 

I so want to get the 1720 after having the 9300, but that DVI is such a deal breaker for me, my only high res external monitor supports DVI only. I picked up my first Dell, a 9300 because it had the 3 features nobody else had, and still don't. And that is 1) DVI 2) WUXGA screen and 3) Lower end $1K pricing. Nobody has those features still. The closes I can find is the Asus G2S (HDMI) or $2.1K.

I cannot imagine the business line without a DVI either. Or worse yet, without a docking station. I'm inclined to believe they will have a docking station with a DVI pass through. Just wishing, but in the meanwhile, I went an ordered a 1705 because for me an Asus G2S or XPS 1710 is just not twice as good for 2x the price (for a non gamer).

 

I didn't think of the docking feature. That might be your best route then publichealthkid. Thanks for pointing that out speedy. and there is no way of docking the inspirons or vostros through the traditional method. Dell does have a USB docking station but I don't think it is that great. The dock on the Latitudes is pretty nice.

 

I recently went on Dell's website and configured the 1520 and the 1720 to the specs I would want, just for the heck of it. However, it seems that, with both systems similarly configured, the 1520 is about $300 more expensive than the 1720?


Did I just configure something incorrectly or is that true? And why is that so? Would a larger laptop be more expensive?

 

I think it was just a fluke. Fundamentally, the 1720's run more expensive than the 1520's by $150 or so.

 

thanks YoJr and Speedy, that's good helpful advice i hadn't thought about.
by the way, would my vision of having a 24 in monitor affect what i should choose for a graphics card or laptop screen resolution? or would any be fine?

 

lol, fluke or not, if you would rather get the 17" and its showing $300 less, order it, Dell would have to honor the price

 

Ordered for my Son over the weekend:

Will order up some DDR2 from Newegg soon....my Son is jazzed to say the least! (Grad/Birthday present)

 

Nice...

Can anyone confirm if the 1720 has a subwoofer just like the 1705 and does it come with a remote control?

 

You don't need a powerful GPU to run a large screen and the lcd option doesn't matter. The lcd option is what you want it to look like when you are not using the nice 24". The GPU is dependent on what you would like to do with it. From what you posted earlier, you might not need the most powerful but you will want to get the discrete midrange. The High range is mostly for gaming and/or rendering. Mid range will work great for pic editing and the occansional gamer.

I will check on that when I get the chance... stay tuned.

 

from what I can tell there is no woofer on the 172x. Sorry

 

Does anyone know if the 1520's card reader would be able to take full advantage of a 150X SD card? I was thinking of getting a 2 gig one from newegg. They have a transcend card for $22.49, and I was ordering the 2 gigs of ram for my new lappy anyway, but I want to make sure it will actually take advantage of the higher speed of the card for readyboost purposes.

 

I touched the new 1520 and 1720 today. It had the red and black finish, both were 'satin' or matt finishes. The sides and front of the 1720 are not straight like the 1705/9300, they have a wedge shape to it. So, the front is the same, therefore the speakers actually face forward, just you can't make it out in the exisiting Dell website pics. Sound isn't lound though. The finish on the palm rest and surround is just like the older laptops, sparkle silver. I think it has more gloss to it, therefore, smudge marks are more apparent. I don't know about the longevity e.g. wearoff, I hope it stands up better than the 1705/9300. The piece on top of the keyboard can be pried open with just your finger nail (at least the indented tab), I prefer that rather than the semi hard force of the older generation. There's isn't the vent grills on the palm surround, so it looks more simple and clean. Screen brightness looks about the same as with my 9300 (7 levels from low to high), so I assume they must be the same panels of years gone by. The hinge design looks nicer, you don't see gaps between the laptop body and screen like you do on the older models. That's all that I noticed on the new laptops.

More recollection: The latch that slides is chrome colored, the Dell lettering is chromed, and the logo on the cover looks like the ones on the XPS. Trackpad button clicking were soft, but I thought it recessed a little too much for my liking (when pressed). A large exhaust grill is on the left side, and you can see the copper fins in them. I put my ear to it, couldn't hear a thing. I assume this will be a very quiet laptop.

 

I have a 150x 4GB Transcend SD on a 9300 and it works for readyboost. You're better off going from 1GB to 2GB ram though.

 

nice post exe. I can pry my panel off on my 1505 with my finder nail. I think it varies by actual notebook and not the model. I noticed a lot of people mention speakers on notebooks and how they are not very loud or sound quality is not that great. I wonder about this. What do you expect from a speaker that is less than an inch big? I know they make great headphones with speakers around that size but think of how much they cost (I.E. Bose, Senheiser) If they put that in a notebook that would jack price up another couple hunderd. cost of parts, labor, and the ever so high mark up. well, I just wanted to know why people expect great things from such small, cheap parts.

 

I bought both . I ordered the 2 gig chip, and 2 gigs of ram last night from newegg, as well as the thermaltake iXoft cooling pad.

Have you ever benchmarked how fast it can read and write on your 4GB card?

 

Well, the 9300/1705 actually have great sound for a laptop. It is due to the 'subwoofer'.. we all know it isn't a 'sub', just a midrange if anything. But it does make the sound fully, turn it off and you'll hear the difference. I would assume users appreciate good sound that is built in to the laptop, so we don't need to bring anything else along. I also use a highend earphone, and since it's high end, I can't stand the hiss coming from my 9300, so I bought an Audigy card. can't beat the sound quality, but sometimes, you don't want to put on earphones. I think most times if I could, I'd rather not use earphones ( at least not my in ear monitors). I've never tested the Harmon Kardon on HP, but if they sound good, Dell needs (or should) to match it.

 

No, I never benched it as I didn't use it for readyboost. I've read reviews on readyboost, it works real well if you only have 512MB. But it doesn't do much if you already have 1GB and nothing if you already have 2Gb. I would think it would be better if you disabled readyboost at the service level and not use it at all since you have 2GB, that sould make things 'faster'. With that said, I disabled loads of 'features' to get Vista to run faster. I do the same with XP back in the day.

 

The problem isn't the quality of what they are selling. It's the fact that they don't have the technology themselves to produce Bose like sound, and couple that with I am sure Bose has that patented anyway. I could see them making a deal with bose to, as an upgrade, sell bose speakers installed with the audigy software upgrade, but that would probably pull another $100. But honestly, if it gives the kind of sound quality I am used to from bose, then I would totally do it.

 

Yeah, but I like my pretty interface...lol. Seriously though, the reason I bought both was for 1: the 2 gig chip was like $20 and 2: If for $20 I can ever improve my performance possibly by a lot, then hey, what's it hurt? Also, I plan on never removing that card from it's slot, so that will help keep dust out of my laptop by coming close to sealing off one more port.

 

YoJr, is the service manual for the 1520/1720 up yet? I'd be interested to see if I can graft a webcam to my 1705! lol

Found it, downloading them now:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1720/en/index.htm

Spoke too soon, it's only the manual, not the service manaul. However, I found something interesting. There is a slot (2 actually) for Flash Cache Module. That must be the Robson cache feature.

 

That would be cool to graph a web cam but I don't think you can do it in the center due to the latch and the way it works. and what are you talking about 2 slots for the flash cache? are you looking at where the wireless card is? If you are there are three slots there.. one is WLAN the other WWAN, and last WPAN. so Wireless (802.11), Air Card, and then the flash cache.

 

Guess you all don't know the saying..."No Highs, No Lows...Must Be Bose!" While Bose Headphones are good, (others are better for a lot less $$) their speakers are a wife friendy joke. Don't even go there.....true audiofiles will laugh at you big time. LOL! I too have an I9300, and the sound is good for a laptop...not something for serious listening, but for the occasional game, movie, cd etc its pretty decent. Never noticed any Hiss issues with mine either..though I think about getting a SB card so I can feed 5.1 from the laptop to my Home Theater System. Playing Games in 1080P with full surround has a certain appeal to me. (and the 19300 has DVI out!) (HT = 61" JVC LCoS set, JBL Studio Monitors all around, SVS 42" tall Sub, Pioneer VSK1014 7x110W w a few other goodies)

Anyways, back to the 1520...cancelled my original order cause EPP is weird, no Wireless N option...re did it over the phone with a Rep and got the wireless N now....and actually saved 48 cents...LOL!

Waiting on a service manual too.....

 

I agree Ninja, Nothing beats a good LP thrown on some nice analog speakers. (And if you want to argue that I will start spitting credentials.) Bose are good for digital speakers but I do beg to differ on the no highs, no lows. Bose gets good treble from their tweeters but it is digital crap. they do get decent lower mid on their "sub"woofer (I would consider it a sub) what they really lack is true midrange and a decent sub for bass.

 

Well the point is, it takes a certain size driver to put out Mid range stuff, period. For general tv/movies the Bose are ok...first time I listend to a well known Pink Floyd track I about threw up! Now I have proper 1" Ti Tweeters, 4.25" & 6" Mids all around (good to down about 60hz)...that are clean crisp warm up to outragous levels (a JBL trademark). And my first Sub while not a Bose was similar....fine to maybe 35hz then crap. My www.svsubwoofers.com Sub is flat to 20hz, with a gentle roll-off to 10hz. I measured 119db with the 11hz Ring Drop in LOTR (a popular measurement point in Sub Forums), my current Sub moves pants legs, drapes, pictures, heck it moves the foundation!! (Best add to my HT. Kids and neighbors go nuts over it!) Bose has some technology no doubt that is acceptable in Car's and table radios, but for HT...they are a Joke. The only ones they make happy are Wifes for their cute little look...and peeps that don't really use speakers in the first place.

Sorry for the off topic! Audio Video is something I take pretty serious...google avscience forums...best site on the net for such stuff.

 

The manual says you can put the cache module in either the WWAN or WPAN slot, but not the WLAN slot. I donn't know if that means you can put two of them in there. But anyway, it's there!

As for the webcam, how does it fit the 1720? It has a latch too. Need the service manual to see that.

 

Hi everybody

Need some infos and it seems you have some ! Sorry, I feel a bit lazy to read the 80 pages, and there is not the information I need on the first page.

I want to know whether it is possible or not to run Linux Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn) on one of this Laptop (1520, 1521, 1720, 1721 no real preference...).

Before the question come, the 1505 is not available in France, where I live...

Thank you for your support !

 

I dont see why everyone asks this... It should, as long as it has a hard drive...lol.

 

Problem is to find drivers that work without big troubles and efforts for graphical cards and so on....

?

 

oh, ok then.