Vertical viewing angle of 1520 with standard WXGA display

Greetings,

I just received my 1520 with the standard 1280x800 TrueLife screen and I was pleased that I didn't notice any of the "grainy" problems that so many posters have struggle with.

That said, I am still very disappointed with my display. On maximum brightness and with tons of tweaking the color settings, I still can't get photos to look nearly as good as my desktop LCD. Display seems dingy and drab in comparison. Is this to be expected from a notebook?

What seems to bother me even more is the awful vertical viewing angle. If you line up exactly perpendicular to the screen the view has a bit of lightness differences top to bottom, but not terrible. But moving your head just a few inches up or down causes dramatic variations in light levels, and 6 inches or more causes color inversion to start. Basically you can't stand behind a seated person and look at the same laptop without dramatically different views. This just isn't the case with my desktop LCD, and all LCD TVs, etc. The side-to-side angles aren't quite as severe but they're pretty bad too. Is this typical for the standard WXGA screens on the 1520? I'm getting the feeling that this isn't a lemon display, they just use cheap ones on all 1520s. I saw a Dell Precision laptop several years old in my office today and the viewing angles were far superior, the owner told me "oh yeah the Inspiron is the cheap product line, of course they use cheaper displays".

Dell's shopping site doesn't give very good specifications but it seems to imply that for $100 more the WSXGA+ display has much better viewing angles. Has anyone used a 1520 with the standard AND the WSXGA+ and concluded the latter is better? Is that high of a resolution in 15.4" too itty bitty for normal eyes?

I've had it a week and still have some time in my 21 days. I don't want to live with this display. It's not really defective, but it's not as good as I thought I would get for my money. So here's my main question. If I ask Dell to offer me something better, will they allow me to upgrade to the WSXGA+ screen for the $100 difference? Would they send a tech to swap it for me, or do I have to send the machine to them? Or would they just send me an entire new machine? Am I even entitled to any kinds of upgrades or swaps, or just return-for-refund?

Any advice is appreciated. I don't really know what will make my like my new notebook more, I just know I don't like the current screen with its fussy viewing angles (and drab colors).

 

Getting a WSXGA+ screen does not guarantee good viewing angles. The 1520 I returned had a WSXGA+ screen and not only were the viewing angles not as advertised, but the brightness was uneven and the whites were yellowish. However there are people who managed to get a good WSXGA+ or WXGA+ screen.

 

Dell screens are a shot in the dark. Dell contracts more than 3 different companies to make their screens.