Vostro 1500 - Screen Questions (and worries!!!)

Hi all,

I just got my Vostro 1500 in today and I am very concerned that the screen I have (CPT141F) has horrendous viewing angles and light bleeding.

There is a fair amount of light leakage along the bottom edge. I can live with that, but the worst part is that the whole bottom half of the screen seems to be washed out. Also, blacks become washed out and get the 'film negative' effect even at maybe 50 degrees from center, horizontally. The upper vertical viewing angle is only 20 degrees or so, and the bottom angle is much better.

Is the screen acceptable (within typical light bleed/washout limits)???

Would someone mind posting a picture of their Vostro screen (preferably of the Samsung or LG screens) for comparison?

Also, what are the chances of me returning the laptop for a new one with the same CPT141F screen?? Does Dell still ship 15.4" LG or Samsung screens??

THANKS so much!!

edit: attached are some pictures of the screen. Two things to note: my camera phone is pretty bad with indoor photos, that's why everything is really grainy/blurry (the screen itself is not grainy at all). Secondly the camera exaggerates things a little.

edit 2: the pictures don't communicate it well, but when I'm on a dark screen, the whole bottom half of the screen looks a bit lighter/washed out than the top half, not just a crescent shape like you clearly see in the photos...

 

Hrmm....first off, how do you determine your screen's brand name manufacturer?

 

My Samsung SEC3358 also has the reflectiveness. It is a property of glossy (matte?) screens. Not really an issue when you are using the screen as the reflection appears when the screen is mostly black with large areas of same colour or off. Most tasks, games etc. are not affected.

Zeth: Start > Run > devmgmt.msc > Monitors > PnP Monitor > Properties > Details

You will get something like DISPLAY/[model]/...

 

I have the same CPT141F screen and yes it has bad viewing angles and alot of bleeding but i dont plan to return it.

 

Bump, photos attached to original post.

@Krt, what i meant was the kind of reflection that you see when you look at the decals n an ambulance or police car, or that red and white dotted line tape they put on 18-wheeler trailers, you know what i mean?

 

you know - i finally opened up my 1500 yesterday - and immediately, i was disappointed with the screen

i have the samsung screen and i suffer from the light bleed at the bottom as well - also, although i dont notice the grain problem people have been talking about, it looks like the entire screen is washed out - its actually uncomfortable to look at - i feel like if i were to work at that screen for 2-3 hours, i would have a migraine

it stinks - i love the way the keyboard feels, i love the way the computer responds, but the screen is just horrible - its one of the worst screens ive seen - my 3 year old toshiba's screen looks FAR and away better...

methinks im going to have to return it and look elsewhere...

 

It doesn't really matter who manufactures the screen. If you guys are unhappy with your screens, you should get replacements. There are certainly a small number of people who have been through several replacements who never get satisfaction, but I think there's a decent chance you will get a good screen. Replacements usually have a high priority set on them, so you should receive them relatively quickly (within a week).

It's hard, especially for people like me who have never had a laptop, to determine how good or bad the quality of the screen is. My feeling was my original screen was pretty bad (graininess, bad viewing angles, light bleeding). But when I received my replacement, I could tell instantly that the new screen was way way better.

 

IMO that is too much light leakage.
I would find it very distracting.
Ask yourself if you want to put up with that throughout the lifetime of the laptop.

Even if you got another CPT141F, it wouldn't necessarily have this amount of light leakage.

 

Ok, I'm sending my laptop back and Dell is replacing the screen for me, so I'll post here when it's all finished

 

That's an awful backlight bleed. If it were me I would request an exchange.

 

don't get a dell, thats the only advice i can give you. you get what you pay for.

 

heres the thread where i posted up a few pictures of my screen issues:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2650620&postcount=35

yeah - its going back tomorrow

EDIT - this is the link directly to the post i made that contains the pictures - but you can read the pages preceding that post to see the story of dells customer service "in action"

 

Don't buy white bread, it causes cancer. Dell's are great, and for the minority with issues, you can simply return it.

 

i know that people mostly put negative experiences online - very rarely do you see people say: "i just bought a computer and am totally content with it"

however - this screen issue seems to be pretty major - pretty much ALL of the major notebook forums indicate that bad screens seem to be a dime a dozen at dell - not exactly a minority (i mean - how many times have you read: "ooh boy - i HOPE i get the lg screen!"? thats pretty sad)

ive only had a few experiences with their customer service - so perhaps my comment wont bear as much weight - but those experiences were horrible - maybe its because i know what im talking about - and i know what questions to ask - most people (not in this forum - im talking about the general population) dont know what to ask and dont really know what theyre getting

i feel sorry for the small business owners who get duped by dell
- csr: "you're having a problem? not anymore! we'll send out a replacement!"
- customer: "gee whiz! you will?!?! thats great!"

little do they know they send out refurbs - and that they could have gotten the same computer from the dell outlet for significantly less - yet theyll happily accept their refurbished computer for the new computer price - thats just wrong...

EDIT - and we know we can "simply return it" - but what about my inconvenience? i order this computer online, it takes 2 weeks to get to me, it doesnt live up to the hype whatsoever, and then im offered a refurb as a replacement - all in all - this experience has completely turned me off from dell (i should have learned my lesson after my first experience of dell - ordering an axim)

 

To be fair to Dell, the only thing that I am upset with is the screen. Everything else on this Vostro is excellent. Build quality is very sturdy, performance is top notch, and the battery life is perfectly acceptable. Yes I could have gone with an HP and gotten a dazzling screen for sure, but less performance for more price. And, the customer support is gonna be on average pretty bad no matter what major company you go with. Dell.. Hp.. they are both gonna be bad at customer support because of hte nature of the company.

Anyway... I know I won't be getting a refurb because I am keeping the hard drive here and they are just replacing the LCD, so hopefully I'll get an LG... I'll certainly be praying about it

 

^ ill pray for you too! i would have loved it if i got a good screen to begin with - then i wouldnt have had to even contact customer service and id be saying: "yay! i got the lg screen! all is well!"

oh well - ill just have to spend the hundred extra bucks and get an hp... (or maybe the sony - its $200 more but comes with the 8400 gt card - and its about half the weight and thickness of the 1500, so all in all - its about even - oof, that thing is REALLY tempting...)

 

If you order new, and request exchange or return within 21 days they WILL build a new machine for you. I an vouch for that myself. They can't manage to figure out how to give you a screen from a certain mfr, how do you expect them to match up a laptop with the same specs. That's why you're better off ordering a couple odd specs on the machine too. Then if you need it replaced down the road they'll have to build you a new one anyways because they won't have that in stock.

 

^ you can vouch for it all you want - thats not what happens (or at least, not what happened in my case):
- i did order a brand new unit
- i did have a couple of "odd" specs (upgraded to t7300, nvidia 8400m, 3 gigs of ram, 160gb hd, 4965 wireless, bt)
- i called in 7 days after the ship date - 2 days after i received the unit (WELL before the 21 day mark)
- the rep told me i'd be getting a refurb - i even asked: "aren't i supposed to be getting a brand new machine? this is the vostro line we're talking about..."
- his response: "nope - it'll be a refurb" - he told me i would not get any compensation (discount) - even though i paid for a brand new unit - i'd be getting a refurbished unit

either that's their policy - or i spoke to a completely incompetent rep - either way - ill definitely not be buying from dell again - because:
- either their policy stinks; or
- they have incompetents working there

again, im not going to beg dell to take my money for a less-than-quality machine that comes with less-than-quality service

EDIT - and someone brought up a good point in one of the threads - dell had HUGE problems with shipping new units out - the delays were crazy - oddly enough, the second most of the refurb stock disappeared from dell's outlet site, people began seeing shipments

i wouldnt be surprised if they have a stockpile of refurb parts they use for replacements - in fact, the way my screen looked - i wouldnt be surprised if that came from a refurb unit...

 

This is probably a dead thread but I'll post anyhow. How DO you determine your screen's brand name?

And also, I can vouch for what Kricket wrote about them sending out Refirbs as replacements. I'd bet that the replacement I got was a refirb.
I just bought a Vostro 1500. Hated the light bleed at the bottom of the screen and told them and they promised to send me a "brand new laptop". But what I got instead was a replacement with the same light bleed, plus a few extras. The lid wobbled when closed and the right speaker went on and off. I also noticed that the plastic that covers the Dell logo on the laptop lid, which was on my original laptop was not there on the replacement laptop. When I mentioned this to the customer care rep, that it seemed like a refirb rather than the "brand new laptop" he promised me, he seemed to drop me like a hot potato saying I should return them both and select another model. I'm considering calling again but I just don't want to go through all the trouble of mailing another one back.
Anyhow...

 

P.S. I just called Dell and asked if they could guarantee that if I ask for another replacement, could they guarantee that it will be a new laptop and not a refirb and he said he couldn't promise me that. He could only order the new one but is not able to control how it is built. Geez.

 

I've bought 2 vostro 1500s and convinced 4 of my friends to buy vostro 1500s they all had great screens except the last one I got which had a grainy screen, I sent it back to get the screen replaced. These are awesome lappys but I guess you do roll the dice a little with the screens.

 

In the device manager, double-click on Monitors and then double-click Plug and Play Monitor (or whatever your screen is called). Click on the Details tab. From the pulldown menu, select Hardware ids. There will be a screen id consisting of letters and numbers. Samsung screens start with SEC, LG screens with LPL, AUO with AUO.

 

Thank you DerKaiser for your help. Well, it seems I have an LG screen. I'm actually a bit surprised since others have said LG is one of the good ones. Anyhow, good to know.

 

Well i just checked my screen i have a 1920x1200 'SEC3155' which is samsung i think.

Anyway, i have no problems with the screen and am very happy with it, there is a tiny bit of bleeding that is notiable on startup mwhen the BIOS is loading. but otherwise i can't notice it when in use.

I admit the screen has pretty bad veiwing angles. But since i use it as a desktop replacement i never look at the screen at an odd angle.

I would also like to know people who have problems with viewing angles why are they looking at the screen at such an odd angle.

btw i have a vostro 1700