got my e1405.. LCD issue

k i got my e1405 last friday and have been playing with it.
so far.. my impression:

design, build quality, keyboard.. they are ok.
i have ibm t30 so i have pretty high expectation
but e1405 is not so bad. i have checked out other
brands such as sony, hp and gateways in bestbuy
and would say this model is on par with others
(but maybe not with t series).

one thing i like is.. it runs very cool and quiet.
i haven't pushed it to high loads yet but think it will hold.


now bad news..
its lcd quality is very horrible. its brightness aspect is
quiet good but is extremely grainy. you can see it
no matter what you do.. watching dvd, working with
images. however it gets worse when the background
is light fair colors. now the problem is i mainly use text
editors (eclipse and textpad), and all text editors have
white background. i need to work long hours with this
notebook, but its lcd is giving me headache and eye strain
only after 30 minutes of work.

before i went with this model, i have checked all the
reviews here and found no one mentions this. (however,
i know many dell owners complain of the grainy lcd.)

did i get just bad unit?
will it get better if i get replacement?
if i need replacement, how should i approach?
i would like your opinion if you have similar problem
with your dell laptop.

 

can't you just adjust the colors in the nvidia control panel???

 

LCD is a personal preference. I am assuming you have the glossy since it strains the eyes. If so, just call up dell and tell them that the lcd is straining you eyes and giving you a head eye and ask for a replacement to the matte
I did a system exchange and it went smoothly. I had it within a week but my replacement was for a defect.

 

grainy lcd is not about color control. what it means is that you see
dirty and grainy look on white backgrounds instead of solid white
color. the graphics controller is giving a signal to show white
but lcd can't

before i got this laptop, i was worried about glossy display, thinking it might give me heaaches.. howevers surprsingly that is not an issue. the lighting conditions i am using my notebook do not give me any glare.

so no, its not glare thats giving me headaches.
i showed my laptop to my wife and friends, all agree on fuzzy, grainy look...

hmm that's good to hear.. so your lcd was not broken, but they changed it
because you didn't like?

 

My keyboard was defective so because it was within the 30 days (im in Canada) I was able to order a system exchange brand new.
You said you were getting headaches and eye strain so maybe your preference is to go with the matte
My LCD is fine. No problems with it

 

Problems with grainy LCDs on 1405 have been discussed a lot on this and other forums.

You got a typical SEC (Samsung) screen.

You'll be playing a lottery.

There is no approach. You either win the lottery or not.

The only solution is to get another brand. Sony and Toshiba are pretty consistent in display quality; HP is spotty, but your chances to get a better screen are higher than with Dell.

 

couldn't you get a replacement and call dell to tell them that if they send you another one with a SEC (samsung) display that you'd return it again?

 

gootings, you never did say wich screen you got. Also you sure your headache isnt just caused by the small screen?

 

Make sure you're running at the screen's native resolution and also try turning off anti-aliasing (Under Display properties/Appearance/Effects...) or switching it to Clear Type.

 

so i installed powerstrip to find out the manufacturer for the screen, but
somehow it only says "default monitor"..
and i went to dell support site and can't find it there either.

yes, the clear type is on.
however, i can't find anti-aliasing menu in display property..

 

any follow up on this issue? i JUST got my e1405 in and unfortunately have a samsung screen.... same exact fuzzy-ness on light colors, specifically in text editors/etc.

has anyone successfully been able to request a NON-samsung screen on their replacement..?

 

I had the exact same problem with the E1505 that I bought in May. It had a Samsung screen and white backgrounds had speckles of gray everywhere that gave it a dirty/grainy look. I sent that machine back and was fortunate that the replacement was an LG screen, which doesn't have this problem.

My advice is keep sending it back until you get one that looks right to you. I'm planning on using my E1505 for years, so having to settle for a lousy screen was not an option for me.

 

I didnt request a non-samsung screen but I received a LG screen with my replacement for the E1405

 

so the LG screen has NO problems with white/light colors (like the samsung), and is still glossy? i was thinking maybe going matte would lessen the problem.. but i'd like to keep it if possible.

also, what was the process like? is it the same computer with a new screen, or a brand new unit? did the customer service reps know of the problem already? (ie common)

thanks.

 

The LG screen does not have the grainy look of the Samsung... at least not to my eyes.

Dell ended up sending a brand new laptop to my house and they allowed me to keep the original machine until the replacement came in, which was very nice. I did have to ask though.

As far as the process, I just called Dell and told them that I was not satisfied with my screen ("excessive grain" is what I told them, I believe) and I had friends who owned the same machine and their screens did not have this problem. The lady I spoke with agreed to send out a replacement. It was not difficult at all.

 

well after a small hassle with the returns department and getting bumped to tech support (to first diagnose the problem... i guess the 75+ page thread on the dell forums doesnt make it a "known" issue), i have another e1405 on the way.

i can honestly say now after using my current e1405 a little more and showing it to others/getting opinions on the "excessive grain", that the problem isnt as bad as people make it out to be (at least a third of the people i showed it too still dont have a clue what i'm seeing... others dont notice it until i point it out, but then notice it from thereafter). my mom and other users like her would never even EVER notice it.. lol. if i hadn't read these and other forums i probably would have just accepted it as a "sub-$1700 laptop" symptom and would have looked @ a sony for my next purchase. in hindsight i'm glad that i can get it replaced and my eyes will be much happier if i can get a screen that doesnt have these issues.

i'll post how things work out once i get the replacement in... i might even do some side by side + close up photos since i'll have both notebooks for a short time (that assumes that i dont get another samsung screen...)

 

got my replacement e1405......................... and it has another samsung screen. (although the problem white light colors isnt as bad as before).

at this point i really dont know what to do. i dont want to keep going round and round with replacements, but at the same time i dont want to get stuck with something that will just bug me for a couple years.

for those with experience in this issue, will i EVER get an lg panel? anyone have luck with this return/exchanging process? how long did you wait?

 

well after reading some of the posts on the dell forums, i figured my best bet was to have one of the in home techs come out and try and get the screen replaced (rather than getting a third replacement notebook) ...this way i can have "requests lg panel" in the comments field, and can actually talk to the tech before he comes out (whereas the phone support people just put in an order for another replacement notebook, and you're just playing the lottery again). several folks on the dell forums said that they were able to get an lg panel this way... i hope i can too.

maybe i'm just asking too much for under $1500... i even noticed that the expresscard slot was damaged on my original notebook after using it for a few more days :/

sigh