newly bought I6000 :(

Hi everybody.

This is my first post and already a problem

I've just recived my inspiron 6000 with Radeon x300, WUXGA and there is a problem with clear display. The view is clear ONLY in highest resolution (1920x1200) - in any other resolution the display is very blured, lookin' like ATARI. I would say it's a drivers problem but I have the newest drivers instaled (checked dell site http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?releaseid=R101358)
I called dell's technical support and talked to a guy, who reading the manual (!!!), told me to uninstal video adapter and restart XP. It didn't help of course Then they started transfering me from one person to another and after 3 hours on the line (!!!) I gave up

I've paid $150 more for WUXGA and start to think that it was a BAD decision - I've even been thinking about returning the laptop.
Can anybody please tell me what else can I do to solve this problem?

thank you in advance

zxc

 

yes this is what happens when you try to run a LCD screen at non-native resoloutions (e.g. anything other than 1920x1200) the screen will look blurry becuase it has to map logical pixels to physical pixels and depending on what type of resoloution you are trying to run it at, 1 logical pixel can mean sometimes at least 4 physical pixels, to avoid this you will have to run the display at native resoloution. If you find this too small, unreadable and uncomfotable on the eyes i think you should send the laptop back withing the 21day return policy and get a wxga or wsxga+ screen

hope this helps
Alex

 

ARE YOU SERIOUS????

zxc

 

Yes i am, sorry, you should have looked into what wuxga looks like before you selected it as an option, e.g. go down to a local computer shop and look at other laptops with a wuxga screen and see how small the text looks ect.

there are some people over at www.notebookforums.com that have a guide on how to make a lcd look better when it is not running at its optimal resoloution but it still wont looks as good as native sorry

Alex

 

I think Im just gonna shoot myself

thank you for that information

zcx

 

one more question:

uninstaling video adapter and reinstaling it (by restarting XP) made most of the tabs from advanced options for video adapter disappear - now I have 5 (general/adapter/monitor/troubleshot/color management) and originally there were about 12-15 - how can I restore them?

zxc

 

Re-install the latest ATI drivers from Dell, you could even try downloading the new version of ATI Catalyst to see if those work.

A WUXGA resolution does not look bad on a 17 inch monitor, I have the XPS Gen. 2 and I wouldn't wanty any other resolution. CAD drafts look amazing and I have more than enough cells to work with in Excel. Games look fine running out of the native resolution but anything else running below the WUXGA resolution looks terrible. If you don't like the way it looks then I suggest returning it and getting a WXGA or WSXGA LCD.

 

I've already re-installed the latest drivers and it didn't help
I've tried to instal Catalyst but system refused to accept it ??? - I have .NET instaled

maybe it's not a matter of drivers, maybe ther was addidional software?

zxc

 

zxc,

With LCD screens, you have to run it at its intended resolution. No other ways.

 

yeah, I know now

but how to restore the original video setings/drivers?

zxc

 

are you experiencing blurry things in the IE? cuz i dont know what did dell do, but if you go to their support website and download the software that resizes IE. all the pictures and text will be a lot clearer even if you reduce the native resolution.

 

1. download the appropriate driver / apps from dell's website for your machine and vid card

2. uninstall whatever you have installed relating to the card

3. install the driver / apps you dl'd from dell's site

 

I did all that regarding drivers. what apps are you talking about?

yes, it is blurry everywhere, in IE too. I think that I will get used to WUXGA quickly or return the laptop...

Right now I want to restore all the original settings so I can max tweak the display.

zxc

 

i suggest (if you know how) format your computer. after you format it you can install new drivers and such so then the screen will be clearer. but defintely go to dell's support and get that IE resizing program.

 

I don't get it
what "new drivers"? I have the newest drivers instaled and the display (in native resolution) is fine. I'm just missing (after the re-instaling procedure) some of the advance options for video display - maybe they were part of ADDITIONAL software (the tabs in advance videosetings had SMAL RED ATI LOGOS) but I don't know the name of it. For re-instalation I guess system used the drivers from c:\drivers


zxc

 

did you or did you not go to dell's site and download drivers or are you installing them from your HD?

 

as I wrote in first post, I checked dell's site and found
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...leaseid=R101358
however, those drivers are THE SAME as the ones that I have in c:\drivers folder - I instaled both and there was NO DIFFERENCE.
are there any newer?

zxc

 

dunno what to tell you

i reformated my wuxga 6000 w/x300 128 meg card a couple times when i first got it and used the driver(s) from dell's site and it worked perfectly every time. that executable should have the driver and the ati tool in it (which is what you say is now missin).

when u uninstall, are u only uninstalling the driver or the apps installed with the driver as well?

 

I wasn't using computer for 2 months - vacation - and almost forgot how friendly some softwers are
I used automatic driver selection (from the folder) and this way Control Panel WAS NOT included...
manually it works

thx

zxc

ps. how come inspiron6000 DOES NOT have port for mouse??? wireless is the ONLY option?

 

The Inspiron 6000 does have a port for a mouse, in fact, it has 4 USB 2.0 ports for whatever you want. You must use a USB mouse with your Inspiron 6000, there isn't any other option unless you have the internal bluetooth module. For wireless mice, you have two options:
1. Buy a regular RF mouse and use the RF external dongle to plug into the USB port. You can also buy a bluetooth mouse and plug the external dongle into a USB port.
2. Buy a bluetooth mouse and use it with the Dell internal bluetooth module if you ordered your notebook with one.

The i6000 does not have legacy ports such as PS/2 or the parallel port as there really isn't any need for one as pretty mush all mice released nowadays (and for the past year) are USB mice.

 

Yep you guessed it, you made a big mistake, with that BIG resolution WUXGA panel, should have gotten wsxga or wxga. This is a common problem as people are lulled into thinking that they absolutely must have a wuxga panel. No web sites and no games that I can think of even support a resolution that high which begs the question why would anyone pay 125 dollars more for the privilege of tweaking and using non native resolution. I suggest you exchange your panel for the wxsga or the wxga size. Text will be much easier to read. Many 6000 users report they prefer the ultrasharp wxsga panel.
If you are under warranty and dont want to send the lappy back to dell, ask them to send you a new lcd panel, one with lower resolution and replace is yourself.

 

wuxga suits me perfectly. i can have 2 full size Word docs next to each other; a source doc and a work doc w/out having to Alt+Tab between them.

if i had this screen in law school, it would have made my life much easier.

text isn't too small; it's nice and crisp to me

screen resolution preference is completely subjective.

 

well, I guess I need to get used to it. It's not that bad - now, after only 3 days, it looks kind of wird when I work at the desktop with VGA...

I have one more questions:
It seams that optical drive - NEC DVD+-RW ND 6650A - is not working that good - it doesn't read some of mine DVD+R (mostly those with unfinished session, but not only). The discs themselves are OK - my girlfriend's 3 years old laptop has no problems reading them. And here the system says "blank disc". That's a little disappointing

any ideas what can be done about it?

zxc

 

well, anybody ???

 

Sounds like you mistakenly bought the WUXGA listening to unprofessional advice as to buying that screen, I suggest you exhange it for WSXGA or lower. WUXGA is plain overkill and not supported by web pages or most games out there plus it makes text soo small, I imagine thats why you are using your lcd screen at non native which begs the question folks, why buy this wuxga panel in the first place?