Dell E1505 Video and Screen questions

Please help me with some advices since I'm new here and don't know much about laptops. Sorry if the questions have been asked before. I just found this great site.

I just got myself the popular Dell E1505 Duo Core. Basically, it will be used for web surfing, DVD/CD burning, some photo editing, programming, and light gaming (when I'm bored... can't see much on an 15in anyway, lolz). I picked these specs:

Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ Duo Proc T2400 (1.83GHz/667MHz/2 X 1MB L2 Cache)
LCD Panel 15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife™
Memory FREE 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
Hard Drive 100GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Internal Wireless
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

My questions are:

1) I'm not familar with "truelife" screens. I know they're the glossy one but how is the viewing angle and easy to see it is, compared to the matte one? Also, will it attract lots of dust and fingerprints so requires constant cleaning? I heard it's reflective so much that's it's hard to see unless you're directly in front of it, but the colors are more real.

2) Is there any big difference between this Ultrasharp SXGA+ and the regular cheaper XGA? I know the SXGA+ will support higher resolution but at same resolution, will it look better or about the same? My 6000 runs at something (I forgot) x 800 resolution and it looks pretty small already. I think it has an upgrade screen too so there's a higher resolution than that 800 but the text is really small so I never changed to that. If downgrade, I can save $90 on this.

3) Is it worth it to get the ATI x1400 w/ 256MB over the cheaper x1300. I read around I found out that it actually has only 128MB on board instead (the other 128M comes from system RAM), and both have same specs except onboard RAM. If I get the x1300 and want to upgrade the card later on, can I buy it outside Dell and will it cheaper. Downgrade to the x1300 saves $50

Thanks everyone

 

1) the viewing angles are pretty good. The reflective ness is not that bad only when you have a lot of black or dark colors. The colors are very vibrant. Easy to clean. Does not attract that much fingerprints.

2) keep the screen to WXGA with truelife it is fine. Anymore and it will be hard to read.

3)Can't upgrade video card later. The x1300 should meet your needs for what you are doing. The x1400 is not much of an improvement as it is dedicated and shared memory.

Reps would be nice. If I helped at all. I am typing off of my E1505 now so if you have anymore questions feel free to PM me

 

Thanks compsavy, I can't rep because I'm new here. I think you need to post a # of threads first in order to rep.

So you're saying there's no difference in quality between the WXGA and WSXGA+ screen except the later has higher resolution screen? I don't want to go to that highest resolution because I know the text will be very small.

If I get the x1300 then I should be able to buy a better card later on to put it in. The thing is I dont know how hard or cost effective that will be. $50 for just 128MB more and 64 of that is actually from the 1G system RAM doesn't sound like a good spend. I have their desktop LCD, the FP1905, it's labelled as an Ultrashap and it does look better than LCDs that aren't "ultrasharp" at same resolution. Need to decide soon before they ship...

 

As I said you can not upgrade the video card. The screen quality is very good. The ultrasharp does not mean much just dell hype imo.

 

If WXGA (1280x800) looks small to you, then don't get the WSXGA+ option - I use it, but it is a good deal smaller than WXGA.

If you're a gamer or plan to do any sort of 3D, then go for the X1400. Otherwise, you could save the $50 and stick with the X1300.

 

I believe LCDs look best at its native resolution. For WXGA it's 1280x800 and for SWXGA it's 1680x1050. I just check with my 6000 and at lower resolution, it doesnt seem as sharp. But even I don't run at max resolution on SWXGA, it can be helpful when I connect it to a bigger external LCD. Sometimes I see they put a + sign after "XGA", not sure what that means. Like with the 1705, they put WXGA+ as the lower option but with the 1505, it's only WXGA.

 

WXGA+ is different than WXGA.

 

Thanks Chaz, that's why they offer the WXGA+ and UWXGA on the 17in because the screen is bigger. I never knew this.