1080p Screen Upgrade

I'm going to purchase a Dell XPS 15 tomorrow...

Is the 1080p screen upgrade worth the $195? If i feel the resolution makes everything to small, will it still look good if i lower the resolution a little?

 

the 1080p screen's quality is a lot better than the 720. It is OK If the resolution turns out to be too small for you because you can always adjust the screen to the resolution that you like 720, 900, etc...I would say YES on the 1080 purchase but it's your money, you get to do whatever you want with it

 

You don't have to change the resolution to make things bigger. You can also change the Font size in control panel.
If you know you're going to have lots of windows open on the screen, the 1080p screen upgrade may be very useful to you. I mean you'll have significantly more space to work with in 1920x1080 than in 1366x768.
The only problem is if you play games with it. Games would generally run faster on 1366x768. However, if you do get the 1080p monitor, you can change the resolution in game to 1366x768, but the graphics might not look as sharp. That will depend on how well the 1080p monitor handles upscaling. Of course, another option would be to play your games on lower graphics.

Oh yeah... How well does the 1080p handle upscaling? I'd be interested to know.

 

768 on a 15" screen would drive me crazy, it's not 1998 anymore.

 

IMO, yes, absolutely.

My original had the 1080p and when I received a replacement, they sent me the wrong LCD. So I have seen both screens and the difference between the two is night and day. I'd pay the 195 for the up-grade any day even tho when I got it, it was then a 130 dollar up-grade.

 

Same here, I paid $250 in upgrade to a 1080 RGB LED on my previous SXPS 16 and still think it is very well worth it, that screen was truly amazing.

 

Yes it is worth the upgrade. I don't own an XPS 15 but I have seen it in person vs the 720p screen and it completely blows it out the water. I think the screen is one of the best for the consumer market, only bested by the 1200p screens from HP (Dreamcolor2 from the Elitebooks) and the 1200p from Dell (RGBLED from the Precision line)

 

Worth it definitely, just realize some programs might look different with a higher DPI setting.

 

Thanks for all the help guys! I decided to get the 1080p screen and just made my purchase from Dell this morning. Below are my specs!

1 224-9506 XPS 15
1 317-5417 Intel Core i5-460M 2.53GHz / up to SC 2.8GHz / 3M
1 317-5422 4GB,DDR3,2 DIMM
1 331-0481 Backlit Keyboard (Internal) - English
1 320-1665 NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M 1GB graphics with Optimus
1 342-1683 640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
1 318-0152 Metalloid Aluminum (WLAN) L501X
1 320-1673 15.6FHD TLF WLED LCD L501X
1 421-3874 Camera Software 2.X, Factory Install
1 421-4060 Fast Access Facial Recognition 3.0 SW Application
1 421-3642 Basic Stage
1 420-7938 Dell Connect 2.1
1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp
1 420-6436 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 330-6222 Windows 7 Label
1 421-1737 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 420-9876 Cozi-Calendar
1 421-2086 eBay Webslice
1 421-0757 Skype VOIP Application
1 331-0483 Resource DVD L501X
1 421-4118 WHITEPAGES.COM,Webslice
1 318-0392 Windows Live Wave 4
1 421-4289 Dell Support Center Software 3.0
1 430-4038 Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
1 410-1883 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
1 318-0150 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
1 421-1362 Dell Software,Roxio 1.0
1 318-0138 JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3
1 430-3891 Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200
1 421-3984 WIDI Software For L501X
1 410-2461 MCAFEE PEARL MUI,30DAY,Without Media
1 312-1114 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
1 410-0487 No full-featured Office 2010 software selected
1 926-9247 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
1 937-8390 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
1 950-3337 1 Year Limited Warranty
1 950-9797 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
1 933-0410 Warranty Support, Initial Year
1 420-8878 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement
1 421-4356 Software, DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
1 988-0099 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
1 927-2357 DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
1 330-0171 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
1 430-3893 No Mobile Broadband L501X
1 430-3894 Dell Bluetooth 3.0
1 421-4600 Recovery DVD for Windows 7 Home Premium OS, 64bit, English

These are my specs, I left the processor as is and upgraded the following....
1080p Screen
640GB HDD
9-Cell Battery
Bluetooth 3.0
Backlit Keyboard
Intel Advanced N 6200 Wireless Card

I was contemplating upgrading to a blue-ray drive but I really don't watch or use blue-ray. I was also considering the processor, but an i7 is way to much for my needs and I would rather have the longer battery life. Since everyone was saying the i5-460 and i5-560 are pretty similar I decided just to stick with the i5-460. Decided to leave the ram at 4GB as I can always upgrade this myself later on. Upgraded to the advanced wireless card, as i do not need or want to pay monthly for WiMAX.

 

you got boned, as did I.

you could order a 1080p B+RGLED today (dell admitted it was better on the phone with me to day) but me and you got a WLED 1080p

i just called delll, we'd have to cancel and re-order

 

So if it does not say WLED, it is definately the B+RGLED for the 1080p?

 

i don't know what if it doesn't say WLED .. yours says WLED, and so does mine..

but if you had waited until yesterday (monday, jan 10/2011) then it would ship saying B+RGLED, and if you want it to ship saying B+RGLED, then you gotta wait for your WLED to arrive, and then send it back and wait for a B+RGLED, which isn't an option for me, as i have an SSD, and it will take weeks..

so they offered me $150 off for accepting their mistake.

 

You guys have me confused now, there are two 1080p screens?

When I placed my order last night on dell.com I selected the option "Silver Anodized Aluminum 15.6" FHD (1080p) B+RGLED Display with Facial Recognition and 2.0 MP webcam". They sent me an e-mail confirming my order and on the specs is says "320-1673 15.6FHD TLF WLED LCD L501X".

 

i'm not 100% myself, but i believe there are two 1080p screens... you just said you ordered a B+RGLED, but that you are receiving a WLED...

so you are either receiving the 720p WLED and don't know it, or you are receiving a 1080p WLED .. but either way, it's not the B+RGLED, and dell just told me 20 minutes ago that the B+RGLED is better resolution, which might leadme to believe the WLED is just a 720p (the difference IS resolution so..)

i 'm about to call back now and see if i cannot learn more

we are in the same boat

 

I'm going to place a call with them now and confirm this. I noticed the WLED in there to. I just assumed it was still the 1080p B+RGLED screen.

 

I ordered the B+RGLED too but on my invoice it says WLED. So I called in to inquire and basically it seems like it was just misnamed on the invoice because the rep confirmed the part serial number of the "WLED" matched the part serial number on the B+RGLED.

 

I called Dell...
They told me that the screen that I ordered, part# 320-1673 "15.6FHD TLF WLED LCD L501X", is the Silver Anodized Aluminum 15.6" FHD (1080p) B+RGLED Display with Facial Recognition and 2.0 MP webcam.

They only make one 1080p screen for the XPS 15! Thanks for scaring me bro! haha

 

well this time punjab #7 said that the part number i gave him is the part number for the B+RGLED display, and that it is "coincidence" that B+RGLED is not listed on the "incomplete" description, but that WLED is listed..

did that even make sense?

so:
1. part number i have "supposedly" is for a B+RGLED 1080p
2. my description on my order is "not a complete description"
3. it is a "coincidence" that the term WLED IS on the incomplete description (he once suggested it meant WITH LED, but later retracted when he noticed 720p was WLED



HMMMM

 

I did just confirm that the part number on the invoice next to the "15.6FHD TLF WLED LCD L501X" which is 320-1673 does indeed match the number next to the B+RGLED Display w/ Facial Recog. I also just spoke with the supervisor of a manager and he did confirm it was just a mistake in the naming on the invoices.

 

guys, there is no "B+RG" screen

there is only cclf, Wled, and RGBled.

the "B+RG" screen is nothing more than an exceptional Wled screen whit a fancy name.

 

Well I hope my EXCEPTIONAL WLED SCREEN WHIT A FANCY NAME arrives soon!

 

so then i called "dell parts" and played like i wanted to purchase ... oh say part # 320-1763 for an XPS 15..

he said it's a 720p WLED screen

not a 1080
not a B+RGLED

see the thing is when i ordered it, it did say WLED... pcmag.com said B+RGLED was no longer an option (right after they tested it, labelled it the year'sbest laptop, then they saidthe magical 1080p is not an option)

so i ordered... disappointed but content with my purchase...
the nextday, however, it turns out.... ding ding ding B+RGLED isback!same price!

it magically just switched on dell.com, but didn't magically just switch on the laptop i ordered the day before.

so now i'm on hold, waiting for parts to pick the phone back up.. and it's been quite a while on hold..

 

This entire thing seems kind of sketchy!

 

Fortunately not.

 

Does anyone know which manufacture brand makes the good 1080p screens? When I receive my laptop is there a way to determine if I have the good screen... properties/hardware/device manager?

 

From the Anandtech review that I linked above: AU Optronics B156HW1

 

Thanks! I'm definitely going to look for this when I get my computer in.

 

It is odd because I'm getting a 1080p sent to me from Dell and this is what the order descriptions states:
SERVICE KIT..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., 15.6FHD, B+RG, LIGHT EMITTING DIODE..., TLF


So why one says WLED and the other says B+RG.................

 

Dell is shipping me a new 1080p display. The dell tech that came to my house gave them the model number of my 1080p and they said they have them in stock, so my screen is being over nighted and I should have it tomorrow

 

I don't think anyone really knows why. Most likely it's just a typo. Will have to wait and see when our laptops arrive.

 

B156HW01 v4 actually, the plug & play ID is AUO17ED

 

Good catch! I think I hadn't read your post yet when I replied... Thanks for compiling all that info.

 

Well I got my replacement LCD and I must say, it is AMAZING. NO comparison to the 720p. The part # is B156HW01 v.7.

 

v7? that must be an mistake.

Would you mind downloading EnTech Taiwan | Utilities | Monitor Asset Manager and dump the report in a post? (just copy-paste it)

 

The sticker on the back on the panel said v.7.


Monitor
Windows description...... Generic PnP Monitor
Manufacturer............. AUO
Plug and Play ID......... AUO17ED
Data string.............. KYYVK€B156HW1
Serial number............ n/a
Manufacture date......... 2010, ISO week 0
Filter driver............ monitor
-------------------------
EDID revision............ 1.4
Input signal type........ Digital
Color bit depth.......... 6 bits per primary color
Color encoding formats... RGB 4:4:4
Screen size.............. 340 x 190 mm (15.3 in)
Power management......... Not supported
Extension blocs.......... None
-------------------------
DDC/CI................... n/a

Color characteristics
Default color space...... Non-sRGB
Display gamma............ 2.20
Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.676 - Ry 0.314
Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.215 - Gy 0.665
Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.141 - By 0.069
White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329
Additional descriptors... None

 

the one that says FHD is 1080p
the one that says HDF is 720p

period... there are no other screens... the FHD one is the good one... i got that one... this question has been answered a lot of times in these forums... don't confuse others...

 

@Darkstone I'm confused now! is the 1080p panel on XPS 15, v4 or v7? How can we check this?

 

the sticker must be wrong... there is absolutely no evidence that v7 exists. (other than one sticker)
also, the color chromatics are suprisingly similair:

v4 datasheet - above report
0.676 - 0.676
0.313 - 0.314
0.217 - 0.215
0.661 - 0.665
0.142 - 0.141
0.067 - 0.069
94,42% - 95,02% NTSC

even if it is a different panel from v4, the differences whould be next to zero.

 

Then why have people who have got HDF listed on there system specs when ordering a 1080p screen been recieving the 1080p screen?

 

I just got my Dell XPS 15...
How else can I check to confirm that I recieved the 1080p screen?
It looks like I do, would just like to confirm it. When I go into control panel, screen resolution it shows 1920x1080.

 

Just got my replacement XPS L501x with the B+RGLED 1080p and backlit keyboard and lets just say the difference is night and day. I managed to get it replaced even though I was past the 21-day return period and also without restocking fees because I convinced the manager that the 720p is way too inferior for a laptop of such high caliber since it's the XPS. So basically I was willing to shell out another $150 for the screen upgrade and backlit keyboard. Best decision I've made this year.

 

If you lower the resolution, things WILL look fuzzy. It is advised not to change to anything other than the native resolution. Things will not display with optimum clarity. Trust me, I had this laptop for a week and I tried it. Everything is incredibly fuzzy when you lower the resolution.

I found the 100% DPI on 1080p to be too much. It gave me headaches. You can adjust the font size, but be warned that sometimes this doesn't work very well with some programs and it does not affect websites on browsers other than IE, so you will have to do that with some other add-on for a browser. (For me, also, icons became distorted and eventually I screwed it up permanently and had to return the laptop).

I'm not trying to scare you from getting it, it's just that I did return my Dell XPS 15 because of the screen. Turns out I just rather have a 14-inch laptop. 1920x1080 is just too big for me. Optimal would be 1600x900 but that resolution is being phased out, unfortunately.