XPS 15: 720p vs 1080p

Hi everyone. While it seems a lot of people writing about the XPS machine are into gaming, I don't really do any gaming on my current desktop. I have an XPS 15 'in production' and due to budget contraints, ordered it with the standard 720p display.

Some say that display is terrible, while others say on. 15.6" screen, while the 1080p is better, it's not earth shatteringly different. What do you all think? I haven't seen one person on the forum say they own a 720p - is it that bad? Will it just look like any other laptop LCD made in the last 10 years?

 

Ok I've already posted this somewhere else before. I'm one of very few that has experience with both screens. Initially I ordered the L501x in December with the 720p thinking I didn't need such a high resolution for gaming. However, once I received it, I immediately realized it was a mistake. The graininess of the display made me feel like I was myopic and was actually giving me a headache. I called Dell to complain and after some hours of that they agreed to exchange to the B+RGLED without any restocking fee. Once it arrived, within the first few seconds of turning the pc on, I noticed the display was beyond night and difference. Aside from the increased resolution, the brightness, color gamut, viewing angle, and contrast ratio was eons ahead in terms of superiority. The upgrade to the 1080p is worth every penny. The 720p is a complete disgrace to the XPS line.

 

720p is horrible on anything bigger than 14"

 

GPU performance is affected by screen res too right? So say I have 420m and play Mafia, will the frame rates drop compared to 720p screen?

 

I find the 720p absolutely fine, no issues at all. But then I have never used a 1080p on a laptop so its probably a bit of what you never had you can't miss!

 

Of course it will. More pixels means more bandwidth from the GPU. The relevant question is how much and that will vary greatly game by game.

Best bet is to look at other sites that provide GPU benchmarks and include Mafia Wars and you'll be able to guesstimate what the impact will be.

If 1080p slows down the framerate too much you can either turn down the settings or set the game to a lower resolution and let the panel scale up.

 

720p is terrible for a screen that large, and it has nothing (specific) to do with gaming.

Nearly everything you do on the laptop will be worse. Reading text, viewing photos, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, viewing 1080p videos, etc.

I suppose if you spend most of your computing time on your desktop then it really doesn't matter, but then in that case you could have went with a cheaper laptop.

 

You also don't have to run the games at the native resolution. Though a game at 720p on a 720p native screen should be somewhat crisper than 720p on a 1080p native screen, I'm not sure if that would be enough to care about. So you could get the higher-res screen for movies, regular use, and then play games at the resolution that gives you the least trouble.

 

basically...if you've seen the 1080p screen before or had a laptop with similar quality (not necessarily 1080p resolution) then you will hate the 720p screen. but if u've never been spoiled....the 720p screen should do.

also, gaming performance does drop quite noticeably if u use 1080p resolution instead of 720p. there's approximately twice as many pixels being displayed in the 1080p.

 

If you want my advice, cancel the order before it ships, then go order the 1080p display. Look for coupons to bring down the price. Since you're probably going to keep this machine for a few years, you're going to want to invest a bit more into it. The 1080p display is the only upgrade to the XPS 15 I'd say is /absolutely/ essential to the overall quality of the machine. The other performance-wise specifications don't affect anything except for high-performance applications and intense multitasking, whereas the display resolution will affect EVERYTHING you do.

If you seriously can't afford the 1080p upgrade, why are you even spending your money on an XPS anyway? Go get a Sager NP5160. On xoticpc.com it's got a $765 base price, +$65 for the 1080p upgrade. It's cheap because Sager doesn't advertise, they rely on people like us to spread the word of their existence.
You could also opt for the XPS 15 R1 (previous generation, still being sold) and order it with 1080p if you don't care too much about the faster SandyBridge CPU.

 

I know it's a dumb question to ask but... I got a xps 17 from uk so no hd option, what do you do with the old screen after replacing it? throw it away? lol
I've never been spoilt by 1080p display so I don't understand the difference as yet... probs I really should chcek it out

 

Thanks everyone for your input. I just tried to cancel my order but the request was denied because my order is just about ready to ship. My only option they said was to return it, so I'd probably have to pay the restocking fee.

I don't do a any gaming and have never seen a 1080p so I'm hopeful the 720p won't be horrible.

 

God no, don't throw it away! You could keep it and if your new screen fails you will have the original around. But you could also sell it on eBay for a hundred bucks or so.

 

I replaced the 720p screen with an aftermarket LG 1080p panel. The 720p screen looks no better than the one on my 6 year old Inspiron 6000 laptop. It really is a disgrace. The 1080p screen dell sells is 10x better than my LG 1080p screen. I just returned the xps in my sig and ordered the new one with the factory 1080p. Now, if my screen cracks or goes bad, I have a backup.

 

Call Dell. They might be able to cancel it. If not, then when you receive your computer call them and tell them you're ordering a different one. They will waive the restocking fee.

 

haha of course I won't throw it away. I've seen some ebay sellers putting 1080p mons for sale around 100 pounds, is that a fair price? And there isn't anyone selling the 720p ones... what would be the fair price of it? Thanks!

 

Like edit1754 said, you won't have to pay the restocking fee if you order another one. You do have to order the new one first before initiating the return though. I called dell returns and got a confirmation # of our "no restocking fee agreement" conversation confirming this before ordering the new one. That way once I ordered the new one, I was guaranteed not to pay the restocking fee. They even email you the ups return label so you don't pay for return shipping.

I promise you, you want the 1080p screen. It would be worth the hassle to return and re-order, just for the screen upgrade.

 

My current xps15 is a replacement that Dell sent me and by mistake it originally came with the 720p instead of the 1080p like the one I returned. Didn't take long for me to recognize that mistake, probably all of half a second the first time I turned it on. I called Dell and they sent a new 1080p and a tech to fix that problem. So, I've seen both screens and can tell you that, yes it is "that bad" when comparing the two against each other.

Nope. It will probably not look as good as some of the older screens. Brighter maybe but not as good when considering how good the colors are represented and viewing angles. Didn't have a 10 year old laptop to compare it to but I did have a 5 year old Dell Inspiron 9300 that when I compared the two screens side by side the old one blew away the 720p in every way except for brightness.

 

Well, I received the new 720p laptop today, and I think the display looks pretty nice. The colors are rich, the detail is pretty solid, and overall it looks like a new computer should. I don’t doubt what most of you are saying though, I’m sure the 1080p is amazing, and I’ll swing by Best Buy on my way home from work to check it out and see the difference for myself and then make a decision. Again, I’m not a gamer by any means, but I will do photo editing and some movie watching when I travel. It just sucks that I will have to pack this all up, ship it out, wait for them to receive, credit, and then start the order process all over again, but that’s my mistake for trying to save $170 bucks! Thanks again everyone for your feedback.

 

You won't find a 1080p display on a laptop at Best Buy.
Best Buy only puts the crappiest displays in all the laptops they sell, at least as far as I've seen. I've never seen anything higher than 1366x768 (720p) in a 15.6" there.

Even the 17.3" Asus G73j_ they sell only has 1600x900, whereas most G73j_'s I've seen being used by people have 1080p.

 

Edit1754 you're right, nothing was 1080p. My only concern is I continue to read that a 1080p on 15.6" makes everything uncomfortably small, from text to icons to small browser photos and YouTube videos. Even with 125% DPI. I really wish i could just see one. Does anyone have any photos with maybe an object held up so the scale/size can be seen?

 

125% DPI should make things a lot easier to read. I owned the L501x for two weeks back in December with the 1080p screen. I found 100% DPI to be way too small and it gave me daily headaches from eye strain. 125% DPI was better, but my problem with it was the distortion it caused in some icons and programs and the fact that it didn't always work with everything.

 

I had eye strain just from looking at the 720p because it was so daym grainy; made me feel as if I was myopic. Once I exchanged for the B+RGLED 1080p, I felt as if the cones and rods in my eyes were purified with the most crisp and vibrant display ever conceived. I guess for me and most people, the font size isn't an issue on the 1080p unless your vision is failing you because of aging. Don't let that .000001% sway you in the wrong way. I'd say definitely return the garbage that is the 720p and do the right thing this time.=]

 

You know it's funny - i notice grain on any computer screen now, ever since I've had my iphone 4 since that display is so damn amazing. So pretty much any time I'm in front of a computer I think, "oh wow...pixles." ;-)

My eye site is pretty good, I've never had issues with small print in any aspect of my life. Sometimes I think tiny icons and tiny imbedded images on web pages look like a waste of space, and the overall impression isn't that great, but again, totally a personal preference thing. I just really wish I could find a way to get a 5 second glimpse of one of these 1080 screens in person, or see a photo of someone's if you're willing to post?

 

Here's a link to the thread with photos that attempt to illustrate the difference. Of course in person, that difference is much more distinct. And yes, the iPhone 4 is also superior compared to the 720p of the L501x.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/555347-1080p-not.html

 

Thanks for the photos, I knew I had seen them in another thread but couldn't find them. What's the DPI in the screen shot of the 1080p, does anyone know? My guess is 125%.

That doesn't look bad at all, are people just visually impaired?

 

Like I suggested, it would be likely that only those who have issues with their visual acuity are more likely to post on this forum and complain about the small inherently small font that accompanies high resolutions on a 15.6" display. Such a group would likely comprise only a fraction of the total consumer group that has a otherwise great experience with it. Don't let that infinitismally small handful of people lead you to make an egregiously wrong decision.

 

As one of the few that picked the 720p, I totally had to get in on this ; )

As I read this from a 20" 720p moniter (which looks excellent) the question I asked myself when I ordered my XPS is very simple: Am I going to watch a lot of HD movies on this laptop screen? If the answer is yes then you will enjoy the 1080p. However, if youre going to use this as an everyday machine to do the typical mash of computer related activities then 720p is still excellent..720p is still HD.

Let me say that again 720p is STILL HD! Thats the major difference. Is it an HD screen or NOT? Wether its 720p or 1080p is a lesser arguement. The 720p screen is far superior than screens on laptops of years gone by that werent HD.

The real question to ask yourself: Is 720p good enough for me? For me it certainly is. 720p is STILL sharp, 1080p is SHARPER. 720p is still colorfull, the 1080p is MORE colorfull.

Funny that when the experts consider this arguement of 720p vs 1080p it is usually reserved for screens LARGER THAN 50"!

Case in point: (from a cnet review of 720p vs 1080p)

"We still believe that when you're dealing with TVs 50 inches and smaller, the added resolution has only a very minor impact on picture quality. In our tests, we put 720p (or 768p) sets next to 1080p sets, then feed them both the same source material, whether it's 1080i or 1080p, from the highest-quality Blu-ray player. We typically watch both sets for a while, with eyes darting back and forth between the two, looking for differences in the most-detailed sections, such as hair, textures of fabric, and grassy plains. Bottom line: It's almost always very difficult to see any difference--especially from farther than 8 feet away on a 50-inch TV. "

Thats on a 50 inch TV folks! The difference between 720p and 1080p are more pronounced as the screen size increases...and discussing this in reference to a tiny 15.6" screen almost makes this discussion silly.

If youre the kind of guy that needs a Rolex to tell the time then you understand why everyone here just has to have the 1080p, and everything else is garbage ; ) The reality is that 720p is more than adequate for everyday use and even has some advantages over the 1080p. The 720p may use less wattage than the 1080p which equates to longer battery life, for gamers you get a faster frame rate along with that, for business users and students (that use the laptop to study) you wont have to screw with the fonts to get icons etc so you dont have to squint.

About the only real relevent reason to get the 1080p is if you truly enjoy that kind of resolution on a tiny screen. Or, if price is of no concern. However if the decision is whether to get 8MB of Ram or the 1080p, or whther to get the i7 2720qm over the base 2630qm or the 1080p, Id go for the performance upgrade over the visual upgrade...lol someone even suggested to get an earlier version XPS in order to afford the 1080p..earlier as in pre-sandy bridge!!!! TOTALLY ABSURD!!!

For alot of people getting the 1080p is JUST about keeping up with the Jones' regardless of what they say. Its just about HAVING the 1080p because for most users 720p is more than good enough, especially for a tiny 15.6" screen.

ohhhh Im gonna get so flamed lol this should be fun...BUT ITS THE TRUTH!

 

You are missing the point. It's not about the resolution but the overall display quality difference between the 720p and 1080p Dell uses in this particular case, the XPS 15.

 

If you ask me, HD isn't a really good standard. It's a standard originally intended for TV content that doesn't scale with resolution, not for computer screens. 1280x800 still counts as "HD" with a few extra vertical pixels.

Actually, you will hardly notice a performance upgrade unless you're doing something that actually utilizes the extra power or memory to a significant degree. On the other hand, basically everything benefits from increased screen realestate.
Things that don't benefit from the increased resolution such as watching movies will benefit from the more pronounced colors.

No you're not going to get flamed, just logically reasoned against.

 

Anyone that still thinks a higher resolution is only useful when watching video content deserves 720p. Seriously.


A time ago i made screenshots illustrating 768p vs 1080p, spot the differences:
http://tweakers.net/ext/f/8T6b7NNRQ8pTkwkK4bppPzm0/full.png website 768p
http://tweakers.net/ext/f/CA2gnA9nbXi7QolW1n4OCo1n/full.png same website 1080p

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/JE9fmiQRJNGccuLn0LCcP0p1/full.png hello world 768p
http://tweakers.net/ext/f/kMfp4MBj2g3h4oG9ajinLKmo/full.png hello world 1080p

 

I have 2 machines with both displays. The 720p has very poor vertical viewing angles. The colors are OK (much better than the Latitude 6500 it replaced). However, the 1080p is muuuch better in every way. Just make sure to increase font size to 120-125% and you will be in great shape.

 

@Darkstone

Thank you for the images.
Nothing we can say more " A picture says thousand words"

Other than Full HD resolution : A deal breaker

 

1080p is worth every penny. don't go for 720p it sucks really and i'm fine with normal dpi resolution, only when i'm having chatting words are smaller other then that everything is superb and contrast is fat far better then 720p.

 

It is less about 720p vs 1080p in this case it is about 100% gamut vs 50-60% color gamut screen, that makes it a complete no brainer. I believe if you are buying a XPS you have to have the Full Gamut B+RGLED screen. Not getting it would be like buying a muscle car with a Prius hybrid engine, just complete sin.

 

Well you guys convinced me to box up my 720p and send it back in favor of the 1080p. I did it the way NoSlow suggested and I placed the order for the replacement laptop before I called in to ask for the RMA. I was happy because this is just purely a screwup on my part. Frankly all I really cared about initially was the backlit keyboard so I could type in the dark. Then I started to look at the specs and realized that the 1080 was probably a far superior choice.

The restocking fee was never even mentioned but they did ask for my order number for the replacement laptop. When I asked specifically about the restocking fee they said their would be none. I suppose we'll see...

I don't have it yet so clearly I can't comment on the difference in the screen quality. I can say that the 720p screen was just slightly worse than my bargain HP G60 (a $300 laptop). But the system itself was, overall, a pleasure to use.

Anyway, I'll update when I get the replacement (probably sometime next week). Thanks for all the comments, it helped me make my decision.

 

Hey guys:

I was wondering if anyone know the difference between FHD Truelife and FHD B+RGLED. I know both are 1080p, but, is B+RGLED really any superior?

Thanks!

 

True Life is Dell invoice speak for B+ RGLED

 

TrueLife means glossy.

FHD means 1080p, and 1080p always means B+RGLED with the XPS 15

 

fixed.



@OP
The 1080 screen is better...720 on 15" notebooks is very low. I would do what it takes to get the better screen...its worth it.

 

I stand corrected...


Regardless, naomi888 is getting a B+ RGLED display as ordered.

 

I bought a FHD one yesterday. Haven't had too much time to play with it. Either my eyesight isn't what it used to be or I had some unreasonable expectations but I'm a little underwhelmed.

I don't know what I expected but the FHD screen seemed so fabulous on YT vids but in reality, although it seems like a great screen (and VERY bright) I don't see a huge difference between that and other screens I've had (regular ones) quality wise.
Maybe I'll change my mind once I have more time to test the machine.

 

I'm just following up. I had the 720p and I sent it back for the 1080p.

I'm mostly underwhelmed. Yes, the resolution is higher but the text of websites often looks microscopic. You can play with the fonts and the resolution and the DPI and the cleartext and zooming and some text will still either look too small or too large.

I think the problem is that the monitor is VERY thick on pixels in the 1920 dimension but falls short on the 1080 dimension. Further, the GPU stutters on full 1080p video. It clearly has a tough time keeping up with the number of pixels.

The colors are impressive and this monitor is bright enough to burn out your retinas if you set it to full intensity. But if I had it to do over I would have kept the 720p. It is somewhat counter-intuitive but the lower resolution works better on this size screen because of the way most applications are scaled. by the time you get done forcing the operating system or the application to scale everything up to the point where you can see it, it winds up looking blocky anyway.

Having read a lot of posts on the subject I have to wonder why some people push this screen so hard. I don't see a major benefit and frankly I see a few drawbacks.

Edit: I wanted to add that Dell was really fantastic about letting me return the first laptop and get the second one. They didn't charge a restocking fee. They paid for the return shipping. And they credited my card one day after they received the returned laptop. I could not be happier with the Dell service. I think some of the lesson in this for me might be it is never going to be easy to buy a "higher end" laptop without seeing it first.

 

hmm there are a lot of reasons to get 1080p

 

I haven't seen anything like that with my blu-ray's, mp4 and mkv vids. I've watched a few 1:1 blu-ray rips while HandBrake was ripping in the background as well.

 

I have to agree. I can play WoW on near ultra settings, watch a HD 720 video, and video chat all at the same time (3 windows at once) on my 1080p and everything is butter smooth. Perhaps the other poster has a faulty graphics card?

 

OK, I'll test it out again this weekend and update as needed. maybe when I checked the 1080p video there was a virus scan running in the background or something.

 

Not to beat a dead horse...

But one should always opt for the high end resolution. Most cheapo displays have terrible color gamut, terrible viewing angles, and are grainy. B+RG or RGBLED screens give fantastic color gamut and typically have better viewing angles. The only exception is if you are blind and you need big icons/text.

But I've seen an XPS 15 with the 720p and 1080p screen and unless you purposefully want an awful screen, get the 1080p screen. Otherwise there is nothing that makes the XPS 15 special.

 

Initially I bought the XPS 15 with the 720p screen and upon arrival, I immediately realized I made a mistake. Not realizing at the time the large disparties compared to the B+RGLED 1080p besides the resolution, I came across many reviews saying how terrible the 720p was. I was able to convince a Dell rep to let me exchange for the 1080p and let me say the difference was beyond night and day. The colors was way more vibrant and the contrast was much higher. Brightness and viewing angles were much higher as well. It made the XPS 15 feel like it was worth its name. I feel extremely sorry for those who are stuck with the 720p as I feel it is the bottleneck of XPS 15's prestige.

 

Hi there,
I've exchanged(as in "returned") by now 3 of these beauties, all of them FHD.
I do my work in autocad, photoshop, some maya, and some other stuff, but mostly autocad and photoshop.

The FHD screen has it's virtues, it's bright as hell, colors are just superb, overall it's a great screen.Wathcing movies, playing games, an extraordinary experience BUT :

when it comes down to graphic edit and creations workspace it reveals one thing, probably skiped by most of you as not in the range of interest, the quality !
In a graphic workspace you get the color, the brightness, the pure black and the lack of the screen quality, translated as a screen full of MURA !!! And some times it goes so far as you can't get one color over the entire screen (after even calibration).
I know all of you will say i'm just unlucky, but put one color as your desktop and see how Dell managed to keep the price low for this display at this resolution.
I've had so far 3 of the l502x FHD, and returned all of them, cause i thought it was just some defective lot, and i kept trying different configuration from different stores.
If you play games, whatch video, it is a great display, but if you plan some hard creative work it'll just be one pain in the a**. Imagine working in autocad having all over the screen brighter spots and darker spots, having the background gray in the left side and a bit reddish in the right side, it's horrible and after 4-5 hours of work you'll just go insane.

I spoke with a Dell service employ and he said (in a friendly conversation):"

It's a simple wled pushed to its limits.The result is great but has to have some lacks !"
I'm not saying buy this or that, just my experience with a screen that looked to good to be true, and it was.