1720 have same problems as 1520?

They look pretty much the same.

Does the 1720 have headphone jack audio problems?

Grainy screens?

Anything else?

 

Not to my knowledge. I have a 1720 with 1920x1200, very nice screen, no grainy screen. No audio jack problems as well.

 

What about the 17.0" 1440x900?

CPU/HDD/VGA noise? I would think since the internals are the same, these wouldn't be different. I'm mainly concerned with the screen though.

 

Dell, like all the other assemblers, uses LCD's made by big manufacturers. I haven't pulled a back off in some time but as I recall they're made either by toshiba or fujitsu. either way, sometimes they're decent and sometimes these 1440x900's just are a bit... umm.. sub-par. Now that is compared to an expensive premium LCD insert in a higher resolution for the same size. I'm not current on LCD manufacturing processes in Japan or offshore, but I've been traveling and I've noticed one thing about developing nations- they don't upgrade or change things unless they HAVE to. Translated: if it ain't broken they won't fix it- and even if it is sometimes they don't. Capice?

Hinging your choice on the hit-or-miss PER LAPTOP 1440x900 screen will be a gamble. If it was 1920x1200 perhaps not as big an issue. Because it's Dell and in BULK you can guess they got a huge volume discount and these are most asuredly the usual 1440x900's- so just go look at ANY laptop with that resolution17" widescreen and you'll know what yours will look like- or really darn close! The slight differences come from batch QA control (it's not as particular as marketing would have you believe; rather someone eyeballs them and puts them in different catagories most likely- lol!
*wink*

something else not a lot of people are aware of- in the last year Dell and HP (at the very least), due to money issues and company issues in the manufacturing countries have revamped their lines for more COSMETIC APPEAL and LESS QUALITY COMPONENTS.. that means while the newer rigs look nicer, they're less well-made and done so with cheaper parts- even if a hair newer in technology sometimes...

-this is MOST noticeable in the consumer end items.
It doesn't mean it will break or not work, or that it won't totally serve your needs and quite well at that too; just rather, the particulars, as they are, really...
And that is the big problem with Dell- they have so FEW outlets where one can go in an HOLD and TEST out a new item. The other re-vendors have become more accessible (try an office max or something); Dell ought to get on this bandwagon a bit more. The customers need and want to test out such issues- and hear about a warranty from someone in person! That would have narrowed my choice down to 2 days vs. 4 months... *chuckle*

p.s. oh, they "cut" the LCd's from the same backing from what I understand (I'm actually totally ignorant on this though so don't quote me) so a 15.3" 16XXx800 is made of the SAME material base formed (per crystals/per inch/centimeter) as the 17" version with the higher res: smae "dpi" so to speak.

 

No, the LCDs are made by Samsung (SEC), AU Optronics (AUO), and LG.

One more question - what hard drive do you get when you select 250GB?

Is it the SAMSUNG Spinpoint M Series HM250JI or the Western Digital Scorpio WD2500BEVS?

My 1520 had the WD but other users are reporting the Samsung. I'm thinking about just getting the lowest HDD option and putting the Samsung in myself, unless it comes with it.

 

Can anyone confirm the 1720 does not have the grainy screen problem?

 

Can't confirm for others about the screen, but mine is fine. I do have headphone noise, but can't hear it when there is something playing. Speakers are a bit squealy sometimes on fairly low volume. Other than that, it's great.

I have a 250gb HDD which is a Western Digital.

 

I have the 1721 and the screen is perfect, after reading about all the trouble with SEC screens I became nervous. No grainy screen with this SEC.

 

Do you have the 1440x900 or 1920x1200 screen? Thanks.

 

I've got a 1440x900 SEC, and I see no fault with it whatsoever.

Haven't noticed any headphone noise.

I do get a buzzing noise when I drop the screen brightness though, otherwise it's silent on the brightest setting (Is this the same as the CPU whine, or is it different?)

 

tangograndma hit it on the head pretty much with his post as far as how things are and have been. Although he was wrong about the screen manufactures.

The previous Dell laptops with the 'bumpers' were solid. Almost to solid, they were like a amoured truck. Thew newer models, although solid still have comes down a bit but still great systems. This is a trend all manufactures are following. They see Apple has great success with just shiny appeal so now they put less effort in quality and put more effort into design.

OP: As far as I know theres hardly any problems with the 1720. Likely the same common issues as the rest. On a note my 15" came with a Samsung originally.

 

Thanks for the help. I think we'll be trying out the 1720 whenever Dell sends us our $200 gift card. The keypad is a huge plus.

 

I have 1440 x 900 SEC screen and no problems.

 

My 1720 came with a grainy screen which I had replaced for one that wasn't!

No problems with the head phone jack or HD noise!