Alternatives to Dell XPS 1730 - the Samsung screen is just no good enough?

Hi,

Due to an unfortunate state of affairs whereby Australia only gets Samsung screens with it's XPS 1730 I have had to return my XPS 1730.

See the following thread for more info on my discussions with Dell.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=173512&page=54&highlight=1730+owners

Anyway even though this is a Dell forum and I know you guys have probably bought Dell's I was hoping that in your travels you might have compared the Dell XPS 1730 to something else.

I need 1920x1200, decent CPU, 7200 RPM drive/s, number pad built into keyboard and preferably some good graphics grunt. Oh and I need a damned good screen. None of this Samsung light leakage, graininess and weird dark parts of the screen.

Long story short Australia cannot get LG panels for the XPS 1730 at all. Only Samsung. Some people like them - I hated it.

I could potentially go for something from pioneer.net.au (clevo notebooks I believe)

http://www.pioneercomputers.com.au/products/products.asp?c1=3&c2=15

however I have no experience with them.

1. My options are wait a few months for XPS 1730's in Australia to have the LG screens but that could be never.

2. Start looking around for something else eg Asus or whatever.

3. Get a lower specced notebook from Dell like an Inspiron 1720

Appreciate your thoughts.

 

see the sager/clevo forum here that may help

asus does not have a system in the same leauge i dont believe right now.. i think you may want to look at the 9261 model from sager/clevo

 

http://www.pioneercomputers.com.au/products/configure.asp?c1=3&c2=15&id=2218

 

Thanks but unfortunately that's a ripoff compared to the XPS 1730 - probably why I settled on the Dell in the first place.

Such a bummer the screen was so ****e

My XPS 1730 was:

Vista Ultimate
1920x1200 ****house Samsung screen
2 x 160GB 7200RPM drives
2 x 8700M GT's SLI
2GB Ram
T7500 C2D @ 2.2 Ghz
Wireless
Bluetooth
2 Mb camera
spare AC adapter
Belkin Bag
2 years next business day warranty

for $3200 AU delivered.

The equivalent or thereabouts in the pioneer is $5685 (I kitted one out the same as the XPS 1730) and that's too rich for my blood.

 

There are other 17" screens for Dell though. I'd be suprised if they only carry samsung for M1730.

Old M90/M1710/E1705s had Sharp, Samsung, and LG screens.

Sharp and LG were one of the better ones.

 

I settled for a Clevo D901C, after Dell did a number on me when I bought my XPS M170, I'm still pissed off about that. Here a link to the Clevo -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=134808

This is what I end up buying, I should get mine around the end of this week.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9261-ultimate-custom-laptop-built-clevo-d901c-p-1932.html

The guys at Xotic have been great, but I'll have to wait and see what this beast feels like, before I can start to compare. The only thing I worry about is size & weight, but its huge, given that the M1730 is also in the desktop replacement league it was fine by me.

This is my order, I went one graphics card, as I plan to buy the newer dx10 cards and put them in SLI when they avail, the clevo is user upgradeable. I also went raid-0 (even though I have 3 drives). Want to test that first, then may raid-5 it myself later.

Another reason I got sold on clevo D901C was that is more generic than Dell, I just got so pissed off with the propriety drivers and crap from Dell, I hope my Clevo experience will be better.

1x SAGER NP9261 Ultimate Custom Laptop (Built on Clevo D901C)
- Display: 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Cl
- Dead Pixel Policy: Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Processor: ~Intel Core 2 QUAD Q6700 2.66GHz
- Video Card: 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce
- External Monitor Video Adapter: None Standard
- Ram: ~ 4,096MB DDR2 800 (2 SODIMMS) D
- Optical Drive: ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +
- Primary Hard Drive: ~160GB Seagate Momentus 3GB/S SA
- Secondary Hard Drive: ~160GB Seagate Momentus 3GB/S SA
- Third Hard Drive: ~160GB Seagate Momentus 3GB/S SA
- Raid: Raid 0-Stripe (Combines primary
- Camera: Built in 1.3Megapixel Camera
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audi
- Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR
- Wireless Network: Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 496
- Case: Basic Black Business Case - Incl
- Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (12 Cell)
- AC Adapter: 1 Spare 110/220V 120W Auto Switc
- Operating System: ~Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit I


Any case mate, have fun shopping around

 

I hope the system can run crysis at high settings.. considering quad core and all it must cost you more than a paycheck (just assuming though).

 

I am a software consultant, I play hell gate: london on the road is all I may play a spot of SC2 when it comes out.

If someone else is looking at a similar config, SLI 7950s or SLI 8700Ms are amazing. I'm just choosing on waiting for newer dx10 cards ...

 

Is Hell Gate London out already???

 

Be surprised! It's true - nothing but Samsung for the XPS 1730 in Australia at this point in time. May change in the coming months but for now only Samsung. I have spoken with 3 people at Dell confirming this. I would be getting an LG replacement for my XPS1730 if they were available. Instead I am returning my XPS1730. The screen is unbearable for me.

 

You could always keep your 1730, order a 1720 and, if it has a screen that meets your needs, swap panels and return the 1720 afterwards.

Good to go!

 

I asked about that they said the screens couldn't be swapped between models - simply wouldn't work.

 

If only the 1720 could have the graphics option from the 1730 (dual 8700M GTs in SLI) then the 1720 would be perfect.

 

Can you notice it that much??

I can hardly notice mine.. only when the screen is full black.. which is hardly ever..

 

I'm in the U.S. Mine is being delivered tomorrow (Wed 10/24). I will check if it's got the LG. Would it be worth your while to have someone in the U.S. purchase it on your behalf and mail it to you? I'm not sure how the logistics of that would work, but hey, if you could find someone trustworthy...

 

^^^ that could def be an option maybe??

 

eh games weren't that bad - a bit annoying sometimes - but web browsing, email and word/excel sucked! The brightness/leakage at the base created a sort of darkness above it - which makes you sort of have to look away and back and move your head to get away from it - hard to describe but bloody annoying. Anytime you have sort of one colour on the screen it was very noticeable - eg this forum. Movies were bad too.

Good luck with yours!

 

Been playing in the beta the last 3-4 weeks or so, I'm loving it, but then again I loved DII, played that hard core for 3-4 years ... so I'm a bit of a nut for the genre.

 

Lee i have the same problem only got mine last week bit disappointed to say the least for the cash it cost.Will let you know what dell have to say.about a inch long band across the bottom of the screen very bad in crysis 2 and movies ect .Also not real happy that the ram scores so lo in the vista rating.
Component Details Subscore Base score
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7700 @ 2.40GHz 5.3 4.8
Determined by lowest subscore

Memory (RAM) 3.18 GB 4.8
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT 5.9
Gaming graphics 1631 MB Total available graphics memory 5.5
Primary hard disk 89GB Free (136GB Total) 5.2
Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate