Best Buy Dell Studio 14z are not eligible for Windows 7 upgrade

Do not purchase the dell studio 14z if you plan to upgrade your laptop to windows 7, I purchased mine on the 30th from bestbuy and went to sign up for the program but because dell gave the laptop to them on the 18th of june it's not eligible, so I had to return it to bestbuy and order the same thing through dell.

Definatly upgrade to the 900p screen, the 720 screens are grainy and u can see spaces inbetween each pixel causing u to see columns, my friends 14z with 900p doesnt have these spaces and has way better viewing angles.

 

while I have no doubt that the 900p screen is very nice, I wholeheartedly disagree with your analysis of the 720p. The dpi is quite sufficient, not grainy, and no columns. I also have doubts about the viewing angles being better on the 900p. Typically viewing angles get worse with higher dpi but better with newer panel evolution.

Everyones eyes are different, but I and my roommates and friends all agree that the 720 screen is very nice. The viewing angles are also better than my roommates 1080p sager.

 

Quaid, your 720p screen is direct from Dell, correct? I wonder if the 720p screen on the BestBuy 14z is of lower quality than the ones direct from Dell. This could be where part of the BB lower price point comes from. If you spec out the same machine on Dell as the one from BB, the price is a lot more than what BB is charging.

Just a thought.

Actually Quaid, go to Device manager/monitor/details/hardware ID and report what your screens hardware ID is. I'm going to try and swing by BB this weekend and look at the 14z they have. I'll report back with the same info from the BB unit to see if they are the same. Unless someones with a BB model can post their display hardware ID here.



VVarwick

 

That's really weird. Certainly the Best Buy web site says quite clearly that the upgrade applies to computers purchased from them after June 26th. How could the customer be expected to know when it shipped to Best Buy??

 

Is it possible that you're supposed to register for the upgrade through Best Buy, and not Dell?

 

I had that thought, and checked their site. The link sends you right to the same place on the Dell site you'd go if you bought direct from Dell.

 

This is the laptop screen I got from bestbuy so yes we got different screens which is probably why I can see these "column" like lines in places where its all a lot of the same color, its not noticeable when your gaming or watching a video just when its all one color and not much movement, i'll try to get a picture of the screen up showing this effect.

 

Very interesting. I wonder if we can find out more about these panels. Zer0N1nja, you might be a candidate for replacing/upgrading your panel in the future!

 

I was thinking about the possibility of getting a 900p panel down the road =), but i probably wont since i wont really have this for longer then a year, i usualy like to pick up the latest laptop from dell in my budget.

 

Thanks for breaking the page formatting.

Lern2thumbnail, noobs.

 

Be constructive, noob. Seriously. Contribute. Why don't you take the pictures and thumbnail them then post them back?

Otherwise just shove off. There's nothing I hate more than backseat drivers.

 

I just got back from BB and the 14z at my local BB had the SEC5441 screen just like Quaid's. And I have to say, it looked beautiful. To me, it has the perfect resolution for the 14" screen especially if you do not have 20/20 vision like myself.

 

That was my impression too. I have no complaints about the 720p on the 14z.

 

I just bought my Studio 14z from Best Buy today. Was cheaper then the same config online. I'm loving this laptop.

I too went to the windows 7 upgrade page on dell's website, and it said I wasn't eligible. The best buy ad clearly says free windows 7 upgrade on this laptop. Something ain't right.

Here's a screenshot of my monitor hardware id.

 

I thought this thread was abou the Windows 7 upgrade for the 14Z not the screen of the laptop. Please don't hijack other people's threads.

 

Can anyone else confirm this?

I was planning on purchasing the 14z from Dell, but if it's not eligible for the free Windows 7 upgrade, I'd rather order it from the website..

Did you buy it in-store and specifically ask them if it was eligible for the upgrade? Because it does say on the website that they are. :|

 

the issue with the laptop is either it was sent to bestbuy on the 18 ( day dell says it was purchased) or the first time the laptop is turned on it sends a signal to notify dell that it was purchased, bestbuy had its own tape on the laptop so i assume it was turned on to install there own crap on it more then likely.

Ive been talking with bestbuy waiting for them to get an answer from coporate as to whats going on with the upgrade as soon as i find out i'll let you guys know.

 

While you may be technically correct that my posts differ in content from the thread title, I think you will find that they have been contextually relevant to the content of the original post. Perhaps you did not read the original post? Let me refresh your memory.

Please try and be informed before you accuse me or anyone else of hijacking a thread. I hope you appreciate the effort I am making to keep this post civil.

 

Up here in Canada it would be safe to say that you have grounds for a no-charge, no restocking fee return at BestBuy if they are unable to offer the free Windows7 upgrade. False advertising is illegal here, and grounds for complete reimbursement.

In the USA your laws are different, but very similar. Something to think about?

 

It's definatly relevant as I started the thread and added to it by posting what screen i had, I told bestbuy that if I dont have an answer on monday i will be returning the laptop as thats the last day it sits in the 14 day return policy window even though they said they can work with me outside this return deadline they wont sign into any kind of agreement for it so i feel like there just waiting till my deadline is up so they dont have to do anything and wont have any paper history showing i made these claims.

 

Additionaly Quaid does your screen flicker on the lowest brightness setting? mine does which prevents me from styretching the battery life as far as possible.

 

My screen does not flicker on the lowest setting. However, have you verified the flicker with other people? It is possible that the LED's are cycled on-off-on, at varying frequencies to create different brightness settings. Hence, it could be that your eyes process at a higher 'refresh rate' which is why you see the flicker at lower settings. That's speculative, but possible. This phenomenon occurs with 1-chip DLP tvs and projectors, and is called the 'Rainbow effect'.

Don't let BB take you for a run around. Take it back.

 

its actualy an incredibly noticable flicker, everyone ive shown it to can see it, even the second level up i can some times notice a flicky but anything brighter i can't. I bet its just this crap screen, i'll see if i can check out a new one at bestbuy and make sure i get the screen you have.

 

No flicker on mine, on any of the screen brightness levels.

 

I have the flickering at the lowest level, too. My screen is an LG screen. Which is yours?

N

 

Zer0N1nja also has the LG panel, as seen in this post at the beginning of the thread. Perhaps the LG panels are flawed? Anyone else with an LG? Flicker or no flicker?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5041476&postcount=8

 

I took the LG screen unit back to BB and even the customer service people (not geek squad) agreed it was defective when I showed them the flicker. I got another other unit with an AUO screen that is significantly better. I'm quite happy with it after tweaking the colors a little bit in the nvidia control panel.

N

 

I brought back my 14z with the LG panel, i had them open the other 2 they had to see about getting a different one and they all had the lg panel and flickered so i then went over to there display model which had the auo model, we discussed it and i said this is false advertisement showing off a better screen on your display model then what your really selling, they got pretty defensive and offered up a discount on the laptops of about 100$ which my friend who works at a different bestbuy says BB only makes about 25$ off selling one of these. I told them i would wait till they get a shipment of the right screens in then take advantage of the offer.

They probably wont keep there word. =P

 

That's strange, I just purchased my 14z from Best Buy today and it's eligible for the Windows 7 upgrade.

I have the LG panel and I noticed a slight flicker on the lowest and second to lowest brightness setting as well -- it doesn't seem too bad though. The only thing is, I have a minor scratch (or crack) on the upper right corner.

How exactly is the AUO screen better? If it's significantly better than the LG screen like you stated, I might return this one tomorrow and try to get another screen if possible.

Edit: Attached a thumbnail of my screen information. It's the exact same as Zer0's. It's interesting, when I first boot up the laptop the flicker doesn't show... But after a couple minutes it begins. I also just noticed the tiny columns.

 

I had an LG screen too at first. At the risk of stating the obvious, the AUO is better because it does not flicker Also, I noticed some graininess on the LG screen that the AUO does not have. I highly suggest returning it for a replacement.

N

 

Did you mention that it was probably, specifically your LG model? I'm just hoping that my store got multiple shipments and actually have another screen; I would hate for them to look through 50 boxes to find mine..

I just want to mention that if anybody is undecided on this Best Buy offer, tomorrow (July 18th) is the last day to grab it. Or at least in my area it is. It's an awesome deal AND there's no shipping/delays. Just try to avoid the LG screens!

 

I actually used my iPhone to lookup the Dell service tag on the outside of the box on dell's site to find one that did not have the LG. First two had LG second had AUO.

N

 

Hey, that's clever! You're referring to this right?:
1 X976H LCD,14.0,HDF,LED,TLF, LGP

Hopefully they let me exchange it.. I've only had the laptop for a day, but I've already used it a bit and installed programs. I'll just try to put it back to stock settings and give it a try. It should just say AUO or SEC at the end correct?

 

Yup - thats it. Not 100% guaranteed accurate, mine actually said SEC (samsung) but came with AUO. I'm happy with it.

I had my LG unit for a day thats it. All I had to do was show the customer service rep the flicker and they were willing to replace it. Its kind of an obvious defect.

N

 

I went to Best Buy today and after a little bit of arguing with the Geek Squad, I was able to exchange my laptop for one with a Samsung screen. The guy kept insisting that newer LCDs have a flicker due to the refresh rate. Finally, the manager came by and told the guy to exchange the laptop without a restocking fee since it was indeed defective.

Anyhow, I'm liking the screen! It's a lot more crisp with richer colors. I'm getting at least half an hour of more battery life since it doesn't flicker like my old LG screen.

 

I got a LG screen too in my studio 14z but it had a stuck blue pixel. DELL replaced it with a new laptop which has a samsung screen.

I have both laptops since yesterday and i found that the color reproduction of the LG screen to be superior.

The colours are great if very slightly blue on the LG where as the samsung display is heavily biased to red. The blue win7 wallpaper almost looks purple especially towards the edges.

The LG screen does have columns issue but it is not very observable(initially i thought that it was due to the lower resolution 720p screen as i had always used the highest resolution panels dell offered). Amazingly my LG screen has no noticable flickering issues at all on any brightness setting.

While the column issue on the LG is noticeable when you look for it i would gladly take it over the poor colour reproduction of the samsung.

Just to reiterate the colour reproduction on the LG is SUPERB! yes thats how good it is.

 

Another point i would like to make is that the old Studio 14z laptop had a glossy touchpad which was very slippery.I hated it coming from a e1405.

The new laptop has a very thin matte finish on the same touchpad which is not such an annoyance. Any one notice this on their laptop ?