Cancelled my 1720 w/Blu-ray....no DVI or HDMI out....what was Dell thinking??????

So I ordered a totally loaded to the top of all features Inspiron 1720 with the Blu-Ray writer and all. I had assumed that a notebook with Blu-Ray would have HDMI so that you could watch it on yout HD-TV.

Come to find out this morning, the Inspiron not only does not have an HDMI out, it doesn't even have a DVI out!!!! It has VGA and S-video only!!!!

Is that not INSANE????!!!!! Why would Dell release a Blu-Ray player/writer notebook with no way to output the 1080p signal??????

Who would pay all that money for this system without it?????????

 

nobody. good call. glad you caught that before getting the laptop.

 

Get a Macbook pro.

 

I looked at them online this morning, but there wasn't an option for adding a blu-ray drive

 

Consider the HP Compaq 8710w it does come with blu-ray and HDMI

 

The S-video out on dell laptops has extra pins so you can hook up an adapter for Component Video, that means you can output a 1080p signal provided you get the adapter from Dell - or at least this is true for the 1520.

Note there is no difference in quality between HDMI/DVI and component, only issue is that since component is analog, it may degrade if you have poor quality cables, or too much electronic noise. If you feel picky enough not to give component video a try, then you may want to consider Sony AR series, problem is they only offer the 8400M -

Me, I only needed BR to burn disks, and maybe future proof for games that will eventually come out in BR. Then found out about the component out thing, but even so, I don't plan to output to TV. Only drawback is that burning speed is slow...

 

Just get M1730.

 

The thing I didn't like about that one was they only have integrated sound and I wanted the sound card. It's also about $1,000 more than what I was paying for the 1720 and the stuff it had extra wasn't really important to me or worth the extra.

 

I'll never buy HP Compaq again. I had a Compaq computer that went dead in 18 months and 2 HP printers that died in just over a year.

 

A Macbook isn't the universal solution for everyone's problems.

 

Dell not having native DVI out is plain stupid from them. With systems with Blue Ray, it's twice as dumb (understatement). They gave me no good reason to buy from them this time, and I bought a different brand. Every system has its issues, some that can be fixed others that cannot.

If you want Digital out with Blue Ray, I'd consider an Alienware or XPS 1730 (if you bear the ugly look of the system). Or a Macbook Pro if your software stack runs on Mac OS.

 

I tried configuring both an Alienware and a Macbook Pro this morning and there wasn't an option for Blu-Ray drive with either. Where do you have to go to configure them with Blu-Ray?

 

I just called Alienwarre and they told me the Blu-Ray drives are "temporarily" discontinued right now and they don't know if or when they will be back.

 

If they did release the laptop with DVI or HDMI then it would take away the Unique selling point from the XPS laptops hence they left those ports out to try and make you buy an XPS system instead.

 

why don't you just buy a blue ray player for your tv? why do you need a laptop to output to your TV?

 

That's a pretty good idea.

I found the write speed on most laptop players is a very sluggish anyway [x1], and the PS3 is supposedly heading for another price cut this in the US, this month...

Or like ACHlLLES said get the XPS m1730.

 

That would work for most people, but here are my reasons for not pusuing that strategy:

1. Say you have multiple HDTVs on which you'd like the ability to watch Blu-Ray movies. You might prefer to move a laptop than an expensive BD player, and you might not be willing to buy TWO Blu-Ray players--especially before the format "war" is officially over.

2. 50 GB storage on a dual layer Blu-Ray disc. Those discs won't always be so expensive...I hope.

3. You can't use a Blu-Ray player in a plane (train, car, etc.)

 

Macbook Pro doesn't have Blu-Ray or HDMI either.

 

They released M1330 with HDMI but no Blu-Ray! Dell does indulge in some funny mixups!

 

Does this adapter have a part number? This is exactly what I need for my Vostro 1500. Do you have one yourself? I'd love to hear more about it.

 

You can output 1080p over VGA too... you just need a VGA->whatever adapter. Unless your TV has a VGA input... then just connect it directly. (It's not digital, but neither is S-Video or component.)

The problem is, only HDMI has the content protection stuff that some hi-def discs require.

 

HDMI also allows both audio/video to stream on one cable. Dell offers the HDMI on its XPS 1330 but at some point, Dell will have to cave and put it on all the inspiron systems. But HD has very little penetration at this point. Less then 5 percent I believe. However, HP already offers HDMI on its DV series as long as you configure them with the nvidia gpu's. I really don't use it yet, but its more future proof. I will probably wait a few years and see how the BD/HD DVD war fans out. At present, it appears the format war will continue for quite some time being HD DVD just added another studio.. paramount/dreamworks to its support of HD DVD. This more then upset Sony who was hoping to capture the market.

But I agree, on a 14" or 15" system, having BD without HDMI makes no sense. On a 15" screen you really won't see any benefit over 720P. To fully realize 1080P you might see that on the 17" with the wuxga display. But you really need to view that on a much larger screen.. lets say 32" or larger to get the wow factor of 1080P. Your better off spending the money on a stand alone player then to give dell hundreds for a BD without HDMI.

 

here is a link to a 17 close-up pictures for Dell Inspiron 1720 and a small(29sec-15mb) video

http://www.malys.de/notebook/inspiron1720.htm

hope it will help all of you to make your decisions about Dell Inspiron 1720

 

blue ray and no hdmi what were teh engieers smokin :/

 

Have you seen a m1730 in person? Probably not.

 

but the stupid thing is that i had an inspiton 9400 aka e1705 before and it DID have dvi how stupid to remove what was already there.

 

Please do not bring back old threads.