Dell 17r N7720 SE - user review

Has anyone managed to solve the issue of the fan refusing to stop even when temperature is already low? I'm sick and tired of having to turn it off manually in SpeedFan...

 

Hey guys, I received my 7720 last Monday and I'm enjoying it so far, but one thing I've noticed is that only the GT 650m card is detected, not the Intel HD 4000. I've got the 3D screen model and I've seen one or two posts suggesting that this configuration doesn't come with the HD 4000, or perhaps it's disabled. Can anybody confirm whether this is the case? And if so, what are the drawbacks of relying solely on the 650m? Will the battery life be greatly reduced? Is the heat a lot worse? Is performance/throttling more of an issue without the HD 4000 when running on battery? Thanks!

 

......we (with 3D gt650m chip) does not have real Optimus.....its only 17R SE with matte 60Hz screen who have plain "Optimus"............so everything is OK

......(though, we have a very similar process who switch from cpu unit to gpu unit).

here how it looks when you manual switch from cpu to gpu on 7720 3D 120Hz model (same as you)

 

Well atleast you have it detected. I have just ordered one, but looked into it today and I must admit I'm a bit worried about all these problems people are having in regards to the GT650m not being detected do people here recommend not updating the BIOS at all? I have gone for the 3D option

 

Issues with detecting the gt650 ?? Never even heard people having that issue with the 3D model. I never have it. IT runs as iit should.

 

I'm glad to hear that because if you look below, it's quite worrying, especially for the people updating the BIOS


nVidia Geforce GT 650M NOT DETECTED on Inspiron 17R SE 7720 after BIOS A11 Update - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

 

Lates BIOS version is A15.

 

I received my 17R SE 7720 with 3D (US) from the Outlet and it has a A16 BIOS. Works perfectly and was brand new as far as I could tell.

 

congrats..........

some tips:
go inside "screen resolution" and set your screen to 120Hz (then you a free to go playing your games in 120Hz (looks better and mouse works way better)

i also recommend to inside Nvidia control center and DISABLE the 3D feature (otherwise you get way lower resolution & fps in games).......
if you want to look on 3D movies, etc.......then just turn it ON.

 

Did the W8.1 update last night, Comodo I/net Security was incompatible, needed to be reinstalled, W7gadgets stopped working had to install a new version, several things seem to hang on checking, such as Nvidia updatges, Glary Utlis, etc. I have W8 Pro w. M/C, and the system asked me to call MS to reconfirm my license key - for security reasons I guess. You need to configure the system after update so that you can boot to desktop, etc., but ClassicUI seemed to work fine. I also have a watermark on the desktop complaining that SecureBoot is OK, Yes that would be because I switched it off in the BIOS. Anyway, overall took a couple of hours, not bad for an MS update. System seems quick & after cleanup I had MORE disk space than before - go figure. Intel wifi driver issue seems a little better too, but time will tel...

 

How do I turn off the annoying watermark about secure boot in Windows 8.1?

I tried enabling Secure Boot in bios but it prevented me from rebooting, I had to disable it again.

 

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to chime in as I am a new Dell Inspiron 17r SE 7720 owner that I got New from Dell Outlet, the 1TB 5,400 RPM hard drive of course is a major bottleneck and it did not come with an SSD, however I already made one upgrade and now have 12GB of RAM :thumbsup:, however a quirk I discovered that drove me nuts the last 2 nights is that after I reformatted and did a clean Windows 7 Ultimate install, I had persistent problems with the USB 3.0 driver (and although it has been over ten years since I bought a Dell, an Inspiron 8000 with a 1600x1200 UXGA LCD and a screaming fast 32MB GeForce 2 Mobility back in 2001... ), downloading drivers from the Dell website is now a ridiculous process, and not only that, the drivers I did get and try to install for the USB 3.0 ports (first the most recent driver, then the original) sent my laptop into looping blue screens. So instead I opened up Device Manager and did a Windows driver search and install for the 1 remaining component on my new machine which needed a driver, and once the driver was found and installation complete...

BLUE SCREEN.

I thought I was screwed and would have to do another System Restore, but Windows booted up regularly, gave me a message that Windows had recovered from an earlier error, and I thought that the USB 3.0 driver I had just installed was removed and I would be back to square one, however I checked Device Manager and the USB 3.0 driver was installed and working normally.

Even though this issue has been resolved, it was rather disconcerting seeing Dell's issued drivers for the USB 3.0 ports resulting in looping crashes, although I should mention that my machine does have the A16 BIOS, so that might be causing some issues. Anyway, wanted to see if anybody else experienced this, the thread is already quite long at over 2500 posts.

 

Technically the A16 is a BIOS for the Inspiron 17r 5720, but it works for the 7720 apparently because mine came installed with it (7720), although interestingly the 5720 has had BIOS driver updates to A17 and most recently A18.

 

I have the exact same question

 

It seems this one does it: (just tested, worked for me)
My WCP Watermark Editor

 

Sounds good will give it a try, thanks.

 

Is eBay the best place to get a backlit keyboard for 17r SE?
How difficult it is to replace?

 

its super easy........its not even screws........its 4 small plastic hooks............just press keyboard down..........and then draw it backwards...done (then its 2 cables (keys and light)

here with 15R (exact same thing as ours)
How To Remove & Replace Keyboard On Dell Inspiron 15R 7520 SE - YouTube

.....i bought my 17R SE backlit keyboard from DELL parts......it was quite cheap (and brand new).

go for the Vostro 3750 keyboard...(same keyboard but nicer colour)

 

The A16 BIOS for the 7720 is now available:

Driver Details | Dell US

 

Any issues on update?

 

It removed some of the text but not the SecureBoot is not Configured line, but as I will not change this BIOS setting, I will just live with it...

 

Yes, it seems that part of the text will come back after a reboot. The solution is to run the utility again, at least it works here. Maybe it can be done with a command script via autostart?

 

Hello,

I've got a problem with my 7720 and was hoping somebody with a 3D screen could test something/help me.

First turn off 3D in the Nvidia controll panel because I think 3D being on forces your screen to output at full brightness. Now change the screen brightness using the F4/F5 keys and see what happens. For me, as soon as the little brightness setting pop-up disappears, the brightness reverts back to full every time. I can't turn my brightness down using the keyboard in other words. Changing it in PC settings however works normally. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Dell Quickset utility to no avail. I'm also using the latest bios and all my drivers are up to date.

If anybody with the 3D model could test this on theirs I'd be grateful and interested in hearing whether this is a widespread problem. Thanks in advance.

 

For anyone who installed windows 8.1- How long does it take to shutdown and do you experience freezes while starting up? On shutdown I get a black screen for around 1 minute before it actually shut down. Very annoying.

 

No such issues here. It's very quick to start up and shut down. I got an SSD though.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

No problem here. Dims as it should and stays at the setting even with 3D turned on in Nvidia control panel. (Using Win 7 SP1 Ultimate)

 

I also have a Samsung SSD and there was no such problem with Windows 8. Did you install the Windows 8.1 drivers from the dell support site or did you keep the default drivers? Also have you configured the 1TB HD to be accelerated by the msata? Also, did you update to the new BIOS? I am reading several threads in the dell forums for BIOS/ Intel drivers issues.

 

+1 from me, although it took a while to upgrade & I have had one BSD so far. The MS/Intel Wifi (Centrino N230) issue is still not fixed either.

 

What is the Wifi issue?

 

Didn't install win 8.1 drivers - just allowed the update to run by itself. The SSD I'm using is not msata. 1tb HDD was moved into the second bay. Using bios ver. A15

 

Hi,

I have non-3D 1600x900 version. I've been researching about how I can use a 3D tv/monitor with this laptop to make up for not going for the 3d version.
I found this:
Nvidia Optimus Technology and 3D Vision Don’t Go Well Together - 3D Vision Blog

which does not bode well. HOWEVER, I was going through some old reviews of Dell XPS 15/17 (2010-2011), and:
Dell XPS 15 (2010) Review

That clearly says the laptop has Optimus with the Intel HD graphics and nvidia gt420 (M, I'm assuming), and then goes on to say:

"3DTV Play
Though the XPS 15 does not have a 3D-capable display or emitter, its Nvidia GT420 video card can stream three dimensional video to a 3D-enabled television using Nvidia's 3DTV Play software and the system's HDMI 1.4 port. We didn't have a 3D TV on hand during testing, but the technology worked well during a hands-on demonstration. 3DTV Play will display photos or videos you capture with a 3D camera or camcorder, as well as content from the Web. To take full advantage of this software, though, you should equip the XPS 15 with a Blu-ray drive that can play 3D Blu-ray movies."

Then, the review for the Sandy Brigde version of the XPS 15 (2012 I suppose) - and I think the most recent one of the XPS 15 series, which has been stopped temporarily for maybe a refresh:
Dell XPS 15 L502X (Sandy Bridge) Reviewed

"Though the XPS 15 does not have a 3D-capable display or emitter, its Nvidia GT 540M video card can stream three-dimensional video to a 3D-enabled television using Nvidia's 3DTV Play software and the system's HDMI 1.4 port. 3DTV Play will display photos or videos you capture with a 3D camera or camcorder, as well as content from the web. To take full advantage of this software, though, you should equip the XPS 15 with a Blu-ray drive that can play 3D Blu-ray movies."
They do say they took parts of the original review though.

Point is, they're saying 3D tv play still works with Optimus.
This is possible if the HDMI output comes directly from the NVIDIA card in the laptop.( (VGA may go through the Intel card) (Optimus doesn't work with 3D because the tv output, eg VGA, goes through the Intel gfx card.)

If 3D output works through the HDMI output (i.e. the HDMI output is directly connected to the nvidia card), that would be great news for me, because I would have to play 3D games and movies to a 3D tv. I thought I had made a mistake getting a non-3D version, because a 3D functionality would be awesome to have in the laptop. If I can still use a 3D tv the same way, that would be great!

Could someone with a 3d and non-3d model check this with a 3D monitor/TV and a HDMI connection, and also with the VGA output, and tell me what works and what doesn't? Does nvidia 3DTV play software ($40 for a laptop which didn't come with 3dvision I think) work and detect an external 3d tv? Or can I use TriDef 3D to output 3D to the 3D tv?

Thanks!

 

When i watch anything 3d the screen goes black for a few seconds and then comes back at a lower brightness to play the 3d content? Anyone had the same anything I can do to raise the birghtness? the usual methods don't work, when i try alter the brightness nothing happens?

 

Can you please post a pic of the back of your liteon adapter for inspiron 17R 7720 ?

 

That depends more on CPU load and not necessarily temperature, I play flash games on Facebook and when I leave a window running the fans are on full blast even though the CPU temp is only around 55-60C, once I closed the game window to check the fans they promptly turned off and the laptop went completely silent. It also depends on your Power Management settings, if you have High Performance enabled (100% clockspeed continuously) the CPU cores will remain at default (for my 3630QM that is 2.4 GHZ), in Balanced mode the processors can underclock much lower than default speeds and will not affect Turbo Boost when running demanding applications.

 

has anyone tried bf4 on 7720........he he he heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

i bought it today and i thought i could enjoy it in lower res and lower settings..but no no

enormous much LAG....i cant even move the damn mouse for God sake.

anyone ???????

think i have to buy a real desktop PC with some serious CPU & GPU to even start the damn game. (maybe i buy a second hand desktop with a 780GTX or something)....this is silly

 

Sounds like you have some issue with your machine since we are well above the minimum specs and almost upto recommended specs. Official Battlefield 4 System Requirements - Answer HQ

 

Hi guys, I am looking for a backlit english keyboard for my dell7720, can you give me some tips/direct links where to find it, are there any oficial dell parts site with international shipment ? I am a bit afraid of ebay hong-kong material

 

I have not tested this myself yet, it would be interesting reading more reports. I played yesterday Battlefield 3 with highest settings, no problems at all.

 

Call Dell.

Also read the previous post on this subject (use the Search thread feature).

 

my 7720 run most games awesome (bf3, bioshock in high in 1080p, etc)..... (but bf4 is way to hard for 7720)

i recognize that be able to play bf4 in nice quality you need a looot of power (now i mean A LOT). the thing is that you have to pay £2000-2500 to get a laptop which handle bf4 in good fps in full res................this new desktop cost me £990 (and have 5 times more power)

so today i bought a new desktop (Zotac gtx770, water cooled 4670K (factory overclocked to 4.4Ghz, etc) and a new monitor (DELL U2212HM)
thanks a lot DICE to make bf4 so f&&&&ng hard

 

Does BF4 have a demo? I want to download it & check if it runs good on my machine.

 

good luck !!!! (beta is over, you have to buy it)............i played bf4 on my friends desktop....its awesome (if you like bf3...you love bf4

 

Inspiron 17R SE

Processor
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
Operating System
Windows 8 64bit, English
Productivity Software
Microsoft® Office 2013 Trial
Security Software
McAfee® Live Safe 12 Month Subscription
Memory
8192MB (2x4096) 1600MHz DDR3
Hard Drive
2 X 1TB 5400rpm with 32GB Msata SSD
Video Card
2GB Nvidia GeForce GT 650M (3D)
Optical Drive
Optical Drive : Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
Display
17.3" 3D Full High Definition (1080p) LED Display with TrueLife
Wireless
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 Card (802.11n + BT 4.0)
Primary Battery
Primary 6-cell 48W/HR LI-ION
Warranty

All for 869 pounds before 10% NHS VIP discount and possibly the Dell 7% discount stacked on top.

Have been looking at the new 7000 series, and whilst they look good, there have been lots of reported issues with the wifi and the keyboard quality which put me off, despite Haswell, etc.

Any thoughts?

 

That's the exact system I have (USA) and have had it since Oct 10. I love it, picked up the Nvidia 3D Vision glasses and the 3D is spectacular. Removed the 32GB Msata for a Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD and used the 1TB for storage. Went with Windows 7 Pro however.

 

Want to configure it for Mac OS X usage given I've been using a 17 inch MacBook Pro for the last 6 years, but too expensive to replace. One drive each seems a good option to me.

 

Purchased backlit keyboard to replace the regular one. Can't wait to fit it!

 

Was easily the easiest RAM swapping on a laptop for me. The XPS17 was a pain to manipulate the bottom module. I was successfully able to use 16GB 1600 MHz. SANDRA shows it can go to 32GB 2600 MHz, but I haven't been able to test yet. There's no 32GB on Newegg, but I should have tried the 16GB 1833MHz.

 

Backlit keyboard fitted! Went very smoothly - a 3 minute job.

 

Hello everybody,

I bought my 7720 yesterday. I am very happy with it, except from the screen. It has very low contrast, bad viewing angles and the whole screen has a blueish tone. It is the 1600x900 panel, and according to AIDA64 the model number is CMN1728. I had read some bad comments about it before buying the laptop, but the fullHD version was not available in Greece anymore and I couldn't imagine that an expensive laptop like this would have such a disappointing display. Even my dad's 300 euro laptop has a better screen, not to mention my sister's excellent LG IPS234V monitor: if I work in front of it for a few minutes, my laptop's screen looks like ****.

I tried correcting some settings with the Intel driver to no avail. The screen also failed almost every single test of the Lagom LCD test. I tried loading some .icc profiles I found on the laptop's official review and this forum, but all of them were very wrong, giving the display either a green or a red hue.

Are there any suggestions to improve the display quality even a little? I am very disappointed that Dell equipped a high end laptop with this screen.

 

Surprised you went for anything less than 1080p.
Not sure if anyone in this thread has got that panel.

You could probably purchase full hd panel and fit it yourself.