Dell 17r N7720 SE - user review

I think some folks were asking about 9-cell battery for 17R SE. I have been looking at the photos of different batteries (and researching compatibility) and it looks like 15R/17R SE share the same slot with Latitudes e6520/e6530/e6540. The latter are available with upgraded capacity 6-cell battery (60 Wh instead of 48 Wh), part number T54FJ. According to my quick calculations, Inspirons use 2200 mAh cells, while Latitudes are packed with 2750 mAh. This should in theory give about 25% more battery runtime. Latitudes are also available with 9-cell 97 Wh batteries, part number M5Y0X, twice the capacity of regular ones in SE. Have anyone tried them?

 

Been there, done that (about a year ago). Posted here somewhere...

I even ordered a 9 cell battery after doing everything I could to confirm it shoudl work, and while it LOOKS LIKE it should fit, it doesn't. Everything lines up, but the "valley" between the cells is not deep enough and the battery does not seat.

Anyone interested in a new 9 cell Latitude battery?

 

Shame. I wonder if Latitude 6-cell battery would work. I will probably go for it once my current one gives up the ghost. At the moment it is still doing fine though: 20% wear level after 1.5 years of use.

In the meantime I have upgraded my 17R SE with Toshiba Q series SSD. Everything is nice and speedy now. Two things I found while making the switch. One (it's probably known by now) is that the motherboard supports only two 6 Gbps SATA channels and they are reserved for two HDD bays, while mSATA slot operates at 3 Gbps only. Secondly, while reinstalling the system, Windows 7 would not load upon boot up after a few resets. Every time it was hanging while trying to load Avast! antivirus dll. I have noticed that before this happened, there was some sort of issue with built-in webcam driver. Although it appeared to be working fine, the camera would not start and control panel would just hand while trying to remove the driver. Swapped to a different antivirus program and the problem's gone. Weird.

 

Maybe the file was corrupt. Did you have the latest version downloaded?
I stick with the built-in Windows Defender / MS Security Essentials but have full version of Malwarebytes on top of that.

 

In fact I tried a few different (recent) versions of Avast! and every time the laptop exhibited the same behaviour. Anyway, any updated on BIOS? I'm still on A11 and Dell's GPU driver version 311.00. Using this combination GPU boost/overclocking works fine even without 99% CPU trick (disabled boost). However, pulling power cord still disables GPU boost until reset.

 

I have the same panel. I couldn't get the fullHD one, so went for this.
However, my panel seems perfectly fine, with no obvious shortcomings. The Lagom LCD test, well, every medium end laptop I've tested (a Samsung Series 3, a Sony Vaio 11 inch something, a Lenovo ideapad g500s), all fail, and all have TN screens I believe (no IPS for sure in the samsung). One would think every non-IPS screen is worthless with those tests. But comparing my 900p screen to all those, I can tell no difference. Max brightness is great, and colors seem nice, and the screen is sharp. (I have a matte screen, I think). Obviously the 1080p panel would be sharper, but I am pleased with this screen, though I have not extensively used any IPS monitors to compare.
The icc profile on notebookcheck.net gives my screen a warmish yellow hue - the original looks quite a bit better (cooler compared to the .icc). So, I have no tweaks or profiles applied to my CMN1728, and it looks great to me, on par if not better than all other laptop screens I've used (admittedly all in the mid-range; I have not tried any Alienwares or similar, side by side. But when I did look at a few, they did not seem better than my 17r se.)

(However, I have only one problem with the screen - there are a few small specks of dust under the screen, which make it look like dead pixels, but are not. Very small - a couple barely a half pixel wide, one spanning two pixels diagonally. They are not generally noticeable except on a white screen on inspection. It seems the dust got in through the sides on the bezel. Can it be cleaned?)

(I was planning on buying the 1080p glossy (trulife) panel to replace mine, but then decided the 900p is fine. It looks great, and the 650M can't really play modern (2013+ ) games at 1080p at decent settings. 900p is a good compromise.)

Sorry I don't have any solution to your problem, thought I'd share details about my screen - maybe yours is from a bad batch like the other 'bad-comments-on-this-screen' ones ?

 

Also, if anyone has any tips for improving the inbuilt speakers, such as their audio settings, maxxaudio profile settings, software, bass boost settings, and so on, please share them! I am quite happy with the sound, but I believe it can be improved further. Certain songs sound awesome with nice loud bass, so the speakers are definitely capable, I think. So, looking for the best audio I can squeeze from these 2.1 skullcandys.

Maybe a Beats port/ modded driver? (HP updates their IDT drivers regularly, Dell hasn't since Sept 2012).

Anyone have any ideas for, say:
1. Controlling/using the keyboard backlight as a visualizer/notification indicator?
2. Connecting stereo speakers to the headphone jack and using them as rear speakers with laptop 2.1 as front speakers, for a 4.1 surround system? I have simultaneous output working, running audio on a total of 6.1 -> 2.1 laptop speakers, and 2 sets of portable stereo speakers (using a splitter).
3. Using USB EL Wire (electroluminescent wire) for Alienware-like lighting of the laptop edges/underbody/etc?
4. Replacement screen covers (are there any even available besides the default black Dell honeycomb design)?
5. Can anyone confirm that the 1st quick launch button (the settings icon one) does not work after upgrading to win8.1 (supposed to open mobility center)? Any solutions?
6. Any other cool tricks/tips?

Thanks!

 

I am on A16 and latest nVidia 332.21 drivers. The GPU Boost/overclocking has always worked for me without the 99% cpu trick, on every driver/bios since I got the laptop 5 months ago. I have never had the 650m disappearing or other problems ever, since A12 when I bought it, immediately updated to A15, and now A16. However, pulling power cord still disables GPU boost until reset. This I think is also a problem in the 650M-equipped Alienware m14x. I read somewhere that nvidia would work on this gpu boost issue in their next driver. (not too hopeful though)

 

Do you know what interface the Optical Disk Drive (ODD) uses? SATA 1.5Gbps? Can that be replaced with a hard drive in some sort of caddy later on? (I'm thinking a 128/256 gb ssd in sata 6gbps slot 0, my current 1 tb in slot 1, another 500gb/1tb standard hdd in the optical bay. (and maybe a 128gb msata)?

 

My ODD operates at 1.5 Gbps, but that's due to the drive interface. Theoretically HM77 SATA controller has two 6 Gbps channels and (up to) four 3 Gbps channels, so unless Dell tinkered with that, HDD in optical bay will work at SATA II speeds.

 

Thinking of warranty upgrade. What would you guys go for?

1 year: 70 GBP
2 Years: 110 GBP
3 Years: 145 GBP

 

I have never bothered with warranty extension for my home laptop.

 

Thinking that it might be good idea to get warranty extended - the motherboard goes to around 100 degree celsius editing Premier - last time the thermal protection kicked in and shot the system down. Would be a waste of a i7 workstation if the laptop stops working suddenly.

 

extra warranty by DELL is great...i always has extra years....its so cheap considering what you really get if something happens.

i think i have got back this money 3 times already.......1 new motherboard...1 new battery.......only this is more then £300).
on my my sxps 16....1 new motherboard, 1 new IPS rgbled screen (the original first real 16")

i would take 1 extra year (why....just because i often sell my laptop after ~2 years)

and if you have your laptop more then 2 years you can always buy one year more.

 

Hey, can someone tell me where can i find a hard disk caddy to fit into the SE 7720? I'd like to move one of my hard drives into a caddy and install a seagate SSH for the operating system.

 

In this case, I'd suggest a desktop pc.
But if it's not an option then definitely get the extended warranty.

 

The 7720 has got two HDD bays.

 

Plenty on eBay, but not exactly cheap. For some reason, bay 1 caddy is different from bay 2. My 7720 came with both caddies, despite being shipped with a single HDD.

 

I'm currently experiencing strange problem with battery. New ones are 48 Wh. After a year and a half of use, the battery in my 7720 is down to 39 Wh (20% wear) according to HW Info. No issues so far. However, the battery status in taskbar says that only "87% is available (plugged in, charging)". The problem is that the meter is stuck and not charging (HW Info reports 0.011 W charge rate, compared to around 14 W when charging properly). I have tried to drain the battery completely and recharge, but it only reduced the number down to 80%. Also, disabling ACPI control in Device Manager, removing and reinstalling the battery (one of the solutions I found online), only changed the status to "plugged in, not charging". Ultimately, HW Info reports that battery capacity is now 31 Wh. Dell's "desktop mode" is disabled in battery options. Any ideas?

 

After a year an a half battery will be showing signs of wear. Depending on how much you were using it, whether you kept it plugged into the laptop all the time, etc.

 

I was talking about the caddy that you can install instead of the optical unit.

I have 2 HDDs inside the laptop and i'd like to remove the DVD-RW...don't use it anyway.

 

Surprisingly, a google search for 'inspiron 7720 hdd caddy' revealed some results:

HDD Caddy – Add a 2nd HDD to your laptop » Dell Inspiron 7220 7720 7520 HDD Caddy

2nd HDD /SSD Caddy, DELL Inspiron 17R (N7010, N7110, 7220, 7720) [OBHD-SATA12-SATA-BU] - $38.75 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

 

i had my 7720 (se spec below) for nearly 2 years now and its one of the best laptop i had

the only thing i wish is that the laptop sometimes would run more stable on battery (especially when i stream videos).........but again, very good model

 

If anyone is still looking for a 9 cell battery for their 7720, look for DL6420LP Bay Valley Parts 9-Cell 11.1V 7800mAh on amazon. They are all currently sold out on ebay. (ebay was cheaper) This battery will raise the rear of the laptop about 1/2 inch, so it won't lay flat anymore. Just got one and so far it works well.

 

Even cheaper ($49.99 + Free Shipping) on Rakuten.com (Buy.com). How much were they on ebay? I did an advanced search and could not find the item.

 

They were $36.24 + free shipping direct from bayvalley parts. They had been under
9 Cells Battery for DELL 15R 5520 7520 Latitude E6530 17R 5720 3460 E5420 E5420

 

You're sure they fit the 7720? Only reason I ask is because a while back I bought a Latitude battery that looked like it would fit FOR SURE, and guess what? It didn't. Almost, but would not lock down into the 7720 fully.

So, since the title doesn't reference the 7720, I wanted to be sure that you ordered one and that it does, indeed, fit and work.

Good deal if it does. Thanks!

 

This is the one I received. I also wasn't sure it would work but took a shot at it.. Sorry about the pics but I only have a nintendo 3ds to take pictures with. The product description on amazon has a big list of pc's and the 7720 is listed but you have to look at the list carefully to not miss it.

 

Thanks for the pics. I like batteries that raise the back of the notebook as it helps with cooling.
What I meant about the title not showing 7720 was the ebay listing. I found the (now expired) original listing and it didn't list the 7720 in the title. I contacted the seller to see if they would be getting more. I like $35 more than over $60 on Amazon!

 

damn this thread is already dead ?

Just a quick info, i suffered overheating in games, gpu went upto 85 and CPU 92 celsius, so i contacted dell support, technician came and replaced my heatsink + applied arctic cooling mx 4 thermal compound.now my max temps in heavy games are cpu 75 and gpu even overclocked max 72.

 

Not really "dead", just not much activity. Too bad, because of all the Dell laptops I've had in the past (which is most of them), the 17R SE is/was the best value/performance 17" (or 15" with the 15R SE) around. Lots of drive expansion, great looking display, fast Core i7, and with discrete video, makes a great gaming notebook.
Pick up a good deal at the Outlet and you've really scored!

FYI, with regards to the 9-cell battery above, I wound up buying one from BAYVALLEYPARTS on ebay for $28.99. It works great (so far). I know these cheap batteries are like light bulbs--they work great one day and burn out the next without notice, but I really like how it raises the back. Might buy another just to have on hand. For $29 shipped, it's a great deal.

 

After 2.5 years of use I decided to tear my 7720 apart, clean it and replace thermal paste with Arctic MX2. What a difference! Temperatures dropped by 8 - 10 degrees C. Now even Furmark with GPU overclocked to 970 MHz does not manage to overheat it. On standard clocks the temperatures settle at around 78C (GPU) and 66C (CPU) when hammered with 100% load in Furmark. Overclocked to 970MHz they reach 84C and 68C respectively and stay there. Interestingly, on original paste after 6 minutes of 100% load on the CPU the temperatures varied from 78C to 87C depending on the core (and were still rising). On Arctic all cores heat up the same and settle at 76C. No more auto downclocking due to heat issues. Temperatures in games are 8 - 10C lower. While the laptop was open I slipped some folded pieces of paper beneath the keyboard, which now feels stiffer and offers better feedback. Great!

 

Great work!
Was it difficult?

 

Not really. I found this video very useful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ9gQvtsSrg

The only difference is the final step. There are two heatsinks/heatpipes instead of one due to dedicated GPU.

 

can you guys post your overclocked GPU core and memory settings ? And whitch software did you use it for oc ?
I use nvidia inspector, and overclocking P(0) state : core +135MHz to 880MHz so with boost its 970MHz
when i tried to oc memory for more then 150MHz i got blackscreen in idle mode at low temperatures
The difference (boost) in games is minimal.

Second question. Is there any trick to increase fps in games when i play in windowed mode? Example, in fullscreen i got like 100fps, and when i switch to windowed mode it auto drops to 50-60fps (already got aero off and also tried to set real time CPU priority for the game).

 

Looking at the 9 cell battery on Amazon - anyone got idea how long they system could run on 9 cell?

 

Thanks for your report. I will definitely try that. I have been looking for ways to cool down the temp in idle mode as it slowly reaches 60-65C before the fan kicks in. At 50C the fan stops, but kicks in again at 60-65C, and so on. I would gladly reduce the multiplier of the CPU but that option is locked. Maybe there is a lot of dust collected by now that I should to get rid of. I'm also thinking of using a passive (fanless) laptop holder which lifts up the rare end a few centimeters - that way, there will be more healthy air circulation in front of the input fan. I prefer to stay away from cooling pads with fans since I prefer a silent environment.

 

I recently replaced the mini-pci wi-fi card with an Intel AC-7260 (rev. 2) and I can now enjoy twice as fast transfer speed on the 5 GHz band. I have not tested the AC feature yet though as I do not have any AC router (I plan to get one in a few months). I have so far not encountered any problems with the network, everything seems stable so far.

However... it no longer can connect with my bluetooth device (Nokia mobile phone). Not sure if I should blame Windows 8.1 for this or the drivers. Nothing important for me though, I can connect via ftp instead.

 

My dell 7720 came with 2X 7200rpm hdd and a free msata slot. Is it possible to use for that msata slot regular ssd disk like Intel 530 180GB SSD bulk | Alza.sk ? Will it works like regular partition where i can have windows7 + some games ? Or it is just some speedboost cache ssd slot ?

 

If you install Windows to msata drive you should be able to use it as the system drive.

 

Thread resurrection! well not quite I guess. Anybody who still reads this had any joy with USB3 Gigabit Ethernet adapters on this laptop. I've tried a couple now and they both default to 100Mbit under network settings and then lockup if you force them to into Gigabit mode. So far as I can tell this Laptop USB 3 installation has a real issue with non storage connections.

 

Thinking of something more portable.
What's the difference going from 7720 with i7-3630qm, 8GB, 17" 1080p screen, 256GB Samsung 840 Pro & 650M, builtin 2.1 Speakers, to a base level Retina Macbook Pro 13 (2015)?

 

No idea about external network adapters, but it appears (at least in my 7720) that USB 3.0 ports are underpowered. External HDD enclosure worked absolutely fine with my old Vostro and wife's Latitude on a single USB cable. Every time I try to connect that enclosure to my 7720, the HDD attempts to spin up several times with no joy. Once it does, which is rare, the drive works fine. However, when connected via Y cable (using 2 USB ports) external HDD spins up instantly. I'm unable to measure maximum current 7720's ports provide, but it looks like they are limited.

 

This is the USB 3.0 ethernet adapter I use: Tek Republic TUN-300. I don't use it a ton - just for large file copies, but no issues. $20 at newegg, well reviewed.

I picked up the 9cell battery recently - the fact it tilts the laptop up (don't like flat keyboards) instead of sticking out the back is a nice feature, the warning beep/stop about an unknown battery is a little annoying. Anyone know a way around it - does the unlocked bios left you do anything with it?

 

I have installed Windows 10 insider preview - the battery beeping and annoying announcements are gone. But the best feature is - the sound! I don´t know what they did but the driver seem very good. Sub is working properly, the sound is improved drastically. Anyone else who tried let me know what are your thoughts

 

Hi,
nobody postet it - so do I:
After three years Dell provides a new BIOS version (A17) which seems to solve our Nvidia problem
It ist avaible from Dell support page since 1st of June!!!

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us...ID=06P9C&urlProductCode=false&c=us&l=en&s=bsd

 

Thanks for sharing. What was the NVIDIA problem?

 

The problem was the not working boost of the integrated Geforce Graphic Card, e.g.:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19486486

You will find this problematic behaviour in this thread as well

 

Finally!

 

I have now sold my 7720 17r. Hope to chat to you all in MSI GT72 forum

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