Dell 17r N7720 SE - user review

The Site is currently not allowing me to send Private Messages.

 

he he.....then you have misunderstand something.....
(click on my nickname...and voila)

 

.........here you go. (highest configuration...7720)

 

That person doesn't have enough posts to PM.

 

well. now he have the spec

 

Hello,
few days ago I bought this laptop (non 3d) with 650m GDDR5. I'm very happy with it. However when I play Skyrim, it throttles down after 5 minutes of game play. I checked, the highest temperature of the GPU during game is 70*, much lower than the dangerous zone (above 90). The room temperature is 25*. I tried different drivers, the result is the same. Also the throttling stays until I restart the computer.
Is there a way to disable the throttling? Also, why it throttles down on so low temperature?

 

Hi guys, could you please tell me if the True Life screen on the 3D model is glossy like I've heard? Is it glossy on all 3d laptops?

 

Hi all,

I would love to be a proud owner of a 17R SE but need to verify the presence or absents of gigabit Ethernet capability first. I regularly need to back up large amounts of data and a T10/100 would take forever. I've read this entire thread and it's still unclear to me. Could some current owners please verify if gigabit Ethernet is in this unit or not. I'm wondering if the spec sheet is in error or did the designers omit this capability for who knows what reason.

Thanks

 

Thank you for the Specs KSMB!

 

Its 50% matt and 50% glossy. Its some new coating ive never seen before. Very nice!

Cheeroeke.......l i have very fast internet speed at home BBB 100/100..Works flawless....do you need more then so ??? I dont think so.
Second. If you now should live in a city there they use more then 100mb/s..... Just change the network card. Costs NADA

Terzer.......set the CPU at 99% when you play games (no more heat). A i7 with 2.3ghz base speed & 6mb cache does not need any turbo boost during games. It fast enough as it is.

 

"Its 50% matt and 50% glossy. Its some new coating ive never seen before. Very nice!"

Are the reflections bad on it? Can you use it outdoors? Thanks.

 

Sadly, only 100Mbit Ethernet. Even Dell_Bill stated earlier that he simply cannot publicly explain the "reasoning" behind the lack of 1Gbit Ethernet on 17R SE ... That is the #1 reason why I won't be buying a 17R SE to replace my old Studio 1737.

 

Contacted the Dell Support today.. They said there's no backlit keyboard available in Belgian Azerty Bummer.
And I also asked about installing windows on an SSD. They told me to buy a whole new OEM, wth?

 

Im concidering going for the 17R as Dell norway has increased the XPS 15 prices almost 2500 for the lowest configuration, and i can get a top specced 17r with full warranty covrage for 150-200 less...

So i have a few questions about the i17R.:
Are there any of the throtteling issues present as in the new XPS 15?
Is the wifi issue from new XPS present here?
How is the build quality compared to the previous XPS generations?


besides from not getting a backlit keyboard in norway, any reasonable arguments for not buying it?

 

My 17R SE just arrived.

Mine is really fresh meat, shipped to Norway from China in 3 days!

Came preloaded with bios A02 (Dated 6th August). LCD panel is the Chi Mei CMN1720, which to me is very good.

Now I'll install the crucial m4 SSD and do a clean install, got mine with w7 DVD for free.

 

Congrats on finally getting your laptop delivered!

I'm very curious about the A02 BIOS version you have preinstalled. What are the changes compared to A01? Can you post some pictures of the BIOS screens?

I checked the US Dell support page and there is no A02 version available for download.

 

KSMB,

My main concern is not internet speeds but internal file transfers to and from a server. Tens of gigabytes routinely. Please expand on your comment about changing the network card. Is a 10/100/1000 available and is it easy to make the change?

Thanks

 

Currently doing a clean install, so won't be able to fiddle around with it in a hr or two.

I doubt there will be much difference between A01 and A02, at least visible.

Edit: I also installed a bluray drive, a lot cheaper than getting a bluray drive from DELL.
Edit2: Mine came with 1TB Samsung spinpoint/(now seagate) HDD, unlike most I've seen which has been delivered with WD harddrive. This HDD performs slightly better than WD, but is also a bit noisier.

 

The big question regarding the new BIOS is whether it's fixing the GPU throttling issue so please post any updates.

 

I will.

As far as I know there is not an throttling issue? It's just that turbo is deactivated.

btw, what LCD panel do you have?

You can find it in device manager, or with this small util: EnTech Taiwan | Utilities | Monitor Asset Manager

 

Nothing new under the sun.

GPU boosts to 835MHz after fresh boot until certain CPU load is reached and it drops down to 745MHz and then there is no more GPU boost until reboot.
CPU doesn't throttle before it reaches 95C, when hitting 95C it drops to 1,2GHz.

I have to admit I was expecting the cooling system to be better than in the thin samsung chronos 7 700Z7C I had (fantastic computer with horrible wifi), but it's not. Temps gets just as high or higher, and the GPU in the samsung boosted to 835MHz without issues, and the inspiron fan is louder. On the positive side the case of the inspiron doesn't get quite as hot.
But then again there is a huge price difference, the samsung chronos cost 50% more.

 

my 7720 runs extremely cool i must say.

 

Hey guys!

Just purchased a new N7720. The price (with coupon, $949 for 1080P/32gb SSD/2.1 audio/8gb RAM/650M 2gb GDDR5/17 inch?!) seemed too good to pass up. Hoping to do some interesting temperature tests on this new laptop. So far, you guys seem to be enjoying them very well...

Hopefully, the same can be said to me, and to future buyers.

 

What coupon did you use? Is there a coupon code for this model?

 

I just ordered one as well - no interest until June 2013. Upgrading from a studio 1537 - was holding out for the new xps but was a bit disappointed in it, though it looked nice.


There's a $150 code for the 15/17

link

 

Hey guys, is the 3D model's True Life display bad with reflections? Can you use it outdoors? Thanks.

 

compared to "real" high glossy its not reflect that much.....indoor when the sun shines throe the room its very low reflections....outdoor of course you get some reflections, but its no problems to see the screen.

outdoor: Dell 17R special edition Review (7720). Part 1 - YouTube

indoor: Dell 17R special edition Review (7720) Part 2 - YouTube

viewing angles and colours are spot on......go for it.

 

Hi guys, I have a question.
I decided to buy a dell N7720 on the CPU Core i5
GT650m in Laptop Core i5 is with ddr3 or gddr5?
answer please, for me it is very important

And one more question, as very hot Core i7 vs Core i5?
Sorry for my english
Thanks

 

I have the following panel: LGD02DA

 

Sad news about the CPU boost. I was hoping they fixed the issue

 

I've had two quotes from Dell while trying to perfect my build before I order it. To all those people who think that there is no backlit keyboard for your country...there is none available here in Ireland on the website either but I got them to include it in my build. It helped to say I didn't care about fast shipping. They do make the part as it's the same keyboard as the Vostro 3750. Try and find the part number of the Vostro keyboard for your country and mention it to Dell support.

Anyway that's not what I came to ask....

I noticed different specs on the two quotes and was wondering if anyone knows what these parts refer to.

N0517S20 1on the first and N0817S20 1 on the second.

I see these are referred to as Bundle on the dell site but what does that mean and why might the two be different?

 

the LG Philips (LGD02DA) screen is one of the best (standard) Matt screens ive seen..............you guys can be lucky if you get the LG Philip screen.


i would like to see their new IPS/3D screen...........should be awesome

 

Hey all, love the thread and am close to getting the 17R SE even though it doesn't have gigabit. Tried scanning for the answer in the thread but couldn't find it. It is screen related. Is it worth it to get the 3D screen? Even when you are doing non 3D stuff is it a better screen or basically the same?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

LG philips




@ AngryBambi.........................its only UK, USA & Germany who have Backlit keyboard on 7720. (you have to call DELL and ask them put a UK backlit keyboard on your 7720.............they can do so.


@ DavesIKnow..................if you like higher colour gamut, sharpness and better viewing angles...YES !

i didnt buy the screen because of the 3D...........i bought it because the tech-guy on DELL had exactly this screen on his Alienware M17X and he said it was awesome.

 

That's what I was saying, though I don't think those are the only regions that have a working backlit part. I know there is at least also a french AZERTY one that should do fine for the belgian poster (Edit: Skrallbe) who was asking a while back.

'@skrallbe - The part number for the french backlit keyboard is MJC0J. Just ask them to install this part. That's what I did.
If one rep tells you you can't, ask another. 50% of the Dell support are incompetent, 50% are good enough to do this for you


Edit 2: The Italian backlit keyboard is part YCNW3

 

Thanks for the reply!

Under 17.3 your chart doesn't mention 3D - and it seems like 3D or non-3D its still the Full HD screen. Does the 3D screen do 120hz like i have seen on other screens?

Even when i look at the TECH SPECS area of the laptop - where it usually states all differences between the parts of the laptop which are available - it only says this for Display "17.3" Full High Definition (1080p) LED Display with Anti-Glare".

??

 

Good one. As far as I know the LG and Chi Mei is almost identical when it comes to black values and contrast (~0.35cd/m blacklevel and ~700:1 contrast and about full coverage of sRGB).

 

I was able to find this on a different forums - it answers some of my questions:

400-nit Full HD screen for the 3D model. That's one VERY bright screen. Being 3D, I'm guessing the refresh rate is 120hz?

Edit: the manual states the 3D version has a 120hz refresh rate.

 

All 3D panels has 120Hz as it's needed for displaying 3D.

 

davesknow.............7720 True life 3D Vision screen does NOT comes by LG Philips...........its Samsung (SEC5440).

i only use 120hz when i use 3D.......otherwise i use 60hz..

BUT you can for example set your HDMI output to 100hz if you use it to a 100hz flatscreen....very nice.

 

Thanks KSMB

 

So why wouldn't you run 120hz all the time? other people say it makes it look better? you dont find that?

 

there is no different at all...............ive compared 60 vs 120hz in both games such as movies........no different.......(BUT if the game has HZ options you might get a small increase)

the 120HZ feature is mainly for 2 things...........3D (without 120HZ, no 3D)...and if you using HDMi output to a flatscreen for example Bluray.

 

3dmark11 score with GPU overclocked to 880MHz core (970MHz boost) and 1100MHz memory.

As you can see from the GPU activity log turbo boost works fine as long as it it's not stressed for longer times (like furmark + prime95). So the issue is not as bad as it first seems, I'll monitor turbo activity a bit when I have the time to game for a longer period.

 

@AngriBambi: I asked a Dell consultant about the backlit keyboard. There is indeed an AZERTY but its layout is French. This is a small but annoying difference with a Belgian keyboard (e.g. ! and & and @ will be positioned somewhere else).

 

Stresstest with furmark+prime. The CPU do drop down to 1.2GHz after a while (throttles), but it's not bad considering this is very unrealistic load. GPU sits @ 745MHz all the time (turbo is disabled), my samsung was @ 835MHz all the time (turbo active) in the same test.

Max keyboard temp I was able to measure with my IR temp reader was 48C Celsius in the upper left corner, and just above spacebar. Max keyboard temp on the samsung 700Z7C was 53C in the middle of the keyboard. WASD area was slightly cooler on the samsung than on this inspiron.
A bit on the hot side, but again this is under unrealistic high load.

 

if i use the integrated graphics to play skyrim, would the battery last longer than if i used the 650m?

 

Yes, but you'd probably only get like 20mins or so more batterytime.

 

OC-Freak You overlocking videocard Dell Inspiron 7720 ? How you got it? Please send instructions.

 

Maybe just buy it separately then. Apparently the keyboard is extremely easy to switch out. Here's the part on eBay