Dell E1705/Go 7800 First Impressions

Well I finally got my laptop from Dell. It's fully loaded and it performs as advertised. However, I bought this laptop for business because I wanted a strong machine for play when I'm not at work. As a business machine, I'm really unimpressed. I was going back and forth between this laptop and the Acer Travelmate 8204. Miraculously, the Dell somehow shipped first, so I cancelled the Acer. Now I'm not so sure I did the right thing. Here are my first impressions.

Display: The E1705 has a BEAUTIFUL 1920x1200 display. However, text is VERY small, even at the best dpi setting. The 1680x1050 display on the 8204 would certainly provide slighly larger text. There is also noticeable light leakage at the bottom of the 1705 lcd, comparable to pics I have seen of the 8204. The reflective coating can be distracting if you don't turn up the brightness, but this seriously eats the battery power. Also, Dell Media Experience seems to lower the screen resolution, giving pictures and movies a slightly soft image IMO. I think I'm better off using either computer with an external LCD.

Size: The E1705 is huge. It doesn't fit into my Tumi briefcase like I thought it would. I can already see how this will be a pain to take to work everyday or carry onto planes. 90% of all laptop accesories seem to be made for 15" laptops. But it was difficult to find any 15" laptops with a dual core and decent video card.

Connectivity: The Dell's lack of a realistic port replicator is a real issue to me. I have a 20 inch widescreen lcd at work and I want to use DVI. With the Dell and a USB port replicator, I still have to plug in power, DVI, and the USB replicator. With the 8204, one plug does it all. Dell's Precision M90 and Latitude D820 use the same chasis as the E1705, and they have a docking port underneath. In fact, the E1705 has a door covering where the port should be. Would it really have been so hard to include the port or make it an option? Also I'm really upset that Dell did not include a PC Card slot, just an Express Card. There aren't any express cards yet, and the only way I can get a Cingular 3G connection is with a pc card. Acer provides both ports to cover all the bases.

Multimedia: Ok, again, the display on the Dell is fantastic and I haven't seen the one on the 8204. The speakers on the Dell are the best I've ever heard on a laptop. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise; they're exceptional. But how often am I really going to use them. I'll use my ipod for music, and I'll probably use headphones for movies and gaming. It's a great feature, but somewhat overated. Also, Dell's Media Direct is a cool feature, no doubt. One real disadvantage that the Acer has is no multimedia buttons. But I found a solution for that. CompUSA sells a PC Card IR multimedia remote. It stores in the laptops pc card slot and can use the Acer's builtin IR receiver. It even has a touchpad. I actually like that setup better than the front-mounted buttons on the Dell.

I may try to get the Acer as quickly as possible, then return the laptop that doesn't make the cut.

Dell E1705, T2500 2 Ghz core duo, Nvidia Go 7800, 2 GB 667 MHz RAM, 80 GB 7200rpm HDD, WUXGA display 1920x1200, Intel Pro wireless and bluetooth, XP Pro SP2

 

Dude a lot of what you say is true, however have you played games on it yet, I have OC the GPU to 380/900 and she flies. COD2 wireless at over 50FPS.... Buy a Dell back pack from Notebookforums... it will fir the e1705 just fine. Buy a multy card reader that fits the PCMI card slot... the Go7800 rocks oncw its OC a little.