Dell Quality

Just wondering what everyones take on the quality of Dell's new line of laptops is. I've got a 1505 that just doesn't seem to built that well screen is loose, keyboard has been replaced twice, one of the speakers works intermittently, plastic case that just doesn't impress me at all creaks, and flexes way too much. I swore I'd never buy another Dell as this is my second and the first one was worse than this one. My wife however wants a new pink 17" with a keyboard that has a number pad. This pretty much limits my options, so with the current round of EPP coupons and what is claimed to be a new magnesium case I figured I might give them another go as I can configure one with a 7300 processor, 8600 graphics card, Bluetooth, N wireless, DVD Burner and web cam with dell care plus protection for about $1450. The 3 year warranty and accidental damage protection takes alot of the risk out of it, but I still dont care to have a laptop thats forever needing to be fixed. Anyones thoughts would be appreciated.

 

its looking like the new 1520 and 1720 are very well built

 

Notebooks have come a long way in terms of mobility and the associated expectations regarding durability haven’t they? Just five-six years ago, the extent of my mobile usage was to get to the office, dock my notebook, leave it there for the day, then undock it and take it home, where most of the time it stayed in my backpack until the next day.

Today, I take my notebook to an average of 2-3 meetings a day(sans backpack), use it in my car during my daughter’s soccer practice, and then carry it around the house trying to find a quiet room to get a little additional work done. I’ve dropped my Latitude D420 out of my backpack TWICE in the parking lot, the second time was last week in a puddle -and after drying out for ~ 5 hours, it started up. (yes, I am a bit of a klutz). A small part of one of the base corner is actually gone, but it provides a great cross section example of the construction materiel: mag alloy.

Regarding Dell consumer notebook construction, I can confirm that the new Inspirons and XPS M1330 all feature a Magnesium Alloy chassis (LCD back and base). A bit of further detail, the design and construction of systems here at Dell are joint efforts by teams of industrial designers, mechanical / electrical engineers, usability and ergonomic experts.

We put models through about 13,000 hours of testing to make sure that they stand up to current everyday living standards, be it opening and closing the LCD lid thousands of times, stuffing in it an already full backpack or briefcase hundreds of times, carrying the system room to room by one corner while the display is open (something our engineers saw here at Dell with the advent of wireless and realized that the system base MUST be designed to stand up to that kind of usage.) We’ve got more details on the kind of testing we do to make our systems “RoadReady” – can be found here: www.dell.com/roadready.

Finally we take feedback from customers like to you, that often discovers new and unique challenges we need to address, and incorporate the findings into next generation designs. I hope you’ll find that the Inspiron 1720 or 1721 stands up to your expectations, and don’t hesitate to share feedback either here, or on the Dell digital media sites: Join the Conversation with Dell

 

Nice to see our friend Anne in the forums.

I've been handling the new Inspiron 1520 and XPS M1330. Both are built well, the 1520 is especially rugged feeling, and I know the 1720 is the same construction so you shouldn't be concerned about build. The business line of Latitude notebooks are also well built, but they're not offered in pink unfortunately