Dell Studio 1747 vs. 1749

Just finished picking through Dell's updated options.

Note: This is for the Dell USA site as of 5/6/2010....any other countries and/or times YMMV

There are some notable differences between the 1747 and 1749 being offered via the Dell Studio 17 selector

1749:

ATI 5650
i3-350M, i5-430M, i5-520M (No i5-540M or i7-620M. No Quad Core Options)
1066 memory (Makes sense since dual core i3,i5,i7's only support up to 1066 memory)
9-Cell battery as default option
1yr Warranty default
1080P "RGBLED" panel Description/Product Code = DH1080F / 320-8968

1747:

ATI 4650
i7-720QM, i7-820QM (No dual core options at all)
1333 memory support
9-Cell battery as default option
2-yr warranty default (No 1 yr option)
1080P "B+RG" panel Description/Product Code = CH1080F / 313-8043


Blue Ray RW drives are now an option for both @ $150.00
Intel 6200/6250 options are available for both

I'm definitely curious about the panel changes along with system board revisions to see if the 1749 supports Quad Core CPUs.

 

where can you option for the 1080 screen on the studio 17??????

 

I guess it depends where you're at, geographically speaking. I'm delighted to say the FHD 1080 B+RG LED screen option has reappeared on the Canadian website finally after serveral months absence and I ordered mine last night. The Canadian website is certainly confusing re the 1747 vs 1749 issue - I don't see that designation anywhere obvious so they don't make it clear. It seems like the 1749 has some different port options too - 4xUSB's and no ESATA (?). At least it's not listed under tech specs. But they have the same photos for both models. Also seems the JBL speakers are gone from the 1749?

I went for the 1747 (I guess) since I've got the I7 720QM and the ATI RADEON 4650. If I spec'd the 1749 (?) to the same level as my 1747 order it ended up more expensive, go figure.

Anyhow, well done DELL for finally offering a 17" multi-media (not gaming) notebook with a premium FHD screen it deserves - almost uniquely in the world it would seem at the moment. That won my order. Let's hope I end up a satisfied new DELL customer

 

Here's the email from my Dell salesman about the difference of 1747/1749.

Is this standard practice for all Dell salesmen to lie about this???

 

Take everything 'salesmen' (or women) say with a pinch of salt - in my company their moto is "the answer's yes - what's the question?"

In Best Buy (Canada) they've got a config of the Studio 17 and it has a sticker on it saying the screen is FHD. It's not, any fool can check the max monitor res in Windows and see it's the '900p' one.

 

i7 can be dual-core and quad-core. Dual-core i7 (not sure if that's offered by Dell though) would be compatible with Studio 1749 while quad-core i7 would be compatible with Studio 1747.

 

Only i7 dual core is the 620M which isn't offered here in the US for the 1747 or 1749.

1747 = 720QM, 820QM (No dual core options at all)
1749 = i3-350M, i5-430M, i5-520M (No i5-540M or i7-620M)

 

Here in The Netherlands for the 1749 you can choose between i3-330M, i3-350M, i5-430M, i5-520M, i5-540M and the i7-620M:
De online winkel van Dell: stel zelf uw systeem samen
Ofcourse with the HD 5650 GPU.

 

Awww, that's not fair.

Next thing you know, they will be offering the 920XM as an option for the 1747.

 

Yes, but only in Honduras and Denmark, and then only with a 1386 x 768 display...

BTW, at the moment we can get all the relevant 1749 CPU options in Norway, but still not the 1080p screen unless you twist the arm of a sales rep. You can get a Blu-ray drive and multi-touch with the 1749 but not the 1747 (arm twisting will help again). You can get the 9 cell pack with the 1747 but not with the 1749. Etc, etc..

I do not understand why the options for any given modular Dell model depends on which country you order from, how the website happens to be set up that day and who you get to talk to at sales etc.. I thought the whole idea of modular construction and JIT manufacturing within an international organization was to be able deliver any spec to any customer anywhere. It seems more like a lottery to me...

--

 

Divide et impera.

It's Dell's tactics of divide and conquer. Weak the enemy and rule!

 

Definitely agree with the lottery statement!

I've been waiting so long for Dell to fix up their problems on the XPS 16 because it has the 1920x10180 res i want, (and RGB at that!) and then waiting for a 5xxx series GPU to show up to lower power consumption/increase battery and performance/directx 11 - and the whole time I've thought that if the 1080p screen came back on the Studio 17, I'd buy it. 5 months later, still hasn't shown up.

Congratulation Dell Australia - losing sales because you can't offer a reasonable product. I would have bought either machine if it was a satisfactory specification and quality. Who wants a 17.3" screen with anything less that FHD? Not me, not after 4.5 years of 1920x1200 on my other 17" Dell laptops.

end rant

 

Amen to that Iceman! Fortunately for me the FHD screen option on the 1747/9 has finally reappeared here in Canada, though I won't count my chickens till I actually take delivery and check it. Estm. Delivery date is May 24th. Hopefully DELL will see fit to offer it again in your area soon.

It seemed such a no-brainer to me that a 17.3 multi-media beast should have an FHD screen (option at least) I was amazed how hard it was to find one. I guess there must've been some world-wide shortage or something - perhaps manufacturers focusing production on the most popular 15.6 form-factor during the down-turn.

I've a feeling more quality 17" FHD screens will become available as more consumers move towards DTR's - e.g. I note the new HP Envy 17 will have a FHD screen option.

It's odd to me that notebook manufacturers don't focus more on screen quality - to me that's the most important aspect of a multi-media machine. Afterall, all the HD TV manufactuers harp on endlessly about FHD, contrast ratio and colour quality etc, but hardly a peep on this where multi-media notebooks (which are for viewing/editing pictures and video, no?) are concerned. Wierd.

 

Help!!

In Dec, I bought studio 17 with all possible "bells and whistles" offered at the time, including I 7

Had multiple issues and Dell decided to replace it. Got a call yesterday that Dell no longer uses I 7 and I should "pick a $100.00 item from website and they would send me a new I 5 1749 that was "equal to or better than I 7 1747"

Tell you the truth, I don't believe them

Original had faster RAM (I think) and I 7 seems faster than I 5, any help would be appreciated

 

Well, the 1749 is the replacement for the 1747 I guess, since the number is higher. So I guess they're phasing out the 1747. The 1749 only supports the dual core 'i' processors (electrosoft has confirmed this). 1747 option has disappeared from CDN site now.

Death of 1747 (if true) is possibly because the cooling is marginal and the standard 90W PSU barely adequate for the quad i7 + 4650 GPU . Though they'll ship you a 130PSU FOC if you bug them enough I'm sure they'd rather not have the hassle. So, rather than address this they just cut corners and downgraded power demand for the 1749.

I understand the HD 5650 GPU you could (but not now it seems?) configure the the 1749 with was generally better than the older 4650 in mine as well as being less power hungry. And a core i5-520M wouldn't necessarily be much if any slower than the quad i7 - depends if you're doing anything you'll really see the benefit of more cores in, e.g. video encoding.

Looking at the specs you can get at the mo' on the US and CDN sites it's hard to see the point of the 1749. The only thing it seems to have going for it are FHD screen option (which is awesome) and the excellent sound (if this really matters). Without the screen, there are a lot of better options for a higher end DTR. Shame on DELL.

 

Could you break that down a little for stupid people :-(

 

Well, outside of quad support, the 1749 is equal to if not better than the 1747.

Both machines are identical hardware wise. The only difference is the motherboard used in each system since the GPU is integrated.

5650 is slightly faster than the 4650 and runs much cooler with less power consumption (35w vs. ~19w).

1749 supports Arrandale CPUs (i3, i5, i7-620M) but does not support quad cores.

1747 does not support Arrandale CPUs because the pre-B1 revision of the Intel PM55 chipset used does not support Arrandales. The PM55 chipset, if it uses a B1 or later revision, does support Arrandale CPUs but the 1747 is out of luck. On the other hand, the 1747 does support the entire spectrum of i7 quad core CPUs.

Unless you have an absolute need for a quad core CPU and 4-threaded or greater software, the 1749 is the right choice and in most applications, a 540M or 620M (depending on country, as some Dell options do not include the 620M) is equal to if not greater than a 720QM and even 740QM.

In addition, the 1749 runs much cooler overall (GPU and Arrandale CPUs), less consumption, and better battery life.

 

Thanks, much appreciated.

Dell tried another to pull fast one though, 6 cell instead of 9 cell battery, cheaper display..The "agent" tried to say I agreed to the downgrades in exchange for a $100.00 gift certificate. Only downgrade I agreed to was change in processor, Dell exchange really ties to pull some good ones

Beware of agent named "Brenda"

 

haha i think its a good thing, i would pick the 1749 over the 1747 any day, you wont really notice the difference between i7 and i5 in most apps, and it runs so much cooler, have a better gpu and sucks less power.

definitely a win!

 

Thanks

Good to know I am not going downhill with exchange, provided they don't try to pull another substitution.

Just today I get yet another email telling me that a"supervisor" has to again call me regarding shipment

I am dealing with a separate company or division of Dell that does exchanges for customers, they don't seem to have clue and don't care what they tell you. This is a replacement for a 1747 I bought way back in Dec of 2009, been replaced 3 times, serviced at least 5 and still doesn't work right Thinking of just invoking Maine's "Lemon Law" and telling them I want my $2,000.00 refunded and go with another brand

 

Now they have changed it to a XPS 16. I guess that is good except for smaller screen?

 

Latest specs thay gave me, any comments?

1 224-6716 Studio XPS 16 Notebook
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 312-0950 9-cell Battery
1 313-8545 High Definition Audio 2.0 with SRS Premium Sound
1 313-8874 8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive
1 317-2366 8GB, DDR3, 1333MHz 2 Dimm
1 317-4828 Intel Core i7-740QM (1.73-2.93Ghz, 6M/8 threads)
1 320-1307 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 1GB
1 320-8330 15.6 inch Wide Screen 16:9 1080p Full HD WLED LCD, W/2.0 MP, XPS 1645
1 320-8351 Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish
1 330-6222 Windows 7 Label
1 330-7785 RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP,MADISON,XPS 1645
1 342-2122 500GB 7200 RPM
1 410-1883 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
1 410-2466 MCAFEE PEARL MUI,15MTH,Without Media
1 412-1397 No Productivity Software requested
1 420-6436 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron
1 420-7938 Dell Connect 2.1
1 420-8158 Roxio Creator 10 Premiere Standard Definition, Factory Installed
1 420-8878 Software, Soft Contracts Dell In-Home
1 420-9100 Dell Dock Consumer
1 420-9352 Dell, Software, Wild Tangent Inc Games
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 421-0187 Dell Support Center Software 64 Bit 2.0
1 421-0188 Facial Recognition
1 421-0323 Windows Live Search,Multiple User Interface
1 421-0757 Skype VOIP Application
1 421-1010 Dell Webcam Central v1.4
1 421-1366 Genuine Windows 7 Professional, 64bit, English
1 421-2086 eBay Webslice
1 430-0700 Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1+EDR)
1 430-0737 Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11AGN Half Mini Card
1 430-3605 Integrated 10/100 Network Card