This is a great laptop. Light but not too light, 4 USB 2.0 ports, card readers, 5+ hours battery life, a touchpad with just the perfect sensitivity -- just, awesome.
Except.
After using the laptop for a full day, I have confirmed/decided that the screen is simply unusable for my purposes. Everything else about the laptop is wonderful. But there's no way I could use it for word processing or web design -- whites and light greys are indistinguishable at any brightness level, and (the bigger problem) the literally headache-inducing graininess makes all white backgrounds appear to shimmer with a layer of multicolored dust. I have been a computer professional for more than a decade and this is the worst laptop screen I have ever seen, by any manufacturer, in my life. Every employee I showed it to in our consulting/design firm agreed it was unacceptable.
I thought I'd try and give it a little time, to see if I would "get used to" the graininess, but it just doesn't happen. After fifteen minutes of use, every single time, I would get one of those eye-strain headaches that feels like you've been doing those "Magic Eye" 3D pictures for too long.
Powerstrip reports the screen as the Samsung SEC3157. I ordered the "Truelife" feature, and don't know how much of the blame goes to that. If this is the only screen available for this product, I will have to request a return and full refund (the product did not perform as promised, and I'll raise hell if they try to tack on a "restocking fee".) Alternately, if there is another screen available for this laptop, with everything else being equal, I'll be happy to exchange it, or even replace the screen myself if given proper directions and tools.
I do hope to be able to keep the laptop with a new screen. But this screen, as shipped, is flat-out unusable junk, and Dell should be ashamed of itself for allowing the Dell name to be placed on it, even on a $1,000 model.
John
Except.
After using the laptop for a full day, I have confirmed/decided that the screen is simply unusable for my purposes. Everything else about the laptop is wonderful. But there's no way I could use it for word processing or web design -- whites and light greys are indistinguishable at any brightness level, and (the bigger problem) the literally headache-inducing graininess makes all white backgrounds appear to shimmer with a layer of multicolored dust. I have been a computer professional for more than a decade and this is the worst laptop screen I have ever seen, by any manufacturer, in my life. Every employee I showed it to in our consulting/design firm agreed it was unacceptable.
I thought I'd try and give it a little time, to see if I would "get used to" the graininess, but it just doesn't happen. After fifteen minutes of use, every single time, I would get one of those eye-strain headaches that feels like you've been doing those "Magic Eye" 3D pictures for too long.
Powerstrip reports the screen as the Samsung SEC3157. I ordered the "Truelife" feature, and don't know how much of the blame goes to that. If this is the only screen available for this product, I will have to request a return and full refund (the product did not perform as promised, and I'll raise hell if they try to tack on a "restocking fee".) Alternately, if there is another screen available for this laptop, with everything else being equal, I'll be happy to exchange it, or even replace the screen myself if given proper directions and tools.
I do hope to be able to keep the laptop with a new screen. But this screen, as shipped, is flat-out unusable junk, and Dell should be ashamed of itself for allowing the Dell name to be placed on it, even on a $1,000 model.
John
Hopefully I won't have the same bad experience with my screen. Here's my total No0b question - will I be able to tell that there is a problem with my screen? (Sparkle, light leakage, etc) I'm not stupid, (ok, maybe a little 
) but is it really obvious?
