I made a purchase of a new e1705. I wanted a versatile computer that could sufficiently handle gaming and video applications in addition to the far less demanding tasks of internet, word processing, etc.
I had been a long time user of dell computers. My inspiron 8400 recently died (after nearly 4 1/2 years of constant use -- travelling around with it all over the world). After the four year mark, I had some severe pixel failure (3 vertical lines traversing the screen top to bottom). The hard drive failed last week. In addition, time had simply passed this notebook by and it could not run even mid-tier gaming without serious lag. Accordingly, I was considering the alienware aurora and the e1705.
In fact, I had placed an order for the alienware aurora (see my prior posts) but cancelled it after dell implemented its 20% off president's day sale. While the aurora had some nice features, so does the dell. Indeed, dell's ram is apparently faster than the aurora as had been configured. Additionally, dell's warranties are hands down better than anything alienware (or anybody else) offers (i.e., drop protection/personal negligence). With the cost of a fully equipped notebook, such extra protection makes alot of sense. Additionally, among the other issues: the aurora weighed in at least 5 pounds heavier than the dell, dell's longest warranty is one year longer than alienware's, dell's true life screen is better than the sager screen used on the aurora (based on personal observation -- not a side by side comparison).
Here is the e1705 as configured:
1 1 222-1021 E1705,CDP T2600(2.16GHZ)
1 1 320-4559 LCD,17-INCH,TRUELIFE,WUXGA,I9400/E1705
1 1 311-5638 2GB,DDR2,667MHZ,2 DIMM,I9400/E1705
1 1 320-4562 256MB NVIDIA 7800,I9400/E1705
1 1 341-2947 100GB HARD DRIVE,7.2K,I9400/E1705
1 1 412-0689 IMAGE RESTORE, INSP
1 1 420-5755 WINXP MCE 2005,ENG,INSP,NM,U,NA,FACT
1 1 420-4830 DELL SUPPORT 3.0,INSP
1 1 420-4928 WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 10,INSP
1 1 463-2282 THANKS FOR PURCHASING YOUR DELL
1 1 420-5460 COMPLIMENTARY COURSES: LOOK FOR EU ICON
1 1 420-5476 DELL DIRECT DOWNLOAD,DHS,DIM/INSP
1 1 420-5769 ISP SEARCH ASST PORTAL,DIM/INSP
1 1 430-0493 INTEGRATED NIC AND MODEM
1 1 430-1048 ADOBE ACROBAT READER,V6.0,INSP
1 1 313-3866 8X DVD+/-RW DRIVE,I9400/E1705
1 1 420-5775 DECODING SW,CYBRLNK PDVD,V5.7,INSP
1 1 430-1516 INTEL PRO/WRLS 3945,A/G,DC,I9400/E1705
1 1 412-0871 NIS 2006,90DAY,DIM/INSP
1 1 312-0375 53 WHR,6-CELL,LION,PRIM BATT,I9400/E1705
1 1 412-0787 AOL FOR BROADBAND
1 1 420-3224 BROADBAND ICON FOR CONSUMER
1 1 412-0687 NETZERO ISP,DIM/INSP
1 1 420-5256 NETSCAPE ISP,DIM/INSP
1 1 412-0861 MS WORKSUITE 2006,ENG,INSP
1 1 902-1583 PROMO,NBD NW,INSP,QLX,3YR EXT,DHSHIGH
1 1 412-0359 SOFT CONTRACTS - QUALXSERVE
1 1 902-1613 PROMO,WARRANTY SPRT,INSP,3YR EXT
1 1 950-7447 4YR LIMITED WARRANTY
1 1 982-0947 DES-DHS WBT PCPKG W/LVE TUTR PROMO 90D
1 1 982-0969 PROMO,CC ACC DAM SVC,INSP,4YR,DHS
1 1 960-6910 WARRANTY SPRT,INSP,S90,INIT YR
1 1 960-6820 PROMO,NBD NW,INSP,QLX,S90,INITYR,DHS,HGH
1 1 983-2207 INFO, SERVICES DELL
1 1 983-2217 INFO, SERVICES DELL
1 1 982-1628 DOC,30 DAY,GETTING STARTED,UNLIMITED INC
1 1 430-1468 INT 350 BLUETOOTH WRLESS,I9400/E1705
1 1 412-0856 PAINT SHOP PRO STD,DIM/INSP
1 1 412-0865 BASIC MUSIC,PHOTO,GAMES,DIM/INSP
1 1 464-5503 PC RESTORE RECOVERY SYSTEM
1 1 464-8857 SPECIAL OFFER - $125 OFF
1 1 600-0002 STATE ENVIRONMENTAL FEE
Dell gave me the 20 percent discount and a special $125 deduction. Dell also gave me free next day shipping. My computer was ordered on the 17th and is currently (according to the dell site) in transit. I hope to get the unit by the end of the week. Had I stuck with the alienware, it would not have shipped until March 21, 2005. This was a big problem for me but I was prepared to set it aside.
All in all, the dell as configured came to a hair over $3400 including sales tax for california and the environmental fee. The alienware had been priced out at approx. $4,800. Note that prior to receiving the president's day discount and the special $125 off fee and free next day shipping, the cost differential was not very dramatic between the two units. But, I consider myself to have gotten a sweet lappy and saved $1400 over the alienware I had configured.
I went for the 2.16 and the 2 gb of ram after reading the requirements for the first person shooter games "F.E.A.R." and "Black." As configured, shouldn't this computer be faster than the xps? Obviously, the xps comes with the 7800gtx and the e1705 does not. However, the 7800 is, from what i understand, still an excellent card. If it is not sufficient, hopefully I will be able to upgrade when the ?7900? comes out. What do you think of this configuration?
I had been a long time user of dell computers. My inspiron 8400 recently died (after nearly 4 1/2 years of constant use -- travelling around with it all over the world). After the four year mark, I had some severe pixel failure (3 vertical lines traversing the screen top to bottom). The hard drive failed last week. In addition, time had simply passed this notebook by and it could not run even mid-tier gaming without serious lag. Accordingly, I was considering the alienware aurora and the e1705.
In fact, I had placed an order for the alienware aurora (see my prior posts) but cancelled it after dell implemented its 20% off president's day sale. While the aurora had some nice features, so does the dell. Indeed, dell's ram is apparently faster than the aurora as had been configured. Additionally, dell's warranties are hands down better than anything alienware (or anybody else) offers (i.e., drop protection/personal negligence). With the cost of a fully equipped notebook, such extra protection makes alot of sense. Additionally, among the other issues: the aurora weighed in at least 5 pounds heavier than the dell, dell's longest warranty is one year longer than alienware's, dell's true life screen is better than the sager screen used on the aurora (based on personal observation -- not a side by side comparison).
Here is the e1705 as configured:
1 1 222-1021 E1705,CDP T2600(2.16GHZ)
1 1 320-4559 LCD,17-INCH,TRUELIFE,WUXGA,I9400/E1705
1 1 311-5638 2GB,DDR2,667MHZ,2 DIMM,I9400/E1705
1 1 320-4562 256MB NVIDIA 7800,I9400/E1705
1 1 341-2947 100GB HARD DRIVE,7.2K,I9400/E1705
1 1 412-0689 IMAGE RESTORE, INSP
1 1 420-5755 WINXP MCE 2005,ENG,INSP,NM,U,NA,FACT
1 1 420-4830 DELL SUPPORT 3.0,INSP
1 1 420-4928 WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 10,INSP
1 1 463-2282 THANKS FOR PURCHASING YOUR DELL
1 1 420-5460 COMPLIMENTARY COURSES: LOOK FOR EU ICON
1 1 420-5476 DELL DIRECT DOWNLOAD,DHS,DIM/INSP
1 1 420-5769 ISP SEARCH ASST PORTAL,DIM/INSP
1 1 430-0493 INTEGRATED NIC AND MODEM
1 1 430-1048 ADOBE ACROBAT READER,V6.0,INSP
1 1 313-3866 8X DVD+/-RW DRIVE,I9400/E1705
1 1 420-5775 DECODING SW,CYBRLNK PDVD,V5.7,INSP
1 1 430-1516 INTEL PRO/WRLS 3945,A/G,DC,I9400/E1705
1 1 412-0871 NIS 2006,90DAY,DIM/INSP
1 1 312-0375 53 WHR,6-CELL,LION,PRIM BATT,I9400/E1705
1 1 412-0787 AOL FOR BROADBAND
1 1 420-3224 BROADBAND ICON FOR CONSUMER
1 1 412-0687 NETZERO ISP,DIM/INSP
1 1 420-5256 NETSCAPE ISP,DIM/INSP
1 1 412-0861 MS WORKSUITE 2006,ENG,INSP
1 1 902-1583 PROMO,NBD NW,INSP,QLX,3YR EXT,DHSHIGH
1 1 412-0359 SOFT CONTRACTS - QUALXSERVE
1 1 902-1613 PROMO,WARRANTY SPRT,INSP,3YR EXT
1 1 950-7447 4YR LIMITED WARRANTY
1 1 982-0947 DES-DHS WBT PCPKG W/LVE TUTR PROMO 90D
1 1 982-0969 PROMO,CC ACC DAM SVC,INSP,4YR,DHS
1 1 960-6910 WARRANTY SPRT,INSP,S90,INIT YR
1 1 960-6820 PROMO,NBD NW,INSP,QLX,S90,INITYR,DHS,HGH
1 1 983-2207 INFO, SERVICES DELL
1 1 983-2217 INFO, SERVICES DELL
1 1 982-1628 DOC,30 DAY,GETTING STARTED,UNLIMITED INC
1 1 430-1468 INT 350 BLUETOOTH WRLESS,I9400/E1705
1 1 412-0856 PAINT SHOP PRO STD,DIM/INSP
1 1 412-0865 BASIC MUSIC,PHOTO,GAMES,DIM/INSP
1 1 464-5503 PC RESTORE RECOVERY SYSTEM
1 1 464-8857 SPECIAL OFFER - $125 OFF
1 1 600-0002 STATE ENVIRONMENTAL FEE
Dell gave me the 20 percent discount and a special $125 deduction. Dell also gave me free next day shipping. My computer was ordered on the 17th and is currently (according to the dell site) in transit. I hope to get the unit by the end of the week. Had I stuck with the alienware, it would not have shipped until March 21, 2005. This was a big problem for me but I was prepared to set it aside.
All in all, the dell as configured came to a hair over $3400 including sales tax for california and the environmental fee. The alienware had been priced out at approx. $4,800. Note that prior to receiving the president's day discount and the special $125 off fee and free next day shipping, the cost differential was not very dramatic between the two units. But, I consider myself to have gotten a sweet lappy and saved $1400 over the alienware I had configured.
I went for the 2.16 and the 2 gb of ram after reading the requirements for the first person shooter games "F.E.A.R." and "Black." As configured, shouldn't this computer be faster than the xps? Obviously, the xps comes with the 7800gtx and the e1705 does not. However, the 7800 is, from what i understand, still an excellent card. If it is not sufficient, hopefully I will be able to upgrade when the ?7900? comes out. What do you think of this configuration?
OMFG! That system is crazy! 
I wish I had that kind of dosh to put towards my system. I have the 7200RPM drive in my 9300 right now, but I got the 120GB 5400RPM drive in my E1705.
