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Inspiron E1705 - Impressions

post #1 of 8
7/20/06 at 3:17pm
Thread Starter 
Inspiron E1705
Intel Core Duo T2400 - 1.83GHz
1GB DDR2 - 533MHz
256MB GeForce Go 7900 GS
60GB 7200RPM SATA Drive
8x DVD+-RW Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g
Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Module
WUXGA Screen - 1920x1200
Windows XP MCE 2005

Currently running the latest Dell drivers v84.69

My impressions:

Opened the box, uninstalled as much of the bloat as I could, then installed a few games and tested out the system for a bit. I mostly play FFXI, and although it ran wonderfully, I noticed I was getting hit hard w/ lag in crowded areas, but of course, I was running the game at 1920x1200 w/ all the highest quality settings on in the nVidia control panel.

Noticed that it got a bit hot, so I installed i8kfangui and configured the fans to run on slow at <60 and on fast >60 - wonderful difference in temps, now I could run it on my lap w/o getting uncomfortable even while gaming.

Started noticing some slowdowns and took note that there was just too much crap loaded on the machine, so I've reformatted and reinstalled Windows from scratch with only the bare essentials. So far so good, as everything is much more responsive. Still working on getting FFXI installed and updated, but I expect I should see a bit better framerate w/o some of the bloat.

I have not overclocked the card and have no plans to at this time, as I feel I'm getting more than sufficient performance (especially over my old ECS G732 notebook). This thing even dramatically outperforms my custom AMD 64 3200+ (socket 732) desktop w/ an AGP X800XT 256MB and 1GB PC3200 RAM.

Overall, I think this machine is a superb buy!

Side questions... What tweak tools are you guys using to get the best bang out of your vid card drivers? RivaTuner? And what are the latest drivers that are worth my time?

Thanks!
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post #2 of 8
7/20/06 at 6:57pm
thats great to hear. When did you buy your system and what do you think about your screen. I jsut purchased and its about to be shipped. I'm having worries about the screen. btw. i have the same exact system as u lol
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post #3 of 8
7/20/06 at 7:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TDRKZ
thats great to hear. When did you buy your system and what do you think about your screen. I jsut purchased and its about to be shipped. I'm having worries about the screen. btw. i have the same exact system as u lol
mine has been in boxing since yesterday.
what stage is yours?

\t\tOrder Processing: \tMonday, July 17, 2006 \t
\t\tPre-production: \tMonday, July 17, 2006 \t
\t\tIn Production: \t \t
\t\t\tKitting \t\tx
\t\t\tBuild \t\tx
\t\t\tTesting \t\tx
\t\t\tBoxing \t\t
\t\tShipping Prep: \tTuesday, July 25, 2006 \t
\t\tEstimated Ship Date: \tTuesday, July 25, 2006
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post #4 of 8
7/20/06 at 7:29pm
Yo Buzzedlightyear, mine has been in Boxing since yesterday TOO. I purchased my laptop on monday as well. Doesnt it piss you off when they put it on hold? Its pissing me off and i am abou to call them
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post #5 of 8
7/20/06 at 7:35pm
yah seriously
this has happend before, over a year ago.
but it was in staging or something, they don't have it anymore. anyways i got on the online chat support and asked 'em what was up and kind of complained a little bit and they upped it to free next day shipping, which being free is a lot of $$ so i was like sweet.
i tried it this time but they won't even allow you to chat now.
error message i get:
Dell Chat

Our records indicate that chat is not yet available for your segment.

oh well. it was cool last time.
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post #6 of 8
7/20/06 at 8:27pm
Gotta love the ring to that... 2 Gig of 667Mhz Ram and 7900GS... nothing else will do... cept maybe a 7900GTX.. Welcome to mobile desktop replacement world.
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post #7 of 8
7/20/06 at 8:35pm
Check my website for tools and stuff, I've got guides on how to OC the laptop based on my gatherings here and users submissions, check it out... the 7900 OC guide is what you really want. Also a few apps on there that I really like.
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post #8 of 8
7/20/06 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 

Screen Quality Question...

To those of you asking about screen quality, the WUXGA+ is GORGEOUS! You will not be disappointed at all.

In regards to the shipment of your laptops, don't worry too much about it taking longer. I had mine within a week of ordering it. And since I live within 45 miles of a distribution center, I had it basically the very next day after shipment.

Again, I would very highly recommend the first thing for you to do would be to reformat and reinstall Windows from scratch (kill that Dell recovery partition too, it's basically useless unless you didn't get the recovery disks...) Things perform much much more smoothly.

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