Performance Difference: 1705 vs. 1710 - Page 2

Just wanted to add for the cost of laptops now. I for one will not purchase one without the inhome compleate caare. And the thing is the M1710 you have the option to upgrade the videocard as where the 1705 many are but it isnt supported by Dell. And yes I understand their are ways to get around this and many do. But it is really dishonest in my opinion and just drives the cost up on Dells Pc's. Now I know I'm probly going to get flamed for even mentioning it but those that are being dishonest and play all the little games to get videocards and other hardware and even compleate systems replaced just because they know they can get over. It just drives the prices up for us all. I don't mind paying the price for a quality laptop that I can upgrade in the future by the rules so to speak. And that is why I purchased the M 1710 and not the 1705. They have a old saying you get what you pay for so basicly what im saying is yes the M 1710 does cost more but the upgrades as mentioned is supported by Dell where the 1705 is not without playing the humbug game that many do. And just feel it is a small price difference to pay as I can keep my dignity and know Im doing things the right way. So yes the M1710 has the few thing's extra the look ,the lights, the wireless, the docking option and the ability to have a video card upgrade supported by Dell . So thats what the extra cost is for.

Just my 2 cent's worth Happy Gaming

i'm partial to slackware. just have always used it, not a lot of bloat, and its small fast and robust.
suse is a good OS that is user friendly and has a good package manager.
give suse linux enterprise desktop a try.
its free if you don't want the support.
i just installed it on my laptop.

I also could not decide between the 1705 and the 1710...until I actually picked up both and felt them in my hands. The build quality of the 1710 is, without a doubt, the finest that I have ever seen in any notebook. I searched the Dell Outlet for weeks, looking for my ideal system. I had three requirements: 7900 GTX video card, 2GB of RAM, and T2500 CPU. I happened to find one that met all these criteria and picked it up for $2200. i got:

Intel® Core™ Duo Proc T2500 (2GHz/667MHz/2 X 1MB L2)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GTX
80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Integrated Gigabit Network Card and Modem
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Internal Wireless and Bluetooth
Microsoft Office Basic
Mcafee Security Center 2-yr (uninstalled immediately)
80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
3Yr Ltd Warranty, 3Yr At-Home Service w/ Nights and Weekends, and 3Yr HW Warranty Support
CompleteCare Accidental Damage Svc to 3Yr Lim Warranty
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition re-installation CD
\Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
TOTAL: 2278.54

Now granted, this was a refurbished system, but I can tell you that if it was ever used by anyone, it sure doesn't show it. It still has the thin layer of plastic covering the LCD top cover. Anyway, the point of my post is that you really need to see and feel both systems first-hand before deciding that you like one better than the other. I have turned off all of my LEDs in Quickset, but they are there if I want to show them off. Oh, and mine is the FORMULA RED one too...I love it!