17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ a worthy upgrade???

HELL YEAH!
(and I don't cuss often)

I am typing on my new-ish E1705 with that display, and I gotta say, it is BEAUTIFUL. The most obvious difference between it and the standard WXGA screen is the resolution - WXGA will be 1440x900 while this screen is 1920x1200 (huge!). In layman's terms, you will have more real estate because everything on the screen is smaller (but completely sharp!!), increasing the amount of things you can have on the screen at one time.

Yes, it is glossy. I don't find it to be a huge problem, though. On high brightness, the screen is clear even with a light behind you - the intensity (noticeability?) of the reflections depend on the brightness. I normally use highest brightness on AC power, and 3rd from highest brightness on battery, which still suppresses the reflections enough. I don't really think it's that much of a deal, and I was definitely willing to sacrifice a matte screen for the huge resolution.

Unless you have vision problems, go with the ultrasharp uxga. The 1440x900 will be easier to read because everything on the screen will be bigger, but I assure you everything is quite easy to read on the 1920x1200. Don't expect to stand across the room and be able to read things, but certainly sitting in front of it as people do with laptops, you can read everything on the screen very clearly. It lives up to its promise of UltraSharp.

The only worry that you might have is the "gambling process". As you may or may not know, Dell gets supplies, including screens, from multiple manufacturers, each with their own quality level. Some manufacturers, such as LG, are famous for their great screens, but others such as Sony (i think?) are infamous for their backlight bleeding, dark corners, uneven lighting, and dead pixels or even dead rows. It is all a matter of luck (well, timing. but since we don't know the schedule, it is luck) as to which manufacturer's screen you get, but you are able to send in the screen for all of the situations except dead pixels, unless you get many of them. I believe the policy is 5 or less dead pixels does not qualify for an exchange. Of course, Dell's customer service is also known for being gullible and giving in to the customer's requests, so I'm sure you could probably convince them to exchange your screen in any case, especially depending on which warranty you get.

Yes, the "TrueLife" part is the glossy screen. I suggest the WUXGA over the WXGA, but that's only because I've got the 2 to compare. Personally, I think WSXGA+ is my target range, but since the 9300/9400 models only have WXGA or WUXGA, I opted for the WUXGA on my 9300. WUXGA's a bit too small for my own tastes, but I'll take it over the WXGA's large icons any day (for now- ask me in 20 yrs when my eyes are even worse and my answer might change ).

Best bet, really, would be go check around Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. and see if you can't find 2 machines with those resolutions and see if you can't make a comparison to gauge your own personal tastes. What is good for me isn't necessarily good for you.

Yeah Baby go for the WUXGA it is sweet

the best 150 you'll spend... the viewing angles on the wxga is really annoying to me..

Yeap, the WUXGA is one of the most worthwhile upgrades you can get for that notebook, especially if you're getting the 7900 rather than the x1400/integrated graphics -- that card can run most every game/application you throw at it at the 1900x1200 native resolution, and it looks beautiful. I was very surprised comparing the WUXGA screen to my dad's lappy, which has a 1600x1200 (or something around there) matte screen. You see the negative image at 70 degrees or less of viewing angle, it's stupid. But with this screen, you can be looking nearly paralell to the screen and it's still as clear as if you were viewing the screen at 90 degrees.

The glossy screen, while difficult to keep clean (it attracts dust, and it's easy to see -- the blacks on this screen are very black), is absolutely magnificent. Although, it can be a bit problematic if you're usually working in a well-lit or backlit area, it does tend to act like an effective mirror if you're viewing dark content in a lighted room.

Plus, according to a few sources on these forums, all 1710/1705s are shipping with the LG v2 model, which is known for its quality. Other than the notorious dark lower corners (which aren't as much as a problem as they're often made out to be), these LCDs are usually pristine.

Besides, if you're getting a 7400 or e1705, you're getting a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor, which screams multitasking. And there's no better way to do that than to be able to effectively have two windows open side-by-side. The ease of being able to work on a document and also have the page you're referencing to write the piece on the screen at the same time is an experience you can only appreciate if you've actually had it. I never noticed how much time I used to spend alt-tabbing, copying, alt-tabbing, reading something, alt-tabbing, etc., etc. I think you get my point. :P

Besides, the laptop is as big as it is for a reason. If you're getting a 17" notebook, you want the screen to show it off. Believe me, when you open your pretty new notebook for the first time, your breath is going to catch in your throat in surprise at how large that big, black screen is. It takes up nearly the entirety of that massive 17" cover. It gave me a pretty impressive first impression.

Anyway, hope that helps you make your decision.

YES! YES! Oh God YES!!!
Ahem...
Erm.. Yeah its definitely worth the extra cash. Looks Amazing!

Hi,

I just got my E1705 and I must say it makes a huge different. I'm a photographer and web designer and I need a sharp, bright and lots of resolution so it works well for me. Good buy for sure!

It is a worthy upgrade. Just don't count on 'too much' added screen real estate if you'll be using 120dpi since fonts are pretty darn small at 1920x1200 on a 17" screen

Scaling sucks in Windows XP but is awesome on Vista! It will also take time to get used to the screen if you had 1280x1024 (or lower) LCDs before.