E1705 replacement is on the way but what is it?

Well my E1705 was sent in for warranty, and Dell informed me a few weeks ago I would be recieving a replacement system instead of them fixing mine. I guess they were out of stock of parts needed to fix my trusty E1705.

First let me post what the specs of the E1705 were.

Inspiron E1705
CPU: Intel® Core™ Duo Proc T2250 (1.73GHz/533MHz/2 X 1MB L2 Cache)
SCREEN: LCD Panel 17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display
MEMORY: Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
GRAPHICS: Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS
HARD DRIVE: 80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
OS: Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD
OPTICAL: Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
WIFI: Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
BATTERY: Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Here is the order I have listed for the replacement system, but I am having a hard time decyphering what graphics card this system has, and also if the overall system is a good replacement for my awesome E1705.

1 N831M Base,Notebook,Core Penryn T6600,2.2,1737 $268.83
1 2835C Module,Documentation,Airborne,2-DAY,DELL DRCT $1.99
1 8R9CH Module,Kit,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,1.4 $.28
1 8U335 Ship,Notebook,Inspiron Sputnik, 250N,US $20.89
1 C010J Ship Group,Notebook,North England,1737,Dell Americas Organization $7.44
1 C635J Module,Bezel,Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp,With,Camera 1737 $24.02
1 CP1VF Module,Software,W7HP64 Consumer Desktop,English Dao/bcc $.00
1 D850M Module,Dual In-Line Memory Module,6G,800,DDR2,1X2G/1X4G $400.95
1 D9KVP Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,W7HB32,Consumer Notebook $.00
1 F236N Module,Assembly,Base,Discrete 1737,512F $136.62
1 HW426 Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,Delta - Ac Adapt,90W 3P,World Wide $12.67
1 J019D Module,Software,DELL-DOCK Consumer $.10
1 J206C Module,Software,Dell Connect 2.1,Dell Americas OrganizationEMEA,Brazil Customer Center $.00
1 J6XND Module,Software,W7HP64,Digital Video Disk Drive,Multiple User Interface,NO-E $.39
1 K323C Module,Hard Drive,320G,5.4K WD-ML160,Inspiron $46.00
1 M017R Module,Software,Powerdvd,8.3,Digital Video Disk Drive,True Theatre High Definition,Factory Install $3.94
1 M239M Module,Software,LTG DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG $.43
1 M412C Module,Cord,Power,125V,1M,C5 E,United States $.93
1 M761C Module,Card (circuit),Network DW1397,Inspiron,United States $6.29
1 N316C Module,Keyboard,United States English,Inspiron Lightweight Number Pad,PAO,D/E $8.50
1 NU811 Module,Liquid Crystal Display 17WXGA+,Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp,Samsung $133.72
1 P544X Module,Cover,Liquid Crystal Display,Paint,Red,Black,1737 $22.89
1 P578F Module,Information,Liquid Crystal Display,WXGA+,TLF,CCFLH $.00
1 PW837 Module,Battery,Primary,85WHR 9C,SIMPLO $47.25
1 T013C Module,Software,Works,9 English $9.95
1 T22TT Module,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,1.4,Factory Install $.37
1 T707G Module,Media,Digital Video Disk Drive,Driver,Resource Dvd,1737 $.43
1 T708G Service Install Module Software,Inspiron,1737 $.00
1 TG7TH Module,Dvd+/-rw Pacino/hepburn,Hitachi Lg DataStorage,Inspiron $28.90
1 VR08H Module,Software,Certificate Of Authenticity,W7HP32/64 $73.82
1 W3HMK Module,Label,Microsoft,Notebook,Windows7 $.00
1 W871N Module,Software,WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer $.00
1 WDF4C Module,Software,Roxio,BURN,1.0,Factory Install $.00
1 WH0CN MOD,LBL,INTEL,NBK,C2D,RBDG $.00
1 X479D Module,Information,With,Camera $.00
1 XM544 Module,Software,PC-RESTORE Transactional Line Of Business $.00
1 Y373R Module,Kit,Software,Powerdvd,8.3,True Theatre High Definition $.30
1 Y425G Module,Software,Dell Remote Access,1.0 $.00
1 Y720M Module,Software,DSPRT-CTR 64BIT,2.0 $.00
1 YP943 Module,Palmrest,W/O FPRDR Pacino $21.53

Does anyone know what this system will end up being? I am a little bit worried, because I made sure when I originally got my E1705 that it had the top of the line graphics card, as I did a lot of gaming on that beast. I played TONS of Call of Duty 4 and Left 4 Dead, along with hours and hours of World of Warcraft. What's the deal if dell sends me a system that has a crappy graphics card? I see they upgraded some other things .. will they just say "oh well, we couldn't upgrade your graphics card so we tossed in a bunch of extra RAM" (that I don't really need)?

I gathered that much, but I couldn't figure out what kind of video card it had (if any at all, hopefully it's not integrated).

how does that compare to the nvidia 7900GS I had?

Thanks for the advice Merum. Dell approved a system exchange for a laptop that will feature an ATI 4650. Looks like the 4650 is slightly better than my old 7900GS in most of the games I play so I was satisfied.

It was actually quite funny. At first, they said because I didn't specify that I wanted a higher end graphics card as part of my system, they justified "as good or better" with the fact that the cpu and ram were upgraded, but luckily when I first talked with a tech agent, I said it was important that ALL specs were as good as what I had, and that it didn't matter if anything was better.

It took some pressing, but they approved it. What was somewhat frustrating and mildly amusing was the first agent I spoke with actually said the graphics on the system they sent me could not be upgraded and my only option was to buy the Asus XG Station.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ces...tion,4679.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XG_Station

This crazy attachment happened to feature the 7900GS and cost $400. When I said it was totally absurd that I would pay $400 to get the same exact graphics card my old system had, the agent agreed and we moved on to approving an exchange with his manager.

I still have no idea if it will be a 1745 or a 1747, but at the very least, the 1745 has the 2.2ghz C2D as the minimum option for a cpu, so it looks like I will for sure end up with a system that is as fast as my old one.

They also are sending a pair of cheap-o USB speakers because I complained about the sound quality of the 1737. By the way, the 1737 truly does have awful sound, but I can't imagine these $20 USB speakers sounding much better. Oh well. The only thing I won't quite be satisfied with is if its a 1745 just because the sound looks to be as bad as the 1737.

Uhhhhhhhh.

1 P303J Base,Notebook,Alienware,Black WXGA-AG,M17X $675.00
1 0797C Customer Kit,Documentation, Airborne $1.99
1 0Y4VG Module,Card,Registration Upgrade,W7HP,VHP,W0 $13.00
1 3TF5Y Module,Information,Wireless AW1510 $.00
1 C771R MOD,CRD,NTWK,AW1510,US $5.00
1 CTX0X MODULE,INFORMATION,WIRELESS, BLUETOOTH,370 $.00
1 D002R Module,Software,Alienware RESPAWN2.0 $.00
1 D003R Module,Software,Alienware OS-CUSTOMIZATION $.00
1 D690P Module,Software,Alienware AVATAR1 $.00
1 D712P Module,Software,Alienware AUTO-UPD,ON $.00
1 D726P Module,Processor,Core Penryn P8600,ANW NBK $225.00
1 DNF92 MOD,INFO,CHASSIS,BLK,M17X $.00
1 F219N Module,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,W#3,Factory Install $.75
1 F574P Module,Software,Alienware WINDOWSTYLE,Default $.00
1 F584P Module,Software,Alienware POWER,High Performance $.00
1 G3C59 MODULE,CARD,GRAPHICS,GT1 $.25
1 G427R MODULE,ACCESSORY,ALIENWARE, M17X,ENGLISH $15.00
1 H919R MOD,MEDIA,RDVD,ANW,M17X $.00
1 HYT0K Module,Bracket,HDD,FOAMKIT,M17X $15.81
1 K002R Module,Liquid Crystal Display,17.0 Wide Extended Graphics Array Plus,Alienware,M17X $116.28
1 K972H Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,240W,Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide $40.08
1 MGNNT MOD,CRD,NTWK,370,FXCN,CNB,DAO $3.94
1 N329P Module,Information,Artwork NAME-PLT,Generic,M17X $.00
1 N971H Module,Cord,Power,125V,2M,C13 United States $.69
1 P395P Module,Software,CYBERLINK Powerdvd,8.0,Alienware $2.76
1 P398P Module,Software,NERO,9 Alienware $.50
1 P665P Module,Software,VHP64SP1 Alienware,England,Dell Americas Organization $.90
1 P811N MODULE,INFORMATION,DIRECTSHIP,FLEXTRONICS $.00
1 P916C Module,Dual In-line Memory Module,4GB,1066MHZ,DDR3,2X2G $168.00
1 T780J Module,Battery,Primary,85WHR 9C,Dynapack International Technology Corp $.00
1 U661N Module,Software,Alienware WALLPAPER-CO6W $.00
1 U670N Module,Software,Alienware MSE-PNTR,Standard $.00
1 U777M Module,Shipping Material,PACK M1740 $.00
1 W001F Module,Hard Drive,320,7.2,FreeFall Sensor,SGT-CAS,INS $64.00
1 W124P Module,Software,Alienware COMMANDCENTER $.00
1 W217R MODULE,SOFTWARE,ALIENWARE,ALIENFX,RED $.00
1 W479P Module,Software,Alienware TIME-ZONE,PACIFIC $.00
1 WH0CN MOD,LBL,INTEL,NBK,C2D,RBDG $.00
1 X771M Service Install Module Software,Alienware,M17X $.00
1 Y330J Module,Dvd+/-rw,Hitachi Lg Data Storage,BARE,Alienware $31.29
1 Y540P Module,Software,Alienware CYBERLINK,YOUCAM $.00
1 Y573P Module,Keyboard,Alienware United States,England,M17X Dao/bcc $40.00
1 YC8XT Module,Tuner,Software,TVT11 NTSC,Advanced Television System Committee $.00

It's a refurb, but I'm ok with that. My E1705 had plenty of road wear so it isn't like I sent them a pristine laptop in the first place. The only thing that would be an issue is if there was something wrong with the hardware (which can be true for refurbs). It'll be put through OCCT tests to make sure everything is working well.

The 1737 they sent was a refurb as well, and it was in outstanding condition.

I've been doing a little reading, and I think Dell is dumping their current stock of m17x's, as it seems a refresh is right around the corner. They have a -TON- of m17x's on the Dell Outlet for like $1300 which seems really cheap to me.

At any rate, the order showed up yesterday, and it was overnighted, and it should be here today before 3pm. That's the other benefit of refurbs I suppose. No build time.

I think all said and done I would have been just as happy with a 1747. The 1747 has quad core, and the nice LED screen. The m17x has a lot of cool bling but it does still feature a CCFL backlit screen and dual-core cpu. I'm by no means unhappy about that fact, as thats the same type of screen my E1705 had, and to my eyes it looked great. That's not to mention I truly wasn't after upgraded hardware either.

It is nice knowing the 260m has 256bit memory bus like my old 7900GS had, so even in older games it's still going to be a lot stronger than my old card.

I think tech support is shifting over to Alienware for me now. The last time I checked, AW still did all of their own tech support. Maybe this time if something goes wrong, they wont suggest a $400 vaporware product as a solution.

Quick little update:

Yep, it came in pristine condition. I've gone over it really closely and I'd be pleased with the condition if it was advertised as brand new.

Holy cow is it fast. Much faster than my E1705.

I was right about the m17x refresh apparently. Looks like Alienware and Dell announced that there will be i7 versions soon. Looks like I was in the right place at the right time. I'm so pleased with my replacement.

Dell and now Alienware continue to impress.