9200 WUXGA Screen...Opinions of owners only - Page 2

Just want to add my voice to the chorus of nays on this screen. It really is bad. I regret wasting my time ordering it. I hopped on a good deal, here in Japan, after reading that pcmag review. Soon after I discovered the myriad of forums bringing up the screen issue. I hoped against hope that it was some sort of mass hysteria, but alas, no. If you haven't seen it, trust me, it is shocking poor. The hazy sparkly film is certainly a deal breaker for me, even though I love the build quality other wise. (good keyboard, great speakers - too bad no physical volume control like on Toshibas). To add insult to injury, the screen really isn't very bright at all, even when turned up all the way, and the view angles are nothing to write home about. I just got the computer yesterday, and used it for a few hours, hoping I could learn to love the screen, but the more I use it, the more I realize, I am ready to put up with dealing with Japanese dell support to get rid of it. It is telling that, I don't even want to use it now, at all. I am typing this on an excellent, albeit heavy 17'' wide qosmio (toshiba). It was my first dell, and I fear it could be my last. I think I will go the sony 17'' wide route, or wait for a hi-res toshiba.

OK, so who makes the LCD with the nasty coating? I'd like to avoid it if I ever decide to buy a 9200 in the future. In another thread, it was mentioned that Samsung makes the WXGA+, but I don't recall seeing the manufacturer of the 9200 WUXGA.

turtlemike: are you sure you got a 9200? Mine has buttons in front to control volume and I consider them physical volume control. Also my screen is pretty bright. Not as bright as the Toshiba Qosmio (then again no other laptop on the market is), but it is brighter than many current laptops, and is much brighter than the 17" PowerBook which a lot of people rave about. If the 9200 WUXGA has such dim screen, I really feel sorry for people who bought 17" PowerBooks.

Perhaps Dell sent you the wrong computer. Can you post a picture of yours?

hi unclejung, oh, i'm quite sure :-)
what i mean by physical controls is a mechanical control over the volume, independant of software, something that only toshiba seems to be doing these days.. it is far superior, those software controlling buttons, obviously don't work until windows is booted (i like to turn the computer down before i'm booting in a public place), and more importantly, they aren't always so responsive. when i was watching a dvd, and i hit the i9200s volume button, it kicked the movie out of full screen. and brought up that little bar.. other times it didn't respond immediatly. the kind that toshiba uses is just a little wheel that is connected to the hardware directly. it operates independantly of the software controls, which of course, are still present. once you use it, you wonder why more computer makers don't implement it. i also wonder why the built in mics are disappearing. i like to make occasional voice recordings, or chat, and i don't want to have to carry around a mic all the time. (sorry if i'm getting off topic). apart from the screen, the volume control and mic, it was a great laptop! i have already called the japanese support, who switched to the business dept, and they said they mail me the instructions on how to return it next week. it will cost about 2000 yen to return (about 20 USD). right now, this 17 qosmio i'm using is the best computer i've ever had. 2 80GB HDD, mind blowingly wonderful screen, HDTV out (a D4 link), decent cpu 1.6 dothan, decent GPU, 64 MB Nvidia 5700, DVD-super multi dual layer drive (incl dvd-ram at 3x) of course tv tuner etc, can play and record tv without windows. but it IS 4.4 kgs. hence my desire for the more mobile, higher spec dell. what i really want is another toshiba like this one, skip the tv stuff, higher res screen, and lighter. its like chasing a rainbow, looking for the perfect laptop.
mike in japan

not to keep raving on about this toshiba, but another thing i really like is having the 2 80 HDDs. i can isolate HDD intensive activity from the OS containing HDD and it keeps the system running smooth as butter. if you doing anything like unrarring of large files, say 4.6 GB size, unrarring from one drive to the other makes for a very short decompression time (just a couple of minutes) i hope future iterations of the inspiron 17 inch series will bring back the possibilities of 2 HDDs. its not like they don't have the room to play with. for me, that extra bit of weight is well worth it. hopefully dell will start supporting dvd-ram too. i love the convenience of writing and rewriting to dvd-ram like a giant floppy disk with no software and no finalizing(dvd-ram is natively supported by by winxp). i WAS very very impressed with the i9200s speakers. they really blast. that is a big plus for me. i would put speaker quality next after the all important screen quality. the toshibas Harmon-Kardmon speakers are of a similar quality i feel (with subwoofer). i keep bringing up this toshiba, but i'm wondering if anyone has seen the sony 17'' wuxga screen? i haven't been able to see it here in japan, the stores only display the 15'' sxga+ model. (which was very nice, very similar to the qosmio, i would think).

I liked it

I was disappointed as this is supposed to be the biggest and best that Dell offers and I figured to be in LCD Nirvana, but was not. But happy with it overall. Text is a problem but I can deal. Its worst of all on web pages--although I found increasing the text size from within the browser helps.

I was standing off to the side of the laptop and was able to still read the text on the screen.

Computer itself rocks. But I know I'm not supposed to say that here ;-)

I didnt vote though.

I though i could live with it but i cant ,its getting returned for the xga+ seems to be different so ill try it

i sent mine back.
dell offered me 100 pounds to keep it, 200 pounds afterwards and the final offer was 240.... how does it sound to you? they are really desperate...

Returned mine, replaced with XGA+.
Saved four hundred dollars using the EPP deal while adding a year of service plan and bluetooth. I think I did rather well.

For me, the decision was not entirely based on the sparkle, but also on my own eyes. I've always used a LCD at a non-native resolution (never realized it til here), so it didn't bother me to lower resolution. Now that I've switched to native res, I see the clear improvement... Anyhow, it had much more to do with the text being too small, even after using large fonts. I really didn't need the space that came with the WUXGA. Would I like to play games in high res? Yes. But it's not necessary, and I'd rather a sharp and clear desktop than sharp and clear games. In the end, it was the right decision.

Now, in comparison...
It's been a week since I had the WUXGA, so I can't compare them directly. However, I will say this. The colors tend to look less shimmery. Whites and grays on the WUXGA seemed bizarre. Not necessarily hard to look at, just uncomfortable, hazy. In comparison, the WXGA+ seems to have solid colors with less haze. There is a noticeable difference. Now, if it had been the WXGA+ res with the shimmer, I'll admit I probably could have lived with it. However, I wanted to drop the res anyways.

I'm happy with my 9200, otherwise, though. I'll mention that this second one is improved in general. I think my old DVD+-RW was poorly installed, as it ran incredibly loud. This new drive doesn't. Also, switched from black laquer quicksnap to carbon fiber. The carbon fiber doesn't show the finger prints as much...

So... good decision on my part. Haven't gamed on this thing yet (it's finals week, and installing World of Warcraft is just not in the picture yet... I don't want to fail all my courses.) Otherwise, GORGEOUS.

Edit: grammar is important.

I just got my 9200 today. The minute I turned it on, I immediately saw the sparkling effect that everyone talks about and it REALLY hurts my eyes! am returning it immediately and get 8600!

I'm going back and forth on either keeping it or returning it for a Sony 17" with the xbrite. Just because of this sparkling on the screen.

If you're undecided, simple, RETURN it and get different laptop. you'll be more happier. I have decided not to get a laptop this time and get a 2001FP instead!

I got my i9200 w/ WUXGA yesterday.... the jury is still out. LOVE the system, but undecided on the display. I feel like I should have to convince myself though.

Anyway, has anyone returned the WUXGA for the other display? Would be curious to see if you are happy now.

Mine finally showed up.

The "sparkly" effect is definitely noticeable on light backgrounds. No doubt about it.

I was going to hold off on an opinion, but I must say I am disappointed. I sit in front of a 20" Dell 2000FP that I absolutely adore - that device does not look like this.

Then again, I hear I can use this fellow outside. I'm going to carry it outside tomorrow and see what I think. That may be a slight advantage.

I do like the resolution AND the laptop in general. I wonder if, when Dell eventually replaces this model due to the controversy, if I could replace the screen, at, say 6 months out (after the 21 day period.)

I also am wondering if I downgraded to WXGA+ perhaps games would be faster (fewer pixels) and last me longer in general.

Decisions, decisions

I just got my 9200 today with the WUXGA screen...I have demo'd and tested just about every laptop there is out there, so maybe that got me a little spoiled with the other screens, but this one is just horrible. Let me rephrase that.....if it wasnt for the "sparkle", "dithering" ir whatever you want to called it effect......it wouldnt be THAT bad......although sparkling aside, it does seem less bright than A LOT of the other notebook screens out there. The viewing angles are decent, and when running with darker colors or at lower resolutions it is "tolerable"...but when you are doing anything with white or light backgrounds and text it is just terrible.
Now once again, i have been spoiled, cause i have used all of the "bright"/"glossy" screens such as the ones on the Sony Vaios (Xbrite), Toshiba Qosmios (TrueBrite) and even the brightviews on the HP/compaqs and the glossy screens of the Sager's (clevo).....but i have also tested and played with many other notebook screens like the other dell units (8600, 9100, XPS), Alot of the Acers, Thinkpads, etc....and i have never seen a screen with this kind of bad effect.
It is really dissapointing because aside from the screen, this is a stop notch notebook in it's class (17" pentium-m based)...It's quiet, the build quality is the best i have seen in a LONG time from Dell, and it doesnt run hot, and is whisper quiet, peforms well, etc......
Anyways, one last thing....Does ANYONE have any Side by Side pictures of the 9200 with the WUXGA and the WXGA or even just any pictures of the WXGA version....i am DEFINATELY sending this thing back, but would like to see how much better hte WXGA is, if I am to consider exchanging for one instead of getting a refund.

-Scotty

well yesterday dell came out to replace my screen .the tech had me look at it with him and i did not see the bler any more, checked it out a little more after he left found they down graded my screen with out telling me .call dell set it up for a return and bought the 17 inch qosmio it is a thing of beauty .... but the xga+ does look better then the uxga , still just mad that they put xga+ in without telling me or say ok your not happy with uxga heres 200.00 and the xga+ screen . no they just tryed topull a fast one ????

Attention all inspiron 9200 owners. the problem that your having with the UXGA screen is software wise. here is an image of a recreation i did on my 9100. if you need help on fixing this im me on aim santisurf or email me santisurf@liveihelp.com and i will send u the software needed!!!!! ( Consider this Platinum Dell Support that doesn't exist )


UPDATE: Some 9200 will get fixed by techs.... the above software does work 12% of the time..... take ur chances... dell is going to have to help us out on this one so don't return ur lappy hold up alittle more and get an exchange on the LCD