Dell Inspirion 1720 Laptop Review - Page 2 of 3
This week, MMORPG.com Hardware Guy Jeremy Star takes a look at his newest machine, a laptop built for gaming. In his search to find the best MMORPG-playing laptop, he brings us this review of the model he settled on, the Dell Inspirion 1720 Laptop.
Conclusion – The farmer in the Dell
As I stated at the beginning of this review, I searched high and low for a laptop that would give acceptable performance in modern MMORPGs without requiring that the game be run all in low graphics settings, and without breaking the bank. In addition, I wanted something that would allow me run games using DX10 in the future. Sounds like something that would be easy to find, right? Not really.
Again, as I stated earlier, at the time I put this laptop together on the Dell website no other major laptop manufacturer had the GeForce 8 mobile series available in their configurations. Even Dell's own XPS line did not have them. What's more, Alienware – now owned by Dell – did not have them either. The only other manufacturers I could find that allowed you to choose the GeForce 8 series were iBuyPower and CyberPower. Judging by the fact that both companies have an incredible amount of negative feedback floating around the web, I decided that Dell was the clear choice for DX10 support.
Even aside from the DX10 issue, the Inspiron 1720 was the clear price leader. As configured, this laptop showed a price tag of about $1800 (as of the time of this writing, the closest configuration to this one shows a price tag of $1730.) Dell is almost always having a sale, and when I configured this laptop it was on sale for $250 off the final price, for a total price of around $1650 (as of the time of this writing, this Inspiron's closest match is $1474) However: A quick search with Google will almost always net you a coupon for at least $300 off Inspiron laptops. (When I configured this one, there was a valid coupon for $350 off the total price. As of this writing, I could find one for $325 off any Inspiron.) The coupon does not combine with the sale, but the coupon almost always offers greater savings than the sale.
So, the total price for this laptop as configured was just about $1550. HP, Acer, IBM – none of these companies offered anything close to the performance configuration of this laptop within this price range. A quick check with Alienware, ABS, and Falcon Northwest showed that a similar configuration – albeit with DX9 compatibility only – was at least $1200 more expensive. In Alienware's case, almost the exact same configuration with a 17” widescreen monitor, using a GeForce 7950 instead of the 8600M, was over $2000 more expensive, leading me to believe that they overcharge for the name brand and a fancy enclosure. (Granted, the 7950 is, overall, a faster graphics card.)
Also, I put together a 15” Inspiron 1520 with the exact same components that ended up costing $10 more than the 1720. Save $10, get a numpad and get a bigger monitor in the process? You bet!
What I think of it:
I am very satisfied with the Inspiron 1720. Not only can I take my MMORPGs on the road with me (or to the in-laws' house...), but I can play my favorite shooter games as well. Granted I can't crank the graphics up all the way in everything like I can on my desktop, but I didn't expect to be able to. The goal was a sub $2000 (actually as close to $1000 as I could manage) laptop that would allow me to play MMORPGs without totally turning off all the graphical goodness. The Inspiron is all that and then some. Not only can I play without everything turned off, but I can play a lot of games with most of the goodies turned on and/or cranked up pretty high. The 17” widescreen and the numpad were added bonuses allowed by the extremely low cost of the Inspiron line.
The keyboard is nice and firm on this laptop. In fact, I would compare it to the Razer Tarantula in feel, rather than a normal laptop keyboard. There is no flex, unlike a normal laptop keyboard. The keys feel very solid, and they are nice and responsive.
The screen itself is gorgeous. In fact, it makes me wish my Dell desktop monitor came with a glossy coating. Colors are vibrant and rich, and there is no visible ghosting in fast paced games.
There are a few negatives, of course. I wouldn't be much a reviewer if I didn't point out the bad as well as the good. The Inspiron 1720 runs hot. When gaming, the bottom reaches a temperature akin to the outside of a coffee mug containing a steaming hot latte. It probably won't burn you, but you wouldn't want it sitting directly on your lap for long either.
As I mentioned earlier, it's heavy. For a laptop, 8 pounds says desktop replacement to some people, not airplane entertainment. Of course, that's all a matter of opinion, as I cart this puppy back and forth with me every day, take it on all my trips, and the size and weight don't bother me at all.
Battery life: Actually, this isn't much of a negative, since all laptops tend to burn through battery power when gaming. Playing games, the average life of the battery was about 1 hour and 45 minutes. That's pushing it, as I usually called time when the laptop shut itself off due to lack of power. Casually browsing the internet or using office programs nets around 3 hours and 30 minutes of battery life. Basically, you want to keep it plugged in unless you absolutely cannot find a power plug. (Like when you're eating your snackwraps at lunch and hogging McD's bandwidth so you can explore Azeroth, instead of filing those TPS reports...) All in all, I'm happy to be using the Inspiron 1720 for my mobile gaming needs.
Who I think can benefit the most:
Let's face it, not everyone feels the need – or can afford – to take their games everywhere they go. But for those people who want to be able to, and who don't want to sell their children into slavery, the Inspiron 1720 is a great choice. It's also a good desktop replacement for someone who is looking to play MMORPGs, but doesn't want a desktop system sucking up all the room on their desk.
You can give those gaming boutique laptop retailers over $2500 just to get a laptop that performs exactly the same as the cheaper Inspiron line. Take the extra money you save and buy your significant other something nice, so s/he doesn't kill you for spending all your time ignoring them in-game.
Conclusion:
Buying a gaming laptop is patience trying experience, and it can cost a lot of money. The Dell Inspiron 1720 makes for a good, lower cost alternative to a high end specialty laptop, and gives excellent performance for the money.
I give the Dell Inspiron 1720 9 Dudes! Out of 10.
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Head over to Page Three for more detailed information on the laptop's hardware!
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Good review overall.
I run an Alienware desktop but switched last year from a rock laptop to a dell M1700. The weight is always an issue with true gaming laptops but what took me by surprise was the clearview black screen - it is absolutly gorgeaus in quality and depth.
The dell runs very quietly unless you block the vents and the fans wind up but thats kinda the users look out. I think Dell are listening ti the user feedback and this can be seen in switiching the massive rundandant software add ons that used to come as standard to being optional - so much useless ram hungry crap.
I run VG, WOW, EQ2 and TR on the dell an wither medium or high settings and rarely do i get a hitch ( even my mighty Alienware struggles with Bree at times).
Having played a Dell, I cant fault it and would recommend them to anyone.
I am typing this on my 1520 :)
I chose the 1520 for the fact I am 155 pounds
and when I am on the fly I really dont want to be
banging a 8 pound,17 inch monolith around.
I play Eve-Online, WoW, Tabula Rasa (which is
glitchy atm. The game has just been released
so I am rather thinking its the game's fault, not
the PCs).
The keyboard is smaller yes, but I really
didnt want to be staring at a vast section of my
desk being consumed by my laptop.
When I need it, I plug in an extra monitor and keyboard
and presto, Ive got my full keyboard and a very
nice span of screen territory.
If you are looking for a laptop which is staying put most
of the time, then go for the 17 inch but if you are willing
to sacrifice the size for portability then I say go for the 15 inch.
I did look at the size vs money but as my friend found out the
hard way, his 17 inch didnt "quite" fit when traveling on a plane
or at his favorite coffee place.
my setup is:
Dell 1520, 15" Hi-def monitor (1680x1050), 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo,
80Gb 5400rpm Hdd (have external hdd for storage), 8600m GT 256,
Bluetooth, WiFi, No Camera, Vista Ultimate x64.
ps.
had 3 issues with my vista. Bluetooth doesnt work well at all, installing SATA
drivers was a pain and finding display drivers for the mobile 8 series nVidia card
which would work was and absolute mission. At the moment Dell does
not support Vista x64. I dont know what they will do later but we will see.
I'm playing with a Dell E1705, which is basically the XP version of the 1720. My setup is :
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz
2GB 667 MHz RAM
100BG 7200 RPM HD
Nvidia GO 7900GS 256MB
WUXGA Glossy Screen at 1920 X 1200
Creative Audigy SW Drivers
I've really liked this laptop for the games I've played up until Tabula Rasa. For the records, I've played CoX with all the eye candy at max resolution and about 40FPS, 9Dragons, Rappelz, Dungeon Runners, Exteel and LotR (high settings, not very high or ultra, very pretty with good FPS). With TR, however, I have to customize the graphics options highly, however, AND run in Windowed mode with a much smaller screen size to get decent FPS. The game is playable and I have "enough" eye candy via textures , but am missing tons (shadows, lighting, etc...)
Also, there have been reports of problems with the fans not kicking on when they should and--as a result of the fans--video cards burning out. I had to have my card AND RAM replaced after about 1 year. Here are some links:
notebookreview.com forums
WoW Forums
LotR Forums
Thankfully, Dell support didn't give me a hard time, but--then again--I did my homework before calling them. Now, I manage my fans with I8kfanGUI, too. Also, I did manage to get it for ~$1000 off due to a combo of my EPP (Employee Purchase Plan) benefits and one of their period 30% off discounts. At the time I bought it, I couldn't have touched another laptop with near the power for at least $500 more (not including additional warranty costs).
~Ripper
1730 is the box I'm looking to buy.....
Nice review, I've always been a fan of Dell PCs, and just bought a new XPS 710 two months ago. Working as an IT manager I made sure that the PCs and laptops we use are Dell. The laptop I use will need upgrading soon and the Inspirion 1720 looks like a good choice, and I can use it for playing games - during my lunch break of course ;)
BTW the fps numbers for the maximum and average fps for the World of Warcraft are the wrong way round.
WoW Performance
23
43
97
17" HD displays (1920x1200) are not good for gaming, as OP said.
it's nice for HDTV, but it literally burn you
videocard if you don't use Notebook coolers
Edit: btw, I would prefer Acer Aspire 7520G-702G32Mi to Dell Inspiron 1720
or even Acer TravelMate 7720G-302G25Mi - with Radeon HD 2400 :)
I got a Vostro 1700(2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2gb ram, 8600GT, 160gb HD @ 7200rpm), which is the corresponding model to the 1720(Just the business model, same case, different color/name).
And I'm quite happy with the high resolution, and I play CoD4 in 1920x1200, all maxed out. It does get warm, but its nothing serious. I've turned down some of the details and view distance, since its just 256mb ram on the gfx.
Great laptop, but not the most portable one...
PS: I run vista on mine, and it suits me fine when u get to tweak it.
FYI - there have been numerous complaints regarding the lifespan vs. expected lifespan of the batteries in the E1705 (the laptop I have). I don't know if the same batteries are used in the E1720, but they may be. I had an interaction with Dell Support this morning to have my dead battery replaced (it died at almost exactly one year). Unfortunately, it turns out that Dell batteries only have a 1 year warranty (vs. the 3 year warranty I purchased for my system) and that my battery was no longer covered.
When I went to price the new battery on the Dell site, I noticed two things:
1) The price is outrageous - my jaw dropped. I hve to spend $165 + tax + S&H for a new battery
.
2) The battery had a 2.3 rating out of 5 from 29 reviews. 23 of the 29 reviewers complained about the battery dying from 9 - 15 months. There's clearly an issue with the batteries used for this model.
/grrrrrr
The link for the reviews (on the Dell website) is: E1705 Battery Reviews
~Ripper
My girlfriend wanted a laptop. When I bought the E1705 the Core 2 Duo wasn't out yet.
Other than that the specs are pretty much the same (think ours has a 120GB hard drive).
I've been happy with ours even tho I'm not really into laptops. She plays games on it and they run fine.
We did just about on our 1 year anniversary have the sudden blue screen... corrupted graphics. This was on a sunday and the system was just not going to "come back". It was obviously a video problem and you could boot into safe mode fine.
Contacted Dell support online on a sunday night. The session timed out and the support rep called me. Had me do some diagnostics, was very patient and seemed to really know what they were doing (it sounded very much like a support center in India but I'll admit they were VERY good).
He setup to have a call back.. and this was like 1am monday morning by them. Asked if I'd be awake or if it should be some other time (the call would be like 3am). I said .. I'd be awake.
Anyway to make a long story shorter we had a guy here on tuesday morning and the laptop was back to normal in under an hour. I forget what they swapped out but the tech had everything on hand and we haven't had any issues since.
So I can honestly say I was pretty impressed with the support from Dell.
Speed and quality of the contracted tech etc etc.
Still happy with the laptop and as the person I quoted stated.. for what I got it was price wise a good deal under what anyone else had.
I've had Dells for 8 years. I've never had problems with any of them (and I have 6 of them running in my house right now, 4 I own and two company-owned laptops for my clients) until this laptop. I've now had 3 total failures for one machine and/or it's components/peripherals in ~15 months:
Performance-wise, I've loved this laptop. I'm disappointed in the amount of issues I've had, however.
~Ripper
I currently use the 1720 black ~ Awesome notebook. I went ahead and got the camera option and have found it a nice touch. I've had it for over a year (running almost all the time) with no problems at all. I use it a lot for working on the road and at customer sites and have had a lot of compliments on it.
Waiting for your Alienware notebook review!
Keep up the good work!