Dell adds Inspiron 17 laptop to its lineup
By Laura June 
posted July 16th 2009 9:54AM
posted July 16th 2009 9:54AM
Good news, lovers of giant laptops: Dell's just added a 17.3-inch option to its Inspiron lineup. The Inspiron 17 -- which has a backlit 16:9 aspect ratio, 1,600 x 900 resolution LCD -- will boast options for Intel Pentium Dual Core as well as Core 2 Duo processors, up to 3GB of RAM, an up to 320GB SATA hard drive, and an up to 9-cell battery (the base model comes with a 4-cell). Other optionals include a Blu-ray drive and a 1080p display. You can order this puppy now -- the base price is a pretty sweet $499 -- and it should ship sometime in August. One more shot after the break.
[Via Electronista]
[Via Electronista]
ohhh, it's big and cheap. Funny it's only about 100-150 bucks more than some of their netbooks when they first came out.
Dells keep getting cheaper and cheaper in price. Nice to see more of their laptops have the Blu-ray option and 1080 screens.
Okay mid range laptop when spec'ed out.
Even fully decked out, these are impressive specs for the price
Aw man... only junk Intel graphics. I was actually interested in ordering one until I got to that part. : (
Yeah, me to. No discrete graphics option for a 17" laptop with a blu-ray drive and a 1080p display? Thanks but no thanks Dell. I think Sony is doing a great job keeping the prices relatively low on it's new big laptops while still maintaining quite some high-end hardware specs.
Weird they took it out just to add it back again .. I bought my Fiancee a fully loaded 17" one for Xmas 2 years ago
$500 for a 17" laptop? And those Inspirons aren't clunkers, either. They're pretty sleek. I wonder how long before laptops are being sold out of vending machines.
By the way, the option for multiple screen resolutions is no longer available.
The spec page says:
17.3" Full High Definition (1080p) WLED with TrueLifeTM (Optional in September 2009)
Did anyone go into configuration and see the screens, which they refer to as just HD+? Ulgh, just what we need, another nickname for resolutions that just obscures the actual numbers. If you go into the specs page to see what HD+ means, it says:
17.3" High Definition+ (900p) WLED Display with TrueLifeTM (Std)
Which then leads to what's 900p? A Google search turns up that this also seems to have been invented by Dell, and with confused people suggesting it is either 1440x900, or 1600x900, probably the latter.
Now that is friggin' sweeeeeet. Love the colors.
A backlit screen?!?!? jk, jk
Should I be pissed that I just ordered a Studio 17?
Probably not.
The Studios use the faster T-series processors, the lowest of which (6500) is the top-model for the Insprion.
I notice that high end resolution laptops are more frequently topping out at 1920x1050. They use to top out at 1920x1200. They still do, but it's seems more infrequent these days. Am I imagining things here?
You mean 1080. But yeah, displays are moving towards the much more universally standard 16:9 (1920x1080) as opposed to 16:10 (1920x1200) that they used to be. I like it. Standardization is good.
I don't like it.
16:9 is good for TVs, but not computers.
If you took geometry[and maybe if you didn't], you'll note that by increasing the disparity in the aspects of the H(a) and W(b), that they increase the diagonal(c), all while decreasing the area (screen real estate).
It's not standardization, it's marketing used to sell you less for more.
Relax, dude. 16:9 is just becoming a standard size. Did you piss and moan this much when 4:3 got ditched?
No.
16:10 was created with a purpose, because if was the most functionally relevant aspect ratio for computer work flows. 16:9 is for tv, and wasn't chosen for it's interactivity, but because it's a buzz-term and cheaper to create, they're pushing it.
I have yet to find anyone that would choose a 1920x1080 over a 1920x1200, unless you use your computer for a tv, in which case, you may want to get a tv.
"16:10 was created with a purpose, because if was the most functionally relevant aspect ratio for computer work flows. "
Can I get some proof of 16:10 being the most functional aspect ratio, please?
Quick, tell Lauren before she buys another overpriced HP.
ZING!
(well done)
I really do love the new look of the Inspirons :P I just wish they would hurry up and add the ATI graphics card option
I don't know how great an idea this is. Like most of the other inspirons, this doesn't have a graphics option, and most people by 17"ers for high performance and/or gaming. What they really should have done is updated the Studio 17 like they did the 15
They already updated the studio 15 and 14, theyll do the 17 eventually. and also the inspiron 13, give it time.
I have both an Insprion 1520 and a 1720. I'd like to get rid of the 1520 I'm using and get a new one. The screen on this thing sucks balls. It's not an LED screen, and you can see the major difference when it's next to my Macbook Air. Other than that, it's a nice laptop, with the exception of Vista.
With the base battery, that thing might get a whopping 1 hour battery life. Why on earth would they stick a 4-cell battery in anything but a netbook?
for $9 cheaper than the price of the lowest macbook pro, I can get this laptop fully loaded, I mean 500gb hd, 4gb ram, vista premium. all straight from dell too
now if I really wanted to, i could get it pretty basic, and get my own HD and ram upgrades and find vista on the interwebs as well as some other components, and save a good amount of money.
thats what i call a deal
I second you on the quality of the Inspiron line. I don't understand why people are marveled at the price. The term "you get what you pay for" just doesn't seem to sink in. With an Inspiron you get piss poor build quality and components more apt to fail than higher priced Dell laptops. It's great that affordable laptops with power are available, but the problem is people are confused that they are getting something that can compare to a higher priced machine based on specs alone.
I'm a Dell certified IT administrator for a large university and I can tell you without a doubt that the Inspiron line of notebooks are crap!!!
My wife and I each have Inspirons at home, while the hardware is decent, the build quality is flimsy compared to the Latitude line, thank goodness we opted for the 3 yr extended warranty
Since we got them last June we both had to have the mainboard replaced, both keyboards replaced, my wi-fi, her dvdrw drive and lastly my power supply, 7 incidents in a little more than a year on two machines, my staff has over 80 Dell Latitudes at our campus and I rarely get any hardware related calls on them. I have had a D620 for two years and never had any issues with it, granted, the Inspiron line is roughly 40% cheaper than the Latitude line.
Just my 2 cents
Yeah, right.
I have an Inspiron 1720 for about 1 2/3 years. Never had a problem. I just bought a 500GB HDD for the second HDD bay. Dell service is great. I Would recommend DELL to anyone. What I love about the 17" DELL Laptops is the extra HDD bay. Dual 500GB HDDs on a laptop is great!
$499
Wow! That's cheaper than some netbooks out in the market today. :)
Wow, this thing doesn't have the same quality as the Macbook Pro! And that's because it's a Dell!!!
Hmm quality. You mean overpriced shiny metal that scuffs on the palmrest over time and overheats because Steve is a douche for keeping the thing quiet? Yah I'll skip quality in that case and go with cheap. Its probably the reason Apple just slipped from 4th to 5th place for computer manufacturers. People are starting to wise up their shit is no better then anyone else's and in fact the minute you have to use your warranty you lear its actually worse.
You are correct iKrap7. DELL quality is better in all aspects.
The last 17-inch Inspiron they released cost over $2000.
*sighs* Where are the 17"ers that have quad core processors? The only one on the market is their Precision line of workstations. While I'm eyeballing that system, I don't like the GPU they are using. I want my quad damn it. And yes it needs to be dell since I'm a Dell tech. Any repairs I can do myself :P
Oh no, 16:9 again.
"What they really should have done is updated the Studio 17 like they did the 15"
Thereby replacing a 16:10 screen with 16:9? No thanks.