Inspiron 9300 Released

[slightlyhuman]

Originally posted by: ericboo
Dr150,

Buzz kill! I just ordered mine yesterday. Let me bask in the glory or using it a few weeks until I find out something newer is coming out.

when you do, sell me your 9300=]

 

[troutmask]

This notion of cpu being over taxed by the high resolution is something to query... On the 17" sony, with an m1.72 it didn't seem to keep up with a full frame rate with ntsc video... there were dropped frames every now and then.

Is the CPU heavily taxed with a WUXGA resolution even when coupled with a powerful video card like the go6800 ??

I"m planning on using mine for video work, but a tech suggested I'd be better off with the new Sony viao 15" m1.72 wxga, which I saw in a Best Buy and the new screen did look very good.

 

[thunderroller]

thats cool

 

[operaman1]

Originally posted by: dr150
Another thing that some of you gamers should remember is that the 6800 card in the 9300 will have to work harder at full resolution on the WUXGA screen vs. the WXGA+. You'll get markedly less FPS, plus you may have to turn the eyecandy "off".

The WXGA+ screen, by virtue of its resolution will give you smoother gameplay with the latest games with this card.

With the WUXGA screen, you may have to scale it down to 1280X1024 to get decent gameplay on an intensive game (i.e. any upcoming games using the Doom 3 engine for instance). And as you all should know by now, scaling down means blurrier than native resolution...........Eventually, there will come a time when 1920x1200 won't cut it with this graphics card and a game...and you'll have to scale down to a blurrier 1280X1024......while the XGA+ screen will be chugging along at full native at 1440X900........in other words, unless you're a chronic replacer of laptops, the XGA+ will give you longer gaming longevity with its more pleasurable (esp. text) 1440X900 resolution.

Then the WXGA+ becomes much more compelling for gaming at native 1440X900 than an WUXGA playing at a blurry 1280X1024.

For 1920x1200 resolutions, I'd definitely get the XPS2 with the 6800 Ultra card instead of the 9300....it's more future proof.

Resolutions & FPS FYI with 6800

Well, as a gamer I like games at 1280 X 1024 which is a perfect option with this WUXGA screen. At 1440 X 900 it is NOT an option on a WXGA screen. It is a preference thing. I am quite happy with the WUXGA and I am sure you will love the WXGA. Hey, DR150 the most important thing is we are getting the best laptop balance-wise out on the market today....

 

[troutmask]

Will any PC2-4200 ram work with the 9300? Or the micro dimms?

 

[manko]

Originally posted by: troutmask
Will any PC2-4200 ram work with the 9300? Or the micro dimms?

Not micro-dimm, but sodimm.

Where to buy 9300 1GB RAM ?

 

[troutmask]

You mean sodimm whosayin' ???

tanks for the link

 

[dr150]

Glossy Screen

And Another

These pics were taken from another forum where a kid reviewed his.

Basically the WUXGA has the same sparkle as the 9200, except the gloss apparently reduces the sparkle by 50%. Of course taking subjectivity aside, this doesn't take away the fact that Dell hasn't fully resolved this issue.

Other reports of light leakage are coming in, so if you ordered this screen: beware.

 

[operaman1]

There is apparently issues with BOTH WXGA and WUXGA screens. It seems to be hit or miss though. I get mine on Thursday or Friday and will know more then....

 

[dr150]

9300 Reviews w/ WUXGA Trulife Glossy Screen

Opinions are tricklng in.......Here's some to get you started....

Markuswürgler (page 9):
I've an i9300 with uxga lg display (lpl0000). it was chanced for an 9200, wich was horribel. the screen of the 9300 is better than the screen of the 9200, but not perfekt. the glossy effect make it more brillant, but if you look very close, you will see the sparkle-effekt very clear. for me no question. the 9300 goes back

Shodaime (page 8-9):
BTW, the sparkle is pretty bad. Not just on white, on all lighter colors. The colors in general suck compared to my i8600. I'd rather have that display on this thing than the piece of crap that came with my 9300.

edit: I'm keeping it, though. I'll get used to it. I don't want to go through all of the bs that is involved in sending it back etc.......

......Oh and there is a ridiculous amount of light bleed along the bottom of the screen.

For those concerned about the display sucking, don't even bother. It sucks. It's really, really bad......

......I really wish this was an average quality screen.

Having owned a sony xbrite, I know what a GOOD quality screen is. It was way ahead of the screen on my i8600, and the screen on my i9300 is way below the i8600.

This brings it nowhere near average quality....

.....The light leakage on my screen is pretty bad too. On the windows startup screen, the light leaks through about two inches up from the bottom.

I wanna say though.. on anything but white/really light colors, the display is just fine...

Also, the sparkle largely depends on your viewing angle. While I'm typing this, I can see the grainy texture at the top of my firefox window, but about half way through it goes away, and looks fine from then on. This isn't the case with a white backround though.

Maklar (page9):
I have J9662 according to my package slip. I was only able to test it for about 5 mintues during lunch. The sparkle is pretty apparent on my screen so I'll be calling dell to get a replacement. I'll have to check manufacturer stuff later tonight when I get home and can download powerstrip. I'm also going to compare it to the M70 I am sending back to see how much of a difference there is between the two.

Quiquin:
The screen is pretty good for the most part, it's just not on par with X-brites and such. If that's what you're expecting, you'll probably be disappointed. For me, this laptop has other virtues than when considered as a whole, slightly outweigh the not-so-outstanding screen. With most budgets there's always a compromise.

Dellbert:
Sure, I can do that once we have a couple more data points. It's looking like the results will be the same as for the 9200, though.

LG: pretty intollerable
Samsung: tollerable

Neither one spectacular, a total crapshoot as to which you get, and a friggin nightmare if you decide to go the exchange/fix route.

.......1) Your chance of getting a good replacement is probably 50/50.

2) Once you enter the exchange/fix path, your 21 day return period will fade away (despite what Dell may tell you to the contrary), and you may be stuck with a lemon, or end up doing several exchanges, all of which are a royal pain.......You have a 21-day satisfaction guarantee. The clock starts ticking on your invoice date. After that, all bets are off. And, no, you cannot specify which vendor makes the part. They treat them all the same, or at least that's what they say, and their behavior backs that up.

 

[Trianon]

Dr150, we got the drift, get over it... Never seen anyone so worked up about piece of hardware.
My 9300 shipped today Should be here tomorrow or Friday, I can't wait

 

[LackofVision]

You can see a grid pattern "up close" on any lcd panel.

Put your eyeball a couple inches from the screen and you will have no problem seeing the grid that the individual pixels are arranged in.

Maybe this is something differnet, and I'll be the first to send my xps2 back if it really causes a problem when it finally gets here, but I could care less how the screen looks "up close" unless it's a distance I might actually look at the screen from. My big screen hdtv looks like crap if you stick your face right up next too it, but a few feet back and the picture quality is awesome.


Dr. 150, from reading the threads your point out and others on the same forums, there are as many people happy with the screen as not. I think it's going to come down to personal taste and perhaps the model and/or quality of each units LCD. Your one sided quoteing and linking isn't exactly doing the subject justice.

 

[dr150]

Originally posted by: Trianon
Dr150, we got the drift, get over it... Never seen anyone so worked up about piece of hardware.
My 9300 shipped today Should be here tomorrow or Friday, I can't wait

YOU get over yourself bud....This is a DISCUSSION forum isn't it?....Sounding defensive (like most buyers on this thread will be) over your little baby, eh? LOL.

If you can live with spending way over $1k plus on a HIGH POTENTIAL bad quality screen, that's your problem. Enjoy your P.O.S.

Don't shoot the messenger for calling it RIGHT and saving future buyers on this board some grief....now conjecture becomes FACT. Wish it wasn't so.

It IS what it IS! :thumbsdown:

 

[savagexp]

I'd appreciate some input on this:

I'm looking at getting the 9300 for my wife for our anniversary. She doesn't need a whole lot of juice, but she wants a big screen and she wants to know that the thing will work for a few years. Her gaming requirements are quite sparse. She'll probably want to play The Sims 2 and that's about it.

I'm looking at doing the system with following specs:

M730
XP Pro
UXGA Display
2 Year Warranty
512 (2x256)MB RAM
40GB HDD
8x CD/DVD burner
9-Cell Battery
64MB ATI Mobility x300
Intel b/g wireless

My questions are....
1) Any idea how long the 9-cell lasts with these systems?
2) Will the ATI card (either the 64 or 128 version) be enough to power the display?
3) Will the ATI card (again, either 64 or 128) be enough for light gaming?
4) The main reason I'm thinking the UXGA display is because she LOVES the VAIO displays, and this TrueLife coating is supposed to be very similar. Any thoughts? Photos of the different screens under identicle lighting?

Thanks for the input.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Hey all,
There is a 9300 w/256MB 6800 on the way to our labs @ LaptopLogic. Expect a sneak preview soon with an incredibly detailed review to come after that. Just a heads up

 

[Trianon]

Originally posted by: dr150
YOU get over yourself bud....This is a DISCUSSION forum isn't it?....Sounding defensive (like most buyers on this thread will be) over your little baby, eh? LOL.

If you can live with spending way over $1k plus on a HIGH POTENTIAL bad quality screen, that's your problem. Enjoy your P.O.S.

Hehe, I will enjoy it, don't worry, I will. And if I won't I will send it back. Then maybe I will complain about it, not before I even held in my hands. You look silly passing judgement about stuff you never seen with your own eyes.

 

[CptTripps]

Originally posted by: dr150

Originally posted by: Trianon
Dr150, we got the drift, get over it... Never seen anyone so worked up about piece of hardware.
My 9300 shipped today Should be here tomorrow or Friday, I can't wait

YOU get over yourself bud....This is a DISCUSSION forum isn't it?....Sounding defensive (like most buyers on this thread will be) over your little baby, eh? LOL.

If you can live with spending way over $1k plus on a HIGH POTENTIAL bad quality screen, that's your problem. Enjoy your P.O.S.

Don't shoot the messenger for calling it RIGHT and saving future buyers on this board some grief....now conjecture becomes FACT. Wish it wasn't so.

It IS what it IS! :thumbsdown:

I don't think he seemed defensive, to me it seems he believes you've made your point and there is no need in making it over again.

There were people on the dell boards that were indeed happy with there screens, I do indeed appreciate the input but would still like to form my own opinion.

You say you are calling it right and saving future buyers grief, yet a few pages back you were telling everyone to avoid WUXGA and buy WXGA. Some people on the dell boards have had problems with those too, perhaps you also caused some grief. You were offering an educated guess on the WXGA and that's all.

When people don't agree with you, you indeed get a little aggressive (As you did when I pulled up reviews on the WUXGA saying the screen was nice and interpolation was handled well).

I understand that you are trying to make people aware of the possibilities and that's cool and much appreciated I'm sure, but you do come off a little holier than though. You seem like a very smart guy who has helped alot of people with their questions but opinions do vary and because they do not agree with you does not make them wrong.

 

[dr150]

Guys,
Lets get off ME and return to the 9300 subject. This is boring.

 

[CptTripps]

Hey man, no offense, I love you and want to have your babies Your a smart dude with valuable info I can appreciate, you definitely caused me to look into my purchase. Just a lil rough sometimes.

On to the 9300:

With the GPU overclocked this thing is turning out some great numbers. Is looking to be quite the mobile gamer at only about 20% slower framerates that are well beyond exceptable.

Me, I got an XPS2 just for the Ultra. It was quite a bit more money but I am rewarding myself, me and the wife quit smoking finally. In alaska (maybe a reason I don't notice the glare so much as it's dark 8 months outta the year) smokes are 6$ a pack, we each smoked a pack a day. 12*30=360$ a month I'm saving, in 3 months I will have payed off the extra funds I spent on the XPS2. Yeah I could spend it on other things, but that is lame way of justifying it (and I wanna game at 1920x1200).

If dell does screw me on the screen, I will try once to get the model everyone is more pleased with. If it still sucks, I'm returning it for a refund and will wait for Sager's offering of the ultra.

 

[Trianon]

Got the laptop on Friday, screen is not perfect, a little bit of backlight bleeding on the bottom, but unless the screen is totally black it's not noticable, no dead pixels, when there are no light sources in the back to create reflections, the screen looks gorgeous. Hehe, this laptop is super fast 7200rpm drive is definitely the way to go

 

[Merlin]

I just got mine on thursday and it is sweet. The screen is not as nice as the sony though.

 

[uOpt]

Originally posted by: Trianon
Got the laptop on Friday, screen is not perfect, a little bit of backlight bleeding on the bottom, but unless the screen is totally black it's not noticable, no dead pixels, when there are no light sources in the back to create reflections, the screen looks gorgeous. Hehe, this laptop is super fast 7200rpm drive is definitely the way to go

Which screen did you order?

 

[StealthPants]

Originally posted by: Merlin
I just got mine on thursday and it is sweet. The screen is not as nice as the sony though.

You got the True Life screen ? Is it noticable lower quality than the Sony X Brite? I saw 1920 resolution on a sony 17inch and it was stunning, does the dell even come close ?

Thanks

 

[Pantocrator]

I got my 9300 a couple days ago. My motive behind getting it was to replace my desktop. I wasn't really looking for mobility. I consider this more of a portable desktop than a laptop. I think i got a pretty good deal; see below.

I am disapointed with a few things:
- The touchpad's isn't as good as IBM's or HP's for that matter.
- The touchpad's buttons are very loud -very.
- The sound is good, but i thought it would be better
- Battery life is miserable -don't really care, but thought i should mention it.
- It is HUGE and somewhat unattractive, i knew it would be big, but didn't relize how thick it would be -i guess dealing with Powerbook G4's have spoiled me. Hats off to them Apple those guys are heads and shoulders above as far as design goes.

I do like that I can play any game i want with great performance and watch a DVD from across the room on this thing. I will not return it. Im overall satisified with this machine.

Inspiron 9300 Intel® Pentium® M 730 Processor (1.60GHz/533MHz FSB)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen XGA+ Display
Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce? Go 6800 256NV
Hard Drive 60GB Hard Drive
CD/DVD Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive

Dell Home Customers:
Save $750 on select Inspiron? notebook purchases $1999 or more (before tax and shipping)! (affiliate only online offer)Expires on 2005-03-15 05:59:59 - $750.00

Sub-Total $1,306.00
Shipping Discount -$69.00
Shipping $0.00
Tax $0.00
===========
Total $1,306.00

 

[Trianon]

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer

Originally posted by: Trianon
Got the laptop on Friday, screen is not perfect, a little bit of backlight bleeding on the bottom, but unless the screen is totally black it's not noticable, no dead pixels, when there are no light sources in the back to create reflections, the screen looks gorgeous. Hehe, this laptop is super fast 7200rpm drive is definitely the way to go

Which screen did you order?

TrueLife
Used it for 4 days non-stop, very nice... by default fonts are tiny, but Dell Quickset takes care of that. My friend is SOOOO jealous Played HL2 in 1920x1200, 16:10, best graphics I've seen in the game so far.