Dell Screens - Have they improved?

FGR

I'm typing this from an Inspiron 9400 which I have cherished since the day I bought it.

Now being that this is a 2006 laptop that's gone through a lot of hardship I can honestly say that the 1440 x 900 trubrite screen is still in good nick. The thing is that I can't help but admire the lovely screens on the Apple machines in PCWorld - but would the generic PC companies (Dell/Toshiba/HP) ever release a laptop with something as nice?

I have my eye on the Studio 17. Are Dells new screens anywhere near as good as those Apple beauties?

Voodu Child

Dell don't make screens. Neither do Apple. Actually neither of them make anything, their laptops are made by Taiwanese ODMs and they just do the final assembly using off-the-shelf parts.

Its funny that you'd the phrase 'generic companies' because thats exactly what Apple are. There's a good chance a cheap Inspiron is coming off an assembly line right beside a Macbook Pro. Almost every laptop on the planet is made by literally a handful of competing ODMs.

As for screen quality, it just depends on what panel they are using. Apple certainly arent magicial in that regard, they are just using the same LG, Samsung etc panels as everyone else. Actually some of the screens they've used are famously bad.

Obviously there are certain categories of screens that you might consider better/worse than each other. CCFL vs WLED, glossy vs matte, RGBLED, etc. So if you are comparing a very high-end Macbook with RGBLED to a cheap Inspiron with CCFL-backlight, then for sure the Macbook is 'better'. But you can probably get the exact same RGBLED display (down to the exact same part #) on some of the higher-end Dells if you want.

tl;dr - There's no simple answer. Some Dell screens are good; some arent. Read some reviews of the model you are looking at to try and find what the quality is like.

Rsaeire

I agree with Voodu Child. As it all depends on what particular Dell laptop you're looking at, screen quality can, and will, vary widely. The Dell Studio XPS 16, the Dell Precision M4500 and the Dell Precision M6500 all have RGB LED screen options; with that said, you're paying quite a bit more for the RGB option, whereas the WLED option, also available, may suffice.

FGR

Ah the logic of 'get what you pay for' wins again.

Thanks for showing me my senses, Vooduu and Rsaeire. I really do like the Studio 17 as it's more of a 'true son' to my Inspiron 9400 (as both have a sub woofer mainly ) so I'm wondering if the screen is any good on it. The XPS machines are nice but the large screen models are far too chunky for my liking.

Rsaeire

ForegoneReality wrote: »

Ah the logic of 'get what you pay for' wins again.

Thanks for showing me my senses, Vooduu and Rsaeire. I really do like the Studio 17 as it's more of a 'true son' to my Inspiron 9400 (as both have a sub woofer mainly ) so I'm wondering if the screen is any good on it. The XPS machines are nice but the large screen models are far too chunky for my liking.

I've gone off Dell laptops since they started reducing the max resolution to 1600 x 900 on their laptops' screens; with the exception of only several models that still offer 1920 x 1080. Given that you've been used to 1440 x 900 on your 9400, you shouldn't mind the current resolution limitations.

By the way, it's funny you should mention the 9400, as i'm using the exact same model as I write this. My 9400's screen resolution is 1920 x 1080, so I'm more annoyed with the resolution limitation than you might be. I must say, these 9400's sure are great!

ED E

My vostro has a very respectable screen for the price bracket. I'd agree though that many of the 15XX inspirons I've seen have pretty cr@p screens. "Square Eyes" after ten minutes:rolleyes: