New machine...

[Allin4greeN]

Got my new Dell Inspiron 1720 fired up, spec's below...

Dell Inspiron 1720
Intel C2D T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
3Gb SDRAM (DDR2 at 667MHz/Asymmetric Dual Channel)
nVidia GeForce 8600M GT (256Mb)
Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio w/Surround Sound Upgrade Kit (Express Card)
250Gb HDD (5400 RPM)
Matshita BD-RE UL-220 (2x BDD)
Windows Vista Ultimate (x86)

I've been updating drivers and cleaning up, no fresh install, as I ordered the decrapified installation version. So far, just a couple of OOB issues...

Trend Micro Internet Security 14 (Dell OEM version) is buggy. I went through several uninstall/reinstall attempts before getting it to run correctly. Also, Media Direct (Cyberlink BD plug-in) will not play any of the Spiderman Trilogy films (PDVD Ultra or Arcsoft install is imminent). On the positive side, it does play all of the Die Hard Collection smoothly...

I've optimized Vista Ultimate for performance, and am not disappointed thus far. Full disclosure, I'm coming from using XP machines that are nearly a decade old with little more than RAM upgrades (512K, at that).

Next steps are to get this integrated into my HT with the 7.1 analog out dongle and VGA at 1366x768@60Hz 1:1 pixel mapping.

Hope all goes well...

Happy Holidays, everyone!

 

[IcEWoLF]

Got my new Dell Inspiron 1720 fired up, spec's below...

Dell Inspiron 1720
Intel C2D T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
3Gb SDRAM (DDR2 at 667MHz/Asymmetric Dual Channel)
nVidia GeForce 8600M GT (256Mb)
Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio w/Surround Sound Upgrade Kit (Express Card)
250Gb HDD (5400 RPM)
Matshita BD-RE UL-220 (2x BDD)
Windows Vista Ultimate (x86)

I've been updating drivers and cleaning up, no fresh install, as I ordered the decrapified installation version. So far, just a couple of OOB issues...

Trend Micro Internet Security 14 (Dell OEM version) is buggy. I went through several uninstall/reinstall attempts before getting it to run correctly. Also, Media Direct (Cyberlink BD plug-in) will not play any of the Spiderman Trilogy films (PDVD Ultra or Arcsoft install is imminent). On the positive side, it does play all of the Die Hard Collection smoothly...

I've optimized Vista Ultimate for performance, and am not disappointed thus far. Full disclosure, I'm coming from using XP machines that are nearly a decade old with little more than RAM upgrades (512K, at that).

Next steps are to get this integrated into my HT with the 7.1 analog out dongle and VGA at 1366x768@60Hz 1:1 pixel mapping.

Hope all goes well...

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I like what I see, I love windows XP Professional, but Vista Ultimate is good.

 

[Allin4greeN]

I like what I see, I love windows XP Professional, but Vista Ultimate is good.

Thanks, and agreed, I have XP Pro (SP2) running on another laptop and a desktop, and have had a very good experience with both. I debated the switch to Vista vigorously with myself Figured I'd gamble, and so far, it seems OK.

I picked up the Windows Vista Resource Kit, hoping to pick up a few pointers. Even though it doesn't appear that Vista is particularly popular in the enterprise deployment scenario just yet...

From what I can tell, the real test of my system will come when I try to connect to an external display... Apparently, nVidia drivers won't support Powerstrip on 8XXX series cards and above so, I have to cross my fingers that I can configure native res output over VGA (best connection available on the 1720) using the *stock* nVidia control panel.

This notebook is intended to be a desktop replacement, and the only other thing that I'm concerned about is HW upgrades. Dell uses their own version of MXM so, I'm pretty much locked into what they provide in terms of GC upgrades. Unless, I can find alternatives...

Other plans I have include adding EHD's for HDM archiving and my XBox 360 HD DVD AO. I'm just hoping that Arcsoft comes through with a version that supports playback from a HDD for BD and HD DVD, otherwise, I'm going to be downloading 3319a of PDVD. Not something that I'm looking forward to...

 

[Bogy]

From what I can tell, the real test of my system will come when I try to connect to an external display... Apparently, nVidia drivers won't support Powerstrip on 8XXX series cards and above so, I have to cross my fingers that I can configure native res output over VGA (best connection available on the 1720) using the *stock* nVidia control panel.

My daughter is currently living with us while she waits for the Peace Corps to medically clear her, again (long story). Since we already had four computers in the house, she asked if I could hook her's into the home theater so she could play her ripped cds. Being an accommodating dad, I did so. I put in an old nVidia video card with an S-Video output so we could use the tv as a monitor, just to pick playlists, etc. I had a heck of a time, because the most recent nVidia control panel has a bug in the wizard to pick the output type. It skips right over S-video as an option. I finally realized this and used the "classic" control panel, where I had no problems choosing the settings I needed. I don't know if this will be an issue for you or not, or if this is what you meant by the "stock" control panel. I have found the new control panel to have a few nice features, but I think the old one offered more options.

 

[Allin4greeN]

My daughter is currently living with us while she waits for the Peace Corps to medically clear her, again (long story). Since we already had four computers in the house, she asked if I could hook her's into the home theater so she could play her ripped cds. Being an accommodating dad, I did so. I put in an old nVidia video card with an S-Video output so we could use the tv as a monitor, just to pick playlists, etc. I had a heck of a time, because the most recent nVidia control panel has a bug in the wizard to pick the output type. It skips right over S-video as an option. I finally realized this and used the "classic" control panel, where I had no problems choosing the settings I needed. I don't know if this will be an issue for you or not, or if this is what you meant by the "stock" control panel. I have found the new control panel to have a few nice features, but I think the old one offered more options.

Bogy, thanks for your post. This is good to know.

I too am staying with my parents, over the holidays so, I haven't had an opportunity to hook the notebook up to my HDTV at home just yet. I did try hooking it up with S-video to my parents' TV and everything seemed OK for DVD playback. I had no option for running dual monitors, however.

New Media Direct bug, now I'm getting a Region A error on my Die Hard BD's and they won't play anymore... <scratching head> I've got AnyDVD and AnyDVD HD 6.3.0.3 installed so, I'm kinda surprised to be having this particular problem. I was hoping to see how Arcsoft's player was received before buying it or PowerDVD. Since I don't have a temporary even half-workable solution for BD's, I guess I'll just pick up Cyberlink and be done with it...

 

[Bogy]

A few weeks ago I hooked her computer back up to a monitor for a temporary situation. I forgot about the S-video issue until I was hooking it back up with no tv with an S-video input miles from home. I had to go through some real gymnastics to get it functioning. I really missed my Toshiba laptops where all I have to do is press Fn and F5 until I get the output I want.

 

[Delorean2006]

Got my new Dell Inspiron 1720 fired up, spec's below...

Dell Inspiron 1720
Intel C2D T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
3Gb SDRAM (DDR2 at 667MHz/Asymmetric Dual Channel)
nVidia GeForce 8600M GT (256Mb)
Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio w/Surround Sound Upgrade Kit (Express Card)
250Gb HDD (5400 RPM)
Matshita BD-RE UL-220 (2x BDD)
Windows Vista Ultimate (x86)

I've been updating drivers and cleaning up, no fresh install, as I ordered the decrapified installation version. So far, just a couple of OOB issues...

Trend Micro Internet Security 14 (Dell OEM version) is buggy. I went through several uninstall/reinstall attempts before getting it to run correctly. Also, Media Direct (Cyberlink BD plug-in) will not play any of the Spiderman Trilogy films (PDVD Ultra or Arcsoft install is imminent). On the positive side, it does play all of the Die Hard Collection smoothly...

I've optimized Vista Ultimate for performance, and am not disappointed thus far. Full disclosure, I'm coming from using XP machines that are nearly a decade old with little more than RAM upgrades (512K, at that).

Next steps are to get this integrated into my HT with the 7.1 analog out dongle and VGA at 1366x768@60Hz 1:1 pixel mapping.

Hope all goes well...

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Nice...my sister is thinking about getting an inspiron with similar specs...what color did u get anyway?

 

[Allin4greeN]

Went with Alpine White. The rest of my A/V components are silver so, it should blend pretty well once I get it into the rack.

 

[Delorean2006]

Went with Alpine White. The rest of my A/V components are silver so, it should blend pretty well once I get it into the rack.

Thats a really nice color for that notebook, my sister wants the green one.

 

[Allin4greeN]

Well, I've got it hooked up to my Vizio P50HDTV10A and am getting 1366x768@60Hz. It looks excellent!

I was somewhat surprised with DVD playback, however. It didn't appear as clear as I had hoped (jaggies and stuttering). For the moment, I'm blaming Media Direct, as I don't have this problem with my reference DVD's on any of my other players (XBox and Toshiba D-VR5)... Since it won't play BD's or pass 5.1/7.1 audio out, I'll have to upgrade to PDVD or Arsoft for sure...

Still, one major hurdle has been addressed!