M1710 on the way!

You should just compare the M170 with the M1710 in your review. No need for 2 reviews.

 

Wow, you still haven't gotten that thing yet nick??! I got all the bugs worked out of mine. Dell sent me a new screen, and I have to admit, it is noticably brighter than my m170 screen (and I had a good one). I'm definitely happy with it. Have a small overclock on it right now, I am gonna boost that up when I get a chance, since it's running smooth, and tomorrow I am gonna order 2 gigs of ram, since bf2 is really feeling the decrease. Hope you're happy with yours too!!

 

subime did you overclock the GPU or CPU or both? Any 3Dmark scores? And yes, Bf2 is one of those games that really benefits from more RAM. Some games you will only notice 1FPS difference between 1GB and 2GB's.

 

Yep, i get it today! I have the 3 day weekend to mess with it! It would have been bad if i got it Tuesday (whole weekend to wait)

Anyways, it hasnt been a long time. I ordered a week ago (Last friday) and it is here within a week. I had to delay so long to make sure Dell got my m170, and after 2 days of them getting it, i ordered this one. Strangely enough, my credit went back in 2 days, instead of 15. I lucked out

 

I got mine (from the Outlet, "Previously Ordered New") yesterday!!

Anyway, i'll leave the review up to you, but I have a couple of things to note about the M1710.

1) I have a bit of light leakage along the bottom of the screen. In a darkened room, it is noticeable.

2) It looks like an E1705/9400. Except for the glitzy LED's, the stylish top, and the white keyboard, i'm almost sure it is an E1705. I hope I didn't pay a > $1000 premium for some LED's and a slick top!!

3) I also noticed a DOCK PORT on the bottom, but don't see any docking stations as an option. Is there a dock station available for this?

Considering that there are some fully loaded E1705's going for $1200 right now, I'm wondering if there is VALUE in the M1710? I'm not down on the M1710, but just wondering if the M1710 is worth twice what I can get an E1705 (7900GS instead of GTX) for?

Now, on to loading up my new M1710!!!

 

Just the GPU. Unfortunately, there is no way to OC the CPU on these laptops. But I believe my 3dmark05 score was a little under 9300, and 06 was somewhere around 5200. I didn't get around to saving them, I've still been tweeking my computer right now. I will post some good results later

 

Hey Nick this is Tech,

I helped him get it at a great price. if anyone else wants help send me a PM

I can get Black T2600 LOADED with 3yr Complete Care for $2800 out the door.

 

Light Leakage is almost inevitable with notebooks. I have seen some screens that are beautiful, but almost all screens (especially 17") on notebooks will have some. Although, I will agree that my Samsung screen on my M1710 has a bit more than I'd like. It's decreased a bit since I've gotten it, however.

The body is actually quite different than the E1705. It's obviously a different bottom shell, as it has the docking port. The palmrest is also completely different; as the silver trim is IMO a lot nicer than the white on the E1705. The touchpad is also obviously different with the LEDs in it. The hinge cover, obviously it just has XPS | M1710 where it would say E1705. The motherboard has to be different as well, with the support for the docking station, the LEDs, and whatever else. What I'm saying is that the M1710 has more improvements over the E1705 that you'd think. Dell realized their mistake with the m170 and the 9300, by making it possible to have a 9300 as good as a M170 much cheaper. They aren't going to make that mistake again, and they have made some significant things in the M1710. At this point, it is impossible to get a 7900GTX in the E1705. If you're ok with the 7900GS, I'd probably just get the E1705; as you're right, it is much cheaper. I was lucky enough to get the M1710 through a lot of trouble for much, much cheaper; but I won't go into that.

The other thing as I mentioned is the docking port. I have never used a docking port before, but since getting the m1710 I have ordered one off of ebay and I love it. After much research I was able to find that there are two options for docking ports for the M1710. You can use either the D/Dock or the D/Port. I just bought the D/Port since I don't need an external PCI card, or a D/Bay. If that's the kind of thing you would like, then by all means, get the D/Dock. But it has been confirmed that both of them work with the m1710. If you get the D/Port you will need to use a 130w adapter with it, as the 90w that comes with it can not supply enough power for your computer. You can use either the D/Port or D/Dock with the D Family monitor stand, but that's only useful if you have an external monitor. I haven't even tried mine with an external monitor though, so I can't tell you how well that works. As far as price, Dell sell the D/Port for $200, I got mine for $25 shipped on ebay. It was used, without an AC adapter, but it works great and I would have had to replace the AC adapter with a 130w one anyway. Dell sells the D/Dock for over $300 I believe, and they can be had on ebay for less than $100. Either way, they are nice to use, and IMO a huge improvement that the M1710 has over the E1705 or the M170. If you don't use one, however, it's not worth upgrading, once again.

 

Exactly what zimm said

 

The reason I was speculating on the use of E1705 parts in the M1710 is this...the exterior ports all around are EXACTLY in the same place on the E1705 as the M1710. Nothing more, nothing less. That leads me to believe the motherboard is the same. With regards to the docking port---the pictures I've seen of the current model Dell Inspiron and Latitude MB's, all the MB's have a spot for a dock connector, but those that don't incorporate it, don't solder one on. In other words, the solder pads are there, but the connector isn't installed. So, my guess is on the E1705 MB, there is a place for a dock port to be installed, but it isn't. The colored LED's are almost certainly a part of the design of the MB, and are probably, again, just not installed on the E1705. The chassis is a different color, though. I might explore this a bit further just to appease my curiosity!

Thanks for the info on the D/DOCK and D/PORT. I had just asked this question in a different thread, and now you've answered it here. Time to go shopping for a D/PORT!