Customer Reviews

Dell Inspiron E1705 Laptop

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have not have the misfortune of experiencing the problems that others have had with this laptop. I've had mine for 3 years, and it's still working great. I haven't pushed it with 3D gaming or anything, but it's handled everything I've asked it to do. No hardware failures. No crashes. I'm a software engineer, so I've used a lot of computers, and this has been one of the most stable.

I also had the misfortune of purchasing this laptop based on generally favorable reviews. My Inspiron E1705 hard drive crashed within 12-months of purchase destroying all contents. It was in warranty and Dell fixed it. I assumed the faulty hardware was just a fluke and everything would be fine after the repair. A few months later the AC adapter stopped working. Dell sold me another cable for $100 as it wasn't a "standard" model. Six months later the laptop crashed again once again destroying all contents. Mind you the laptop was lightly used and never left the house. Rather than taking the professional high road and resolving the problem once and for all, Dell was quick to remind me that laptop was out of warranty. I spent $1,400 for this? The next few weeks were a nightmare, including hours of unhelpful scripted technicians, misdirected calls, departmental runarounds, frustrating and incomprehensible foreign accents. After weeks of this, the issue is finally escalated to a supervisor who agrees that Dell products should not fail like this within 18 months. He promises to call back and correct the problem. He never does. I try again to get through the call center maze again but to no avail. I gave up and went out and bought a Mac. The moral: this product comes with low-quality hardware. It is a serious customer risk. Given Dell's inability to respond to a legitimate customer issue I would say any Dell product is a serious customer risk. At this juncture I would also be wary of any favorable or fair magazine reviews of their products given their sizable advertising budgets they bring to print and web media.

This 17'' monster is no lightweight. The Dell Insprion E1705 is a big computer but does the job with no problems. I encountered no problems with this product.

Pros:
The keyboard is spacious and does not cause any trouble when it comes to typing. The display on the is great...like having your own portable TV. It comes with a DVI port that allows for easy connectivity to HD tvs (with the use of a DVI to HDMI cable of course). Media Center is useful when using its TV tuner capabilities.

Cons:
The computer is a bit outdated when it comes to internal hardware. The hard drive is a fraction of the size from what you may see in newer computers. The processor speed is no longer at its prime...lacking speed for multimedia users. Also, this notebook is only capable of holding 2 Gb of Ram. Although it only comes with 1 Gb stock its ability to be upgraded any higher is quite limited.

This laptop was the biggest waste of money ever. I might as well have went outside, put the $1000 I spent on this piece of junk in a pile, and set it on fire. Since I've bought it I've had nothing but issues with it. The latest one is the built in speakers have simply stopped working. Now I get to call up Dell customer support and try to figure out what the guy on the other line is trying to say to me for the next 2 and a half hours.

I was searching for Parts for a Dell Inspiron E1705 that I'm building and came across a complete Laptop... what a bargain... so I bought it... a real nice Laptop!

I own two of these E1705 laptops. I wanted a durable long lasting laptop with a large screen. I was pleased with the large physical size of the the laptop. They do not appear to be fragile. Both laptops were purchased in February 2007, and have been running 24 hours a day since (they are now nearly 3 years old). I put XP on both machines, and have NOT tested them under Vista. I have not had any problems with the performance.

This computer is terrible: reboots randomly, doesn't remember IP addresses (even though there is an option for it to), sound randomly decides not to work, battery lasted maybe a year, heavy as hell, loud, crashed with in 4 months of having it, had to reinstall everything [...]. Laptop is way too expensive and really poor quailty. Over all a piece of crap! If there was an option for no stars, I'd pick that.

I'm writing this review on a 10" ASUS netbook which is an awesome $400 unit that for five months has been literally without issues. Wish I could say that for the Dell unit. With that said, I've had the E1705 for less than two years and continue to have major problems. Right now I'm waiting for the Dell box to arrive so I can send it back for the second time in four months because it continues to crash. The first time, the blue screen of death; now the white screen of death.

I'm on my third video card and third keyboard. I've never really been able to run two photo editing programs consistently -- Nikon NX and Adobe Elements 6 without issues... (I do have 3 gig of RAM so running those programs shouldn't be an issue.) I've also covered up the touchpad with a piece of stickyback felt to keep the cursor from jumping to another line while I'm typing a Word document.

This is my third Dell overall. Have never had these problems with a Dell before, but it will be my last Dell should it crash again after it's repaired and sent back. In fact, I may try an iMac.

Cheers... JD

I have this model with the 160GB HD upgrade and Vista (Vista, the bane of my existence). It is surprisingly stable, and runs a wide variety of memory-hogging programs smoothly. I run Poser, Bryce, Corel Paint Shop Pro X2, Photoshop, MS Office 2007, iTunes, DVD transfer software, web applications, you name it, and sometimes I run 3 or 4 at once. (Poser does crash occasionally, but that's an issue with the program.) It's good for your main computer, and as a bonus is a laptop that you can fairly easily take with you wherever you go. It is definitely not as lightweight as I would like for travel. This is not going to be able to compete with newer, lightweight models with the same firepower in the portability category. It's also not a powerhouse gaming PC, so if you're into advanced gaming you'll need to look elsewhere.

The keyboard is a standard-size laptop model and easy to use-- no keys in funny places, or anything like that. At the top of the keyboard, next to the power button, there is another button that says "MediaDirect." Don't push it. I did ONCE by accident right after I got it, and I barely managed to get it back into regular Vista mode. I think it's some kind of layman-proof thing for people who just want to manage pictures and video, but if you know your way around Windows you'll just find it irritating if you ever trigger it. The picture is crisp and clear after all this time of fairly heavy use, and the sound! It's no Dolby theatre by any means, but I can play music on it in the back room, come out to the front room on the other end of the house and still hear it. There's a lot of power behind the sound, if not A-level quality.

I do have one major gripe with this laptop, and I can't say whether it's true with newer Dell models... but the power cord where it plugs into the computer is smooth, sliding into place. Sounds very soothing, right? Well, the problem with a cord that doesn't lock into place is that it can slide right back out again, and you'll never realize it. Next thing you know, you're getting a notice that you've only got 5 minutes left on battery power, and you didn't even know you were on the battery! After this happens a few times, the battery is shot, useless except for when you want to move from room to room without turning it off. If you use it in bed or on your lap a lot, this can be a REAL problem.

I've never had a problem with Dell computers aside from the power cord issue. In fact, I'm writing this review on the E1705, I own 2 Dell desktops, a Dell flatscreen monitor, and I'm preparing to buy my fourth Dell PC. As far as laptops go, you could probably do better with newer models, but you could definitely do a lot worse-- and I mean A LOT. I know this laptop will last me at least until I get the itch for an upgrade, and my husband will enjoy it for years after that when he inherits it. All in all, one of the best purchases I've made in the last few years.

This computer is great. I haven't had any problems with it so so far. It's a quality computer from Dell.