Dell :: Vostro 1720 Mini-Review

Build Quality and Finish
My first impression as I unpacked the laptop was how light it felt for a 17” notebook. By comparison, my older Dell 9400 (E1705) seems much heavier. I don’t hear any creaking/groaning of plastics when I hold the laptop from one corner and, overall, the chassis appears rigid and well constructed. Aesthetically, this machine will not be a compliment generator. It’s industrial design is simple (read: bland), straightforward (read: uninspired), and utilitarian. A business laptop through and through.

The display hinges (one of the first things I check on new laptops) are excellent. There is absolutely no screen wobble when opening the display and hinges have a nice strong feeling. Of course, hinges often start to wear many months into ownership but my initial impression is very positive.

The display bezel has some rather unsightly hooks for the screen latch but I still appreciate the ability to lock the panel down before transport. The media key console above the keyboard is, in a word, ugly. The buttons are simple squares with boring symbols printed inside. The blue LED indicator lights are nice and, in a rare example of engineering forethought, are not blindingly bright.

The palm rest flexes when pressure is applied and has a slightly hollow sound when tapped. One small feature that I really appreciate is Dell softened and curved the forward edge of the palm rest to ensure your hands don’t sit on a sharp edge.

When closed, the display does not sit perfectly flush with the palm rest and has a 2-3 millimetre gap (however the right and left gaps are equal - so the rubber bumpers may be just a little too short). For a budget laptop, I consider this acceptable.

Fan(s) are very quiet when idle but do ramp up under high CPU/GPU loads (gaming) but have a low pitch and are not distracting. The exhaust is located on the left side of the computer.

***UPDATE: After further use, I have found that the fan(s) can become quite loud and distracting when gaming for 20-30 minutes. Under load (Crysis, Fallout 3, etc.), the 9600 GS video card does heat up considerably over time. Examining the bottom of the laptop, a very small air intake is provided for the video card and appears insufficiently sized for good airflow. If you value a quiet gaming experience, this could be a deal-breaker***

Display
I opted for the 1440x900 LED-backlight matte panel. Brightness uniformity is good but colours are somewhat muted compared to Dell’s TrueLife panels. Contrast is also significantly lower than the glossy displays. If you’ve ever used one of Dell’s business-class matte monitors you can expect an almost identical image quality with this panel. At it’s highest setting, panel brightness is more than adequate and, in a darker work environment, I would knock the brightness down 3-4 steps (of 7 total brightness levels). Despite the trade-offs (muted colours and lower contrast), the absence of annoying reflections that plague glossy displays is a nice benefit. I would rate the viewing angles (both horizontal and vertical) as average......