Dell Inspiron 15R Laptop SE: i7-3632QM CPU, 8GB DDR3, 750GB HDD, 1080p LCD, 2GB Radeon HD 7730M Video, DVDRW, WiFi N, Backlit Keyboard, 6 Cell, Win 8 $747 + free shipping

Hope it's bluray...

Quote from ResidentPony : I didn't drop it, and I didn't replace the hard drive. The problem is the hybrid caching system does not work properly. I and a couple of other people have reported the computer suddenly blackscreening, or failing to resume from hibernation and then failing to boot into Windows. It seems it does not always save properly to the little SSD, and then it tries to boot from it. I realize you're trying to help and appreciate the effort, but I'll be building my thirtieth computer system later this month. I know a bad product when I see it.

Yeah, that does sound strange.... Just wondering - but have you tried taking out the SSD and disabling the hybrid caching? Might be some sort of defective SSD?

Garbage. There is absolutely no point to this laptop. GPU cannot power ANY games at 1080p. I owned a similar gpu on a 1600x900 15.6" and it could barely get by on medium settings in tf2, and that was overclocked.

The sad truth is that mobile GPUs are not up to power 1080p screens in the sub $1000 market yet. Sure a $2000 laptop that weighs 9lbs can play SOME games on medium settings, but if you want to game, laptops are not a good idea as gpus become obsolete so much faster can computers and cpus.

Do yourself a favor and save $100 or more by not getting discrete graphics. If you need to do photoshop or some other gpu accelerated application, AMD is a much wiser choice with Trinity APUs.

Quote from ResidentPony : I didn't drop it, and I didn't replace the hard drive. The problem is the hybrid caching system does not work properly. I and a couple of other people have reported the computer suddenly blackscreening, or failing to resume from hibernation and then failing to boot into Windows. It seems it does not always save properly to the little SSD, and then it tries to boot from it. I realize you're trying to help and appreciate the effort, but I'll be building my thirtieth computer system later this month. I know a bad product when I see it..

I put a hybrid 750gb drive in my old Dell Studio 1749, the thing flies. It is a first gen i3 with an ATI 5650 GPU and it will boot to windows in about 30 seconds. I had heard the 500gb hybird hard drives having issues but like I said my 750gb is rock solid so far.

Also this deal does seem good. You get an i7 with 1080p. The 7730 video card is a litttle weak compaired to the 650/660 but still not bad considering I can still game (borderlands 2, MW3, etc) on my ATI 5650 pretty well.

Is this laptop better than the Latitudes? I can configure a Lattiude E5530 with i7 dual core and intel 4000 integrated graphics for the same price.

CPU and LCD worth $300, and all others worth $30.

Quote from garycoleman : Is this laptop better than the Latitudes? I can configure a Lattiude E5530 with i7 dual core and intel 4000 integrated graphics for the same price.

Depends if you want to play games. The Lattiude is a bit more solid but the wont really play any games.

Quote from Bob64 : Yeah, that does sound strange.... Just wondering - but have you tried taking out the SSD and disabling the hybrid caching? Might be some sort of defective SSD?

I strongly considered it, especially since one other person did report a defective drive. Also I've considered a bad mobo.

Still, there are too many people reporting problems. I don't think this is a one-off, I think we're looking at a version of the "bad caps" problem; not that there are capacitors involved but there is a high early failure rate that Dell is hiding. Most people have a good experience, but the failure rate is still five percent instead of a half percent, that sort of thing, and too high to recommend this laptop.

Quote from bgstewar : Couldn't disagree more. I have this laptop (the one with the mSata drive) and it's the best laptop I've ever had. I've had zero issues whatsoever. I've played Alan Wake and other FPS without hiccups.

I completely agree. I bought it on a super deal during Black Friday and am still completely in love with it. The screen is absolutely gorgeous (non-reflective), the design is elegant, and the performance is superb. I have not had a single hint of an issue with it.

Quote from MeatCatalog : Garbage. There is absolutely no point to this laptop. GPU cannot power ANY games at 1080p. I owned a similar gpu on a 1600x900 15.6" and it could barely get by on medium settings in tf2, and that was overclocked. The sad truth is that mobile GPUs are not up to power 1080p screens in the sub $1000 market yet. Sure a $2000 laptop that weighs 9lbs can play SOME games on medium settings, but if you want to game, laptops are not a good idea as gpus become obsolete so much faster can computers and cpus. Do yourself a favor and save $100 or more by not getting discrete graphics. If you need to do photoshop or some other gpu accelerated application, AMD is a much wiser choice with Trinity APUs.

You are both completely right, and completely wrong.

You're correct that latest-generation FPS games will not run well on 1080p with all the options on, but you are completely wrong that it is pointless for gaming.

For one thing, I play games such as Xcom, Deux Ex HR (an FPS BTW), CIv 5, and Crusaders II at full res and it is a great pleasure. Even Crusaders II will choke on the Intel 4000 at 1080p. I know since I tested it but forcing the Intel to run it. So the GPU makes a big difference.

As to games like Skyrim, there is a solution for those too. You cannot run it at 1080p, but then again, nor will a 670M (with high-res textures) so spending an extra grand will not help. The trick is to run it at a lower resolution, using a lot of high-res texture packs (of which there are many) and running at 16x AF. It will run with high shadows at 40-50FPS with 30 mods, and silky smooth playing performance. Interestingly, the lower res looks excellent, most likely due to the monitor's native ability to display a 1080p resolution, and the fact that it is only 15.6 inches. After all, if you blow that same resolution up to 42 inches, I have no doubt it will not look as impressive. At 15.6 inches though, it still looks and plays great.

Quote from ResidentPony : I have one. HUGE driver issues. HUGE. You can expect the 7730 to draw power but not draw to the screen. USB 3.0 drivers keep crapping out. Three hard drive crashes in one month. Battery life barely tops one hour. This is not a good product except on paper.

Initial batch of these had issues with 7730 driver in the summer of 2012, not recently. Have had this laptop for last 3 months with i5 and 750GB 7200rpm without much issue. Had a minor hiccup when I did not configure the 7730 correctly. Installed the driver again from Dell website and running like a champ. Older games gives close to 60FPS .One thing to note it DOES NOT get HOT at all when I compare to Dell Studio 15 I used to have. Yes battery life can be better. Normal surfing will last about 2 hours.
For the money this the best gaming laptop you can get with a 1080p screen.

Quote from ctuswatleader : can this connect to the 5ghz wifi band? or only 2.4ghz?

2.4Ghz only

Quote from ResidentPony : I didn't drop it, and I didn't replace the hard drive. The problem is the hybrid caching system does not work properly. I and a couple of other people have reported the computer suddenly blackscreening, or failing to resume from hibernation and then failing to boot into Windows. It seems it does not always save properly to the little SSD, and then it tries to boot from it. I realize you're trying to help and appreciate the effort, but I'll be building my thirtieth computer system later this month. I know a bad product when I see it. Does not make the problems rare, just means you dodged a bullet. Link 1 [dell.com] Read down the list, about one in ten. Link 2 [dell.com] Link 3 [dell.com] This guy found some solution, but it's not a great one. http://forums.adobe.com/message/4902423 http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=368063 There are other reports on various forums about pink screens, flickering, wavy picture, etc. And quite a large chunk of available software does not work on this hybrid system even when the graphics switching is operating. Would you like a video of me crashing while loading 3DMark? Loading, not running.

Sorry, but I would never trust the hybrid system to choose for me. I just tell it which GPU to use, end of story. As to the one in ten. I saw fewer than that, and that does not make it any less rare.

Of course, I sympathize with your issues, and can guarantee you I have seen it all. I once had a Samsung (cathodic tube) monitor literally catch fire, with flames coming through the top vents, in the first 10 seconds of plugging it in for the first time. That one will still go down in infamy.

Quote from iafzal3 : Initial batch of these had issues with 7730 driver in the summer of 2012, not recently. Have had this laptop for last 3 months with i5 and 750GB 7200rpm without much issue. Had a minor hiccup when I did not configure the 7730 correctly. Installed the driver again from Dell website and running like a champ. Older games gives close to 60FPS .One thing to note it DOES NOT get HOT at all when I compare to Dell Studio 15 I used to have. Yes battery life can be better. Normal surfing will last about 2 hours. For the money this the best gaming laptop you can get with a 1080p screen. 2.4Ghz only

I bought mine at the end of December. Battery life on minimal settings is 1 hour and 40 minutes. Surfing gets 1 hour and 15 minutes. The problems are still in the current batch and very very visible.
I've reinstalled every driver and the problems were fixed for almost an entire hour. Buying this laptop is playing Russian roulette. You might be a winner but there are better games for the money.

Quote from AmericanCarioca : Sorry, but I would never trust the hybrid system to choose for me. I just tell it which GPU to use, end of story. As to the one in ten. I saw fewer than that, and that does not make it any less rare. Of course, I sympathize with your issues, and can guarantee you I have seen it all. I once had a Samsung (cathodic tube) monitor literally catch fire, with flames coming through the top vents, in the first 10 seconds of plugging it in for the first time. That one will still go down in infamy.

That is an awesome story; I've seen a lot but have yet to see some equipment explode, except of course when I did it on purpose.

Having said that, the crux is you cannot choose; the hybrid must do it for you. First, this hardware is not muxable like some other implementations. The OS always sees the integrated graphics, so quite a few programs will not work properly. There is no list, you discover it by trial and error. Photoshop comes to mind, along with 3Dmark and Bitplane Imaris and a bunch of games. Second, in my case CCC does not open. It says there is no compatible hardware detected. So I can't select a different GPU profile even for programs that should work.

As for counting less than one in ten, the count is actually higher and I erred on the side of caution. Go down the list of problems people presented. Most are identical and fall upon the two hybrid systems: GPU and HD. HP has had similar problems, acknowledged the issue, and released an updated BIOS that resolved the GPU issue. Dell has not. You may not have these problems. You may but Dell will stand behind their product. Or you may have these problems and Dell will not do anything about it.

I don't need to convince SDers to avoid this product. I do have some personal investment in this but in the end you can vote with your money. I do present this information though: I am frighteningly well-qualified to comment on hardware, I have documented several significant issues with my laptop, and in trying to resolve the problems I've come across an alarmingly large amount of buyers with identical problems in two specific areas.