Need some help from the computer experts on BW
I am looking to get the Inspiron 15R Special Edition from Dell. It’s on sale for $890 and has good specs. It looks to be a great deal if anyone else is interested. Here’s the link.
A few Q’s for all the tech guys on here…
Will I be able to connect the laptop up to a monitor? I’ve seen people connect a laptop to a monitor and keyboard and mouse, was hoping to have this as an option.
This version has a 720P display, the more expensive (by $400) has 1080P (and also a Blu-ray player). I don’t think it is worth the extra price. You guys agree?
If I can connect to a monitor that is 1080P will it be displayed properly at a 1080P resolution even though the laptop screen is less?
Thanks guys 
Will I be able to connect the laptop up to a monitor? I’ve seen people connect a laptop to a monitor and keyboard and mouse, was hoping to have this as an option.
Yes, you will just need a VGA cable or display port adaptor (I can get VGA cables from work for free)
This version has a 720P display, the more expensive (by $400) has 1080P (and also a Blu-ray player). I don’t think it is worth the extra price. You guys agree?
Probably not worth it unless you have a ton of Blu-rays and plan to watch on your laptop screen
If I can connect to a monitor that is 1080P will it be displayed properly at a 1080P resolution even though the laptop screen is less?
It depends on your monitors available resolutions. The one I am running has 1080p. If your graphics card in the laptop can display it (should be able to) then you will be able to run 1080p on your screen. The laptop screen is quite small anyways so 1080p would be a bit overkill.
It does look like pretty good value for the price. I haven’t overclocked laptops before but is can be pushed closer to that 3.1 they say. Only issue is battery gets drained quicker.
It runs by default at 2.1 which is a good deal slower so if you find it not performing good enough, use the software overclock to make it quicker 
TJswish is correct. The link below has the specs for the card, it will do 1080p and also has VGA,DVI or HDMI input.
http://www.amd.com/us/products/notebook/graphics/7000m/7700m/Pages/radeon-7700m-series.aspx#2
Yea what am I thinking… my netbook runs 1080p on my tv lol.
We were gonna get a dell but static is really good with building computers. He put together a much better more powerful pc for less than the dell. I’ll get him to look in this thread!
If you overclock it won’t it overheat? Unless you have enough fans and air circulation?
I am looking to get the Inspiron 15R Special Edition from Dell. It’s on sale for $890 and has good specs. It looks to be a great deal if anyone else is interested. Here’s the link.
A few Q’s for all the tech guys on here…
Will I be able to connect the laptop up to a monitor? I’ve seen people connect a laptop to a monitor and keyboard and mouse, was hoping to have this as an option.
This version has a 720P display, the more expensive (by $400) has 1080P (and also a Blu-ray player). I don’t think it is worth the extra price. You guys agree?
If I can connect to a monitor that is 1080P will it be displayed properly at a 1080P resolution even though the laptop screen is less?
Thanks guys
If you don’t need the blueray, don’t get it. But if you think you will later, or want better resale value, then get it.
I’m not sure why everyone is talking about overclocking it? You don’t manually overclock that laptop, and rarely would you ever overclock a laptop - The new Intel i-series ranges it will do it themselves if it needs the extra power and often depending on which power settings you have it on.
TJ’s on the ball for all the other questions.
Most things have been answered but just a couple of things to add.
You can also use HDMI for your output to a monitor/tv. Being a digital format vs analog on the VGA it would be the way to go. If you’re monitor doesn’t have HDMI you can pick up a cheap HDMI to DVI adaptor (presuming your monitor isn’t ancient and has DVI)
As for the bluray/1080p upgrade. I have a 1080p screen on my laptop (as well as bluray but never use it) and I will never go back to a 720p screen. I find it so much better in regards to screen real estate. You can just fit so much more on your screen at once and it’s very crisp. The antiglare/matte screen is also my preference over gloss. It’s not for everyone though as it does make things “smaller” I would definitely recommend looking at the difference in a store before hand. Having said that a 50% increase in price is pretty crazy and I’d find it hard to justify.
I’m not sure why everyone is talking about overclocking it? You don’t manually overclock that laptop, and rarely would you ever overclock a laptop - The new Intel i-series ranges it will do it themselves if it needs the extra power and often depending on which power settings you have it on.
Ahh I never realised how that worked… makes sense now… (haven’t purchased a laptop since Dual Core)
I don’t rate BluRay. It’s going to end up redundant.
I bought my external BluRay burner/player for $139.
In fact my suggestion is (if you can) get it without a dvd drive and install extra HD.
I have a 1080 50” monitor running off my lappy, the only time I have it set over 720 is when running programs that insist on that screen res at min.
The rest of the time I have it set at 720. When on 1080 I find text is too small and I need to be with 1m to make out the fine detail, that distance from a 50” monitor means you can not see everything on the screen at one time.
Programs I run at 900 or 1080; Final Cut Pro, photoshop (only when working fine detail on large res photos).
I don’t rate BluRay. It’s going to end up redundant.
I bought my external BluRay burner/player for $139.
In fact my suggestion is (if you can) get it without a dvd drive and install extra HD.I have a 1080 50” monitor running off my lappy, the only time I have it set over 720 is when running programs that insist on that screen res at min.
The rest of the time I have it set at 720. When on 1080 I find text is too small and I need to be with 1m to make out the fine detail, that distance from a 50” monitor means you can not see everything on the screen at one time.Programs I run at 900 or 1080; Final Cut Pro, photoshop (only when working fine detail on large res photos).
Time to get your eyes checked old man…
round 1 has started.
True that, Tj.
My vision is starting to respond to the effects of ageing - but recently at the eye test for my license I was amazed how easy it was to pass.
Unless it’s insanely expensive, I would go the higher spec laptop display if you will be using that screen a lot. If you’re spending most of your time connected to an external display, maybe don’t bother.
True that, Tj.
My vision is starting to respond to the effects of ageing - but recently at the eye test for my license I was amazed how easy it was to pass.
My house mate has had glasses since he was 4 and some of the strongest I have seen and can pass that test to drive without them…