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Dell 17R 17in Laptop $899, 1080p Screen, NVIDIA GDDR5 2GB 650m, 3rd Gen i7, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD

770
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I know this one comes up every now and again with similar specs and around this price, but thought I would post in case someone was interested. Similar to timmysbiscuits deal - but this one comes with an i7 instead of an i5, and a BluRay drive. Previous deal was here http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/98994

Overall, this is a fantastic deal - particularly if you need one now. The only issue with Dell that their support is like swimming in molasses … and I would recommend the extra $69+ for onsite support, and possibly an SSD to boot ;)

Info from Dell website:

Processor: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM processor (6M Cache, up to 3.4 GHz)

Operating System: Windows 8, English (64bit)

Memory: 8GB 2 DIMM (4GB x2) DDR3 1600Mhz

Hard Drive: 1.0TB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

Display: 17.3" FHD WLED Anti-Glare (1920x1080)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GDDR5 2GB

Optical Drive: 12.7" Tray Load Blu-ray (BD) Combo Drive (BD Read Only)

Wireless: Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230, 802.11b/g/n + Bluetooth v4.0

Security Software: McAfee® Security Center™ (Multi-Language) - 12 Months Version

Primary Battery: 6-cell Lithium Ion (48WHr) Battery

Warranty: 1Yr Carry-In Service after Remote Diagnosis

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closed Comments

  • +2

    What's this - webcam?
    "Integrated 1.0 mega pixel widescreen HD (1280 x 720)"

    • +1

      Yes, many laptops have these now. You can just see it in the image, a little black square above the screen.

      EDIT: You can see it better on this page.

      • +1

        Thanks. It's from the summary page, doesn't say "webcam", so I was a bit confused.

    • Yes that's so the NSA/Prism can record lots of nice video of you.

  • +7

    "to boot" I see what u did there. +.

    • +1

      I dint get ti?

      • Here's a hopefully simple explanation:

        SSD, or solid state drives, have a MUCH faster reading speed than optical disk drives.

        Basically, if you install your operating system (Windows or Linux) on your SSD, when you power on your computer it takes a lot less time to prepare your computer for use when compared to a Optical Disk Drive.

  • -4

    Got this laptop 40 weeks ago for $1100(but with windows 7 and only 6GB RAM).

    Excellent computer but you might want to spend the extra $25 for 3 years of McAfee Security Software coz it does the job & having to pay ~$100 for a years subscription after a year is a pain.

    • +19

      Why McAfee? Never heard of avg or windows defender? You will need to spend $0..

      • my personal preference is avast or avg :)

      • +11

        I know everyones gonna hate on me for saying this but I'm a fan of Microsoft Security Essentials. I've never got a virus that I KNOW of that and Windows Defender and Windows Firewall seem to do the job for me. Of course I don't go to dodgy sites or download applications on a whim so who's to say I need to be defended.

        • If you have all your security updates its very hard to get any malware these days, most things require administrative privileges so you would have to be installing something silly yourself

      • +3

        NOD32 fanboi reporting in

      • +2

        AVG is pretty bloated now too

    • +2

      ppl spend time to uninstall mcafee the moment they get a new laptop, time that mcafee will never compensate for

      this is like paying to suffer :D

    • +3

      McAfee is a virus dude, worst antivirus software by far. Just get windows defender/ Microsoft security essentials

  • A question for the more tech-savvy: would this laptop be powerful enough to run the more recent games on higher settings? Battlefield 3 and Crysis 3, for example.

    • +3

      Here are some numbers… generally 30FPS minimum is what you're looking for. Anything under 30 fps is generally too laggy for a shooter genre.

      Crysis 3
      low:
      51.3 fps
      med.:
      32.6 fps
      high:
      21.9 fps
      ultra:
      8.4 fps

      Battlefield3
      low:
      ~ 63 fps
      med.:
      42 fps
      high:
      33 fps
      ultra:
      15 fps

      • Mind you, I've heard that Battlefield 3 on low quality is still prettying amazing.
        SO running it on medium at 42 fps should be good enough :)

        • 42 fps is fairly acceptible by my standards although that framerate may dip well below 30's in certain situations. Those numbers are averages not minimums.

    • +1

      The graphics card is good enough to run the above games on low/med settings @ 1080P however newer games such as BF4 will lag also with the new consoles (PS4, XBOX1) expect PC games to also raise hardware requirements, would be looking at a 670m or higher

    • +2

      If you want a laptop that has better GPU/CPU for gaming, try the Horize that was on the front page a day ago.
      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/106669

      It features a GTX765M upgrade option, which makes it one of the fastest gaming notebooks around.

    • the balancing on screen reso/size vs gpu quality is a bit off on this model, hence the price down

      you could always force everything to 720p and that should ease up the stress on the gpu but it won't look 'good' since it's 17", and it's really easy to see the lower res textures being that close to the screen, again depends on the fussiness on certain gamers.

      honestly with $900, i'd built a desktop that is at least able to take some grunt on the incoming ps 4 quality games (a bit of future proofing), best to save it till AMD launches true HSA pc systems

      http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Xbox-PlayStation-Jaguar-Kav…

      better yet, 400 bucks on ps 4 and the rest on sub $500 laptop

  • If I buy this and leave Australia next month would I be able to get the GST back under the tourist refund scheme?

    • Yes if its within 30 days of departure.

      • +3

        I thought it was increased to 60 days?

        Edit: Yep, just checked, as of 17th of April 2013 it was upped to 60 days (http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4646.asp)

        • Thanks for that 60 days makes it easier.

        • 60 days but must be $300 within the same store in one or multiple purchases on multiple dates and diff branches is fine

          but that 300/store policy is annoying me :|

        • Nice! I wasn't aware of that change. Thanks!

          Note - bringing the goods back - you're "meant" to declare it on the way back in to Australia if it's over the General Goods duty free allowance ($900), eg if you've added accessories when you buy it initially, OR buy extra electronic stuff overseas, you potentially have to pay back the GST. (Clothes and personal stuff is exempt)Of course, it's pretty easy to not declare, and i've even heard of people declaring and they didn't have to pay (eg, a friend on a 2grand camera)

          http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4646.asp#e1164
          http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4352.asp

    • If it is within the time limit (30 days?) and you take it with you. You must show the tax guys the unit on the way out and they will check the serial number.

      You can use it during the 30 days.

  • +1

    Thanks Op. Can't find info if this notebook has HDMI and displayports? Will this support an external monitor? Anyway I can run 2 external monitor via HDMI/mini display ports off this laptop?

  • Might want to add that this is for the "special edition" version of the Dell Inspiron 17R.

    The normal edition doesn't have a 1080p screen or a blu-ray drive, has slightly different CPU & GPU.
    Normal edition = 1600 x 900 17.3inch screen, DVD drive, i7-3537U (4M Cache, up to 3.1 GHz) & AMD Radeon™ HD 8730M 2GB

    Also note that there is a more expensive 17R Specical Edition for $1299 that has a 3D 1080p screen and 2x 1TB HDD

  • "Your Estimated Delivery Date for this order is on or before 2013-07-02"
    Seriously, 2 weeks??

  • +5

    definitely pay for the onsite service if you can afford it.

    • +4

      wow I cannot believe people are giving me negative votes based on some sound advice from somebody who works there. next time I won't bother and you can find out why the hard way

      • +1

        Don't worry dude, you're right. People online seem to hate Dell.

        • +1

          I see what you mean.

        • Thanks dlakers3peat.

          I appreciate your comments. It makes no difference to you if people don't - but also, you have been honest enough to flag yourself as a rep.

          The one time I needed Dell support, someone came out. They misdisagnosed the system (which was ok, the fault was intermittent). The next day they were back and fixed the system (by replacing the remaining parts ;).

          The onsite support is worth its weight in gold if something goes wrong.

          What made me laugh was the woman at Dell said "have you re-installed Windows?". I replied "it's crashing when i'm in the BIOS". "Yes sir, but have you re-installed Windows?". At that point, I insisted I spoke to someone that actually knew something about computers. To this day, if I call Dell and tell them my name, they immediately put me onto someone else - who is usually quite competent.

      • don't worry mate. I hate ozbargainers who complain when people put up deals etc and they criticise every part of the deal its ok to point to other deals with better offers etc however some of these tight asses are rude. just remember there are plenty of other people who read and appreciate those deals.

    • The only reason you wouldn't get the online warranty is if you happen to know how to fix a proprietary motherboard with no user friendly way of replacing dead parts other than dismantling other laptops of the same model which have different parts that are faulty in order to make one working laptop. Of course those parts would cost ~2-3 times the average price of a normal motherboard, daughter board, keyboard, palm rest, etc. But other than that yeah you can fix it yourself!

    • -1

      people here would know how to fix it or get if fixed for free

  • +2

    holy crap, this is WAY better than the 17" dell I got at the xmas sale and it's only $100 more.

    A word of caution to anyone thinking about buying it, buying accessories (bags, tables / trays etc.) for 17" laptops is a nightmare. Prepare to do a buttload of shopping around just to find something half decent & then prepare to pay through the ass.

    • +1

      You're talking about the Vostro right? Keep in mind that six months is a long time in the world of computing.

  • great laptop, i paid $999 couple months ago, everything's great except weight…

  • really needs a 65+ watt / 9 cell battery !

  • Anybody know if this is usb 2.0 or usb 3.0? and how many? cant seem to find on the website. Also does this have HDMI? thanks

    • +2

      I have the 15r special edition, it has four usb3.0 and one HDMI, I think this 17r is same.

      • Thank you very much, just cant seem to find the above info on the website

  • Can't believe Dell still sell laptops with only 10/100 mbps Ethernet ports. I'm mean how much extra would it cost to have gigabit?

    • Zero, considering HM76 chipset offers intel integrated gigabit networking.

  • +2

    5400RPM is sloooooooooooooooow. I bought a Lenovo Edge off this site, first thing I did is slap in an mSATA SSD. Seriously, a slow HDD will drive you up the wall. And seriously, Dell is retarded, its not even 7200RPM for near a $1K, and no Gigabit.

  • +1

    I own several Dell laptops, all of them overheat. Take a look at this http://www.insidemylaptop.com/disassemble-dell-inspiron-17r-… vs http://ifixit.org/4240/microsoft-surface-pro-teardown/. See the two fans? That will keep your PC from randomly shutting down due to overheating and keep the computer quieter.

  • Did anyone get a order confirmation when you placed the order? I placed the order yesterday but I did not receive a order confirmation. And when I try to sign in today into my account it says my email doesnt exist?????

    • I got order confirmation yesterday and my card was charged.

  • I must say, the specs are awesome if you don't mind the weight.

  • Hi can win 7 be installed on this machine. I mean are drivers available because i bought a Toshiba touch screen with windows 8 and was told by salesman in dick smith i could install win 7 on it. But when i got home there are no win 7 drivers available for it and im stuck with it. And would one of those cheap dvd hdd caddies fit this.

    • Windows 7 (and 8) 64-bit drivers are available online…
      http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/au/en/audhs1/Pro…

      Furthermore, you can probably install Windows 7 on the Toshiba, but you won't be able to use the Touch features which are part of Windows 8. Search for drivers on the Toshiba support site.

      • Ok good when i looked a few months ago there were only win 8 drivers for the toshiba on there website but now they have win 7 as well good one.

  • +2

    I purchased this laptop about a year ago and it's rocking along solidly. I'm happy to answer any questions people have!

    • Hi thanks :-)

      Can I output to two monitors?

      • +1

        Hi drexxx, sorry I'm not sure if this is possible. I'm not tech savvy enough to test unfortunately, is there's certain things I can do to find out, let me know and I'll get back to you. Sorry!!

      • +1

        It has VGA and HDMI so I believe you can output to those two at the same time although have not tried it on mine (I just use 1 external via HDMI). Im not 100% sure if you can still keep the inbuilt screen on whilst outputting to the other two though.

        This thread may help http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/…

  • +2

    Thanks for this!

    Picked one up for the other half. Graphic designer using Mac now moving to Windows, let's see how she likes it :)

  • +1

    Received mine today. Runs Diablo 3 on max settings, doesn't overheat. Great laptop!

    • awesome! Thanks for the feedback

  • Anyone know how often this deal appears?

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