reviewer
defskate311
Canandaigua, NY

Good, but not for the professional

3 star rating

value conscious, pc-user, Constantly Connected, constantly online, appreciative of good service, not rich, practical
Pros

    Nice Size, Overall Design

Cons
    Slow start up, Windows Vista operates slowly

NOV
17
2007

The Dell Inspiron 1721 is a great computer for the average home user who does not demand a lot from their laptop.  Checking email, fiddling with photos and watching movies are some of the features that have no effect on the perfrmance of this computer.  It is a great size (17 inches) - big enough to have multiple windows open at once.  The computer has a full keyboard (including number pad) which makes the transition from a desktop computer to a laptop much easier.

I would not reccommend this computer to anyone who works in Photoshop or does any gaming.  It just does not have enough juice to do these things. 

 If you are an average home user, this is a great deal from Dell.

Last edited on Oct 15, 2009



I_thumb_down Dell Inspiron 1721 Laptop is not recommended by defskate311

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I_comment_shdw24 Comments about defskate311’s Review

 


Commentator wrote on May 21, 2009 at 4:47PM

Another report based on painful personal experience.
I have tweaked Vista Ultimate on a 1721 for 14 odd months. It now has 4GB of RAM. It has run amazingly slowly from day 1. Can't play a 3MB MP3 without stuttering.
Required many upgrades to programs (MS Office etc), all of which perform worse than the versions they replaced. Windows Mobile Device Centre particularly disappointing cf ActiveSync.
Some people seem to have good experience. I'm with the others.
Is it the hardware, Vista, applications? I don't know, and don't have time to do unpaid research for Dell / Microsoft.
I retreated back to an 4 year old Inspiron 9300, running XP, which outclasses it in every way.
It's annoying that all this extra resource, and all that R&D, produced, for me, nothing more than a lemon, a giant backward step.
The solution will be XP, or something else that's not Vista.

twenty-four-seven wrote on Jun 5, 2008 at 12:07PM

Couldn't disagree more. What kind of professional are you any way? I have owned my 1721 since the fall of 2007 and it kicks the snot out of Apple's Macbook pro. (I had both) and said good bye to the Mac and it's funny OS. No the computer is not for games but heavy-duty CAD and Business Software works like a dream. I have mine setup to dual boot, either XP or Vista. Don't blame Dell for Microsoft's screw-ups. The 1721 is a GREAT computer if properly setup.

KJ0000 wrote on Mar 24, 2008 at 8:20AM

Hi,

I have this laptop and Vista runs VERY fast. It had been running slowly until I downloaded McAfee full suite and did scan and system cleaning under maintenance (also enabled full security feaqtures including firewall) and this thing screams even with Quickbooks Pro which is usually a beast.

KJ

ViewFromParadise wrote on Dec 5, 2007 at 11:05AM

Thanks for your great Review on the Dell but I have heard nothing but complaints on Windows Vista. Were you also using windows Browser MSIE v.7 ?
The primary gripe is VISTA stills has bugs and slows down ANY system it is installed on.
So I will be staying with Windows XP no matter what brand new computer I purchase

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