I'm thinking about buying the Dell Inspiron 1720.

Specs:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300-processor (2,0 GHz, 800 MHz, 4 MB L2-cache) Original Windows Vista™ Home Premium
LCD 17" WXGA+ (1440 x 900, TFT) TrueLifeâ„¢
2048 MB Dual Channel DDR2 667 MHz [2x1024]
160 GB SATA-harddisk (5.400)
nVidia® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT 256 MB DDR2

My only experience with Dell laptops comes from a Dell Inspiron 6400 which is quiet enough for me, but not with satisfactory specs... And it has neverr been really pushed to its limits since it belongs to my father-in-law

Does anybody have experiences or just an opinion about the specs and/or Dell laptops in general?

I have not been impressed with the two I used for a while -- but it's been a couple a years. Dell does noise testing of all its computers, and puts this info with environmental data on separate product sheets that are difficult to find. The general page is here:

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/glob ... =en&s=corp

You get there by clicking on About Dell / Commitment / Design for Environment / Product Data Sheets.

The second tab on that page has the notebook data sheets, but the ones for Ispiron 1720/1721 are missing. You should ask Dell for those sheets.

Here's the data sheet for another 17" model, the Vostro 1700. The acoustic data is at the top of the 2nd page.

But it doesn't really tell you much. The most important information is typical fan behavior during normal use, and also during extended high load. For that, you need someone who has used it while listening attentively (or being subjected unwillingly).

This generic cnet review is the only one that turned up at www.notebookreview.com, which is probably the best resource for notebook info.

That's a bit of luck I was looking at the Vostro 1700 which has a very nice spec/price ratio. Dunno how good, bad or ugly that data is compared to any other machine..but it's nice to know.

I'm looking to replace an HP nc6320 which is quiet enough (switched a Travelstar for a Samsung drive) but has a tendency to freeze.

I'm replying VERY late... you've probably already made the purchase by now.... anyway.

If the Inspiron 1720 is anything like the E1705 (also known as the 9400) the cooling system is decent, as is the fan control. i8kfangui is very likely supported.

It wont be quiet when gaming, but thats of near-zero importance to me. The fans should barely need to turn on for normal use... provided it has a 2-fan cooling system.

I had the opportunity to try out a few more dells at work, most had stellar temps... in particular an inspiron 1520 with integrated graphics (radeon 1270 or something) was able to stay around 49 degrees with the fans off.

Take note of the DDR2 ram on that GPU though, asus & others have DDR3, I think it makes a significant difference.

From what I've read the 1700/1720 have a single fan.

You're right.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/s ... #wp1179841

Both heat pipes lead to fins that are cooled by a single fan.