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djbutta

5 Posts

24470

April 3rd, 2005 05:00

Problem viewing images/graphics on i9300 and IE 6.0--- please HELP!!!

I hope someone can help me a problem with my brand new Inspiron 9300. My frustration is growing with each 1 hour that Dell Support puts me on hold and transfers me to another department.  They actually want to charge me a $40 service fee to help fix a “software” problem…but I just took it out of the box! Ridiculous…I’m close to send it back.

Problem: The jpegs/graphics on Internet Explorer 6.0 are pixilated/jaggy.  From simple jpegs on yahoo.com to the Dell logo and menu headers on dell.com, the graphics don’t come out clear.  The problem is isolated to the web browsing.  I have saved jpegs off these websites and opened them in Windows Picture viewer, and they are clear. 

Solutions that I have tried:

1) Adjusted the DPI setting. Out of the box the setting was at 120 DPI (125%). I’ve tried 96 DPI and 144 DPI, but no difference on the jpegs/graphics. Only makes the fonts, icons, and viewing area on IE 6.0 smaller. The 144 DPI (150%) is the setting that I prefer.

2) Changing screen resolution.  Default at 1920x1200.  Tried all other resolutions, but no solution.

3) Per Dell Support, I followed the follow IE repair link: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1070215&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04; 

Did sfc /scannow; no help here

Did In-place upgrade of Windows XP (reinstall); again no change.

Tried following the Edit Registry and Install IE 6.0, but when running the .exe, it tells me that I already have the latest IE installed (??).  Unable to (re)install IE 6.0…

4) Edit the IE registry, per a Dell Forum suggestion at http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_video&message.id=74666; 

"How to change the registry"
1. Click Start > Run
2. In the Run dialog, type regedit
3. In the Registy editor, click Edit > Find
4. In the Find dialog, type UseHR and click Find Next
5. Change the value of UseHR from 1 to 0.

Pictures are crystal clear, but the fonts and images are SO small, I need a magnify glass. Increasing the DPI to 200% doesn’t help at all.  

I have downloaded Netscape 8.0, the pictures are clear, similar to #4. But I didn’t spend $1900 on a full-loaded laptop to view miniature images and read 4 point font on websites.

I have read some postings about the hi-res screens and incompatibilities with IE, but those postings were 2+ years old. Has this problem been fixed? Is the i9300 not made for internet browsing?? Why would Dell sell a laptop that can’t view the internet properly? Is there a IE fix to this? Is there another browser that works?

Thanks in advance for the help, and hopefully I can keep my sanity.

Wayne

Inspiron 9300 Pentium M 740

17” True Life Wide Screen UXGA

256MB NVIDIA 6800

Windows XP Professional 1 GB

DDR2, 533MHz 2Dimm

iteminspace

8 Posts

April 5th, 2005 21:00

djbutta, this doesn't happen to me at all.  I just increased by 2 levels to quite large and NO overlapping occurs.  Note that I run 120 DPI.
 
I am a little concerned about your registry changes though as that might have contributed to the odd behavior.  I believe that the 9300 and XPS Gen2 are basically identical with a few exceptions.  Obviously the video driver might make a difference but as we had the exact same problems at the start, my guess is that your current problems stem from the registry.

ChandlerL

44 Posts

April 6th, 2005 17:00

Djbutta and all:
 
It's all about the DPI setting. 120dpi has been a broken "feature" dating back to Windows 98 all the way up through Windows XP/2003. The bottom line is the GDI does not appropriately scale graphics on dpi's higher than 96. Microsoft has been quoted as promising to fix it once and for all (along with all other custom dpi settings) with the release of Longhorn. Hallelujah. Truth is that due to the way Longhorn handles graphics using 3D card's ability to Transform polys, the problem sells itself. The issue with Windows XP and below is that in order for applications to work with custom dpi's, the application has to be specifically written that way. Otherwise strange things happen (windows don't resize properly, IE runs home to momma with JPEG sizing, text falls out of windows, missing click boxes, pixelated graphics, ad nauseum.)
 
Do the following.. Click on your QUICKSET icon in your system tray, Icons and Toolbars then pick NORMAL. Your DELL will "do stuff."
 
Then, change your DPI from 120dpi to 96dpi.
 
REBOOT.
 
Then at the smaller and Windows supported 96dpi, use the QUICKSET icon to alter your text size to whatever you like leaving the dpi forever at 96dpi. The problem with IE should be gone. DELL should have left the setting at 96dpi. They did a smart thing with the QuickSet functionality in that you don't need to have 120dpi in order to increase your textsize to a readable level. Given that, I'm confused as to why they ship their notebooks set to the broken 120dpi. :smileyindifferent:
 
Cheers.
 
-Chan
 
P.S. I tested this on my own XPS Gen 2 trying to cause the problem you described. I changed my dpi back to the factory 120 and sure enough, IE was showing JPEG's in the jaggy way you described. I followed my own instructions and the problem went away.
 
P.P.S. If you want to get a little wild and simply NEED your 120dpi setting-- which I understand-- with resolutions getting obscene, higher DPI's should be in our present, not our future. dpi's upwards of 200 and greater should be the norm if it wasn't for the OS issue. Soooo...
 
Go in your registry to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
 
Look for an entry called "UseHR"-- it's probably set to DWORD 1. It's telling IE to scale the display. All well and good if it worked. Try setting it to 0 (and rebooting). See if you can maintain your 120dpi (if you're married to it) and have the IE browser images look good 'n' proper. Haven't tested this though.
 

Message Edited by ChandlerL on 04-06-2005 02:19 PM

Message Edited by ChandlerL on 04-06-2005 02:20 PM

Message Edited by ChandlerL on 04-06-2005 02:28 PM

djbutta

5 Posts

April 9th, 2005 01:00

Perhaps i9300 is different. I have tried everything from this post and others. But I have been unable to find a happy medium. I either get good graphics with too small font (and the browser only less than half the browser), or good sized font and viewability but jaggy graphics.
 
I've returned the i9300, and have begun researching for a new laptop.  Thanks for all the help.
 
Any suggestions on what I should get? I want a laptop that can replace my desktop. But I do occasionally play games that may need a higher end video card.
 
Thanks.

iteminspace

8 Posts

April 9th, 2005 01:00

ChandlerL,
 
I tried the registry fix:
 
"Look for an entry called "UseHR"-- it's probably set to DWORD 1. It's telling IE to scale the display. All well and good if it worked. Try setting it to 0 (and rebooting). See if you can maintain your 120dpi (if you're married to it) and have the IE browser images look good 'n' proper. Haven't tested this though."
 
Worked beautifully.  Though I will not go back to IE, IE now looks just fine with 120DPI.
 
Thanks for your help.
 
 

ChandlerL

44 Posts

April 12th, 2005 14:00

I've heard good things about Sager as an alternative to the boutique brands (Alienware, Voodoo) and the tier 1 (DELL, etc.).
 
 
They have a model with a 15.4" screen with a resolution that isn't so obscene. ;)

jeffcmfrt

831 Posts

April 12th, 2005 15:00

I was considering a 9300 or XPS gen 2.I own a XPS gen 1 with the WUXGA which replaced my desktop and the regestry fix and above mentioned fixes have worked on my machine.And i would like to make the upgrade but im skeptical on making the upgrade because it drove me nuts with the awful display and consumed a lot of time to finally get my display fixed .And i don't want to go through the fixes im aware of and it not work on the 9300 or XPS gen 2 because it took me longer then the 21 day returne to finally fix my display on my XPS gen 1.And at this point i won't spend a couple of thousand bucks on a laptop that i might be able to get a good display and might not.This is unexceptable to me as a consumer and dell needs to step up and adress this for the price we pay for theese highend laptops the display should be perfect right out of the box in my opinion.I like dell products but like i said i refuse to spend that kind of money and not be able to get a good display so for now i guess ill hang on to my XPS gen 1 untill this display issue is resolved.And if it takes too long i can see me switching to another brand i have been a loyal dell owner i have owned 3 dell laptops if dell doesn't corect this i can see myself owing another brand in the near future.

Inspiron XPS
3.4 H/T processor
1 gig ram
256 ddr ati 9800
15.4 wide aspect ultra sharp
wuxga(1920x1200) display
Operating system windows xp home
Service pk 2
Logitech MX750 wireless mouse
Nostromo n52 gamepad

 

 

 

iteminspace

8 Posts

April 12th, 2005 17:00

I love the display.  It is one of the big reasons why I bought this laptop.  No complaints about it whatsoever.  The issue here relates to a Windows implementation in particular an IE implementation.  It has nothing to do with Dell with the possible exception that they should apply the registry fix posted by ChandlerL.
 
"
Go in your registry to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
 
Look for an entry called "UseHR"-- it's probably set to DWORD 1. It's telling IE to scale the display. All well and good if it worked. Try setting it to 0 (and rebooting). See if you can maintain your 120dpi (if you're married to it) and have the IE browser images look good 'n' proper. Haven't tested this though."
 
If I could have found an AMD Turion based laptop with a similar screen I would have bought that one in a flash as I much prefer AMDs processors for their better performance and 64 bit capabilities.  However, there are no high-end Turions on the market yet.
 

DELL-Cares

Moderator

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25.1K Posts

August 16th, 2021 05:00

Hi there, We want to make sure your system is working fine and hence following up. Having said that, we do not want to disturb you with numerous messages. We will wait to hear from you to continue the conversation.

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