Thursday, September 2, 2010

Dell Inspiron 1545 Laptop PC Review

Dell is one of the most popular computer brands worldwide, and a default choice for many shoppers. Located right in the middle of the company's lineup, the Dell Inspiron 1545 is one of the most versatile and affordable midrange laptops, offering configurations for as low as $379. We tried a configuration from Dell with a Core 2 Duo processor and 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon graphics, which cost $794, which is not far off from the cost of more fully featured multimedia machines.

The 1545's 15.6-inch widescreen represents the shift to the new 16-by-9 screen format, part of an industry-wide effort to conform to consumer television dimensions. You may not be getting more screen real estate than a comparable screen with a 16-by-10 ratio, but there's plenty of room to roam around. The ability to indulge in your digital hobbies such as photo editing, taking in a Netflix movie, or watching the latest YouTube video is a huge benefit of having a big screen. At this price, however, you're limited to a 1,366-by-768 resolution, which is consistent with systems like the Gateway MD7801u and HP dv6t. A higher resolution, like the one found in the Dell Studio XPS 16 battery (1,920-by-1,080), packs in more pixels for a better photo and movie experience.

Further Details below:
  • Name : Dell Inspiron 1545
  • Colours : Purple, Pink, Black, Aqua blue, Orange, Lime green
  • Memory : 3GB DDR2, which is plenty for home use, takes thousands of standard
  • size photographs and large files.
  • Battery life : around 4 to 4 and a half hours
  • Screen: 15.6 inches widescreen

The feature set is pretty cut and dried, and a bit below average. It lacks ports such as HDMI-Out (for video streaming) or FireWire, and the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard is not supported—just 802.11g. If you can look past these omissions, the Dell Inspiron 1545 battery has ample USB ports (3), a multi-card reader, a 2-megapixel webcam, and an ExpressCard slot for expansion devices. It comes with a dual-layer DVD burner for DVD playback and burning of most every disc format short of Blu-ray. Though you can't get this laptop with an internal Blu-ray reader from Staples, it can be added on for $150 if you buy this model on Dell's Web site. More importantly, the 320GB hard drive is very generous at this price and more than enough to store at least several years' worth of files.

With Intel core 2 duo GHZ or 2.4 GHZ power processor, it gives the extensive experience of what processing could be and with 15.6 HD Display True Life LCD for a optimum bright display. Dell has not enhanced its features specification in inspiron series – which are same as of XPS series, maybe Dell didn’t want to hurt its XPS range.

Dell Inspiron is loaded with 3GB Dual DDR2RAM while DVD burner gives it a life for watching movies and burning your important data on the DVD. Again, Here Dell Inspiron has missed the light Scribe technology that its competition HP is offering for laptops with same price tag. However, optionally you can get BlU-Ray or light scribe, which will definitely add value to its price.

Connectivity is also a little light-on, it consists of three USB ports, an Ethernet output, a headphone and microphone jack, a 34mm ExpressCard slot, a 7-in-1 card reader and a VGA video connector. For wireless, the Dell Inspiron 1545 sticks to 802.11g rather than its zippier 802.11n counterpart.

Compared to other notebooks in its price range, the Dell Inspiron 1545 is a very able performer. It comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 running at 2.1GHz, 3GB of DDR2 RAM (upgradable to 4GB) and a 320GB hard drive (5400 RPM). The only downside is an underpowered Intel GMA4500 graphics accelerator, but these are still impressive components for the asking price.

Thanks to Dell's decision to specify a 6600mAh Inspiron 1545 battery, longevity isn't one of the Inspiron 1545's greatest assets. Light use stretched to a mere 1hr 28mins, while heavy usage saw the Dell expire after just 45 minutes.

It's a shame the Dell doesn't acquit itself better, as in terms of looks and build quality it's rather promising. The chassis feels sturdy despite its modest 2.58kg weight, and the glossy blue and black colour scheme is attractive.

In terms of performance, our benchmarks found that - once we'd unloaded the usual Dell pre-installed clutter - the machine performed well, with the Core 2 Duo processor outperforming reference Dual Cores and also leaving AMD equivalents in the rear-view mirror. In the sub-£500 price bracket the Dell machine was steadfast, and we've found in recent times that the endurance of the company's machines is extremely impressive too.

We were pleased with both the service and the product that Dell delivered here. There's little to shift our thinking that the firm doesn't produce spectacular laptops, but when it comes to efficiency and reliability, it's hard to quibble with what Dell does provide.

As with many new budget notebooks, Dell is the latest in a few different colors, if purchased directly. Matt black is standard, but for more money, you can Micro Satin Blue, Red or Pacific High Gloss Blue Lid. Not exactly a lot of choices, especially in view of Dell usually productive adaptation options, but the choice is better than none. While not quite as bad as piano black fingerprints to show it is still a regular attention, and there is no material available.Opening of the 9 cell Dell Inspiron 1545 battery is even worse because in addition to the pages of the notebook, keyboard and touchpad all visible inch glossy black. During this shiny surface looks attractive, each time you make or use the touchpad on your notebook stripes and prints. After only one day in office, the 1545 looked like it was the meeting for a week.

The glossiness doesn't end there, there's more on the inside as well. It is quite the stripped-down minimalist look. Only the keyboard, speaker grille and mousepad (which looks very integrated into laptop itself) break up the look. Sadly, for the money, the laptop doesn't include a webcam (it costs an extra £30 if you buy direct from Dell).

The build quality does not scream budget at all it has to be said. Where the cut back have been made to get this on budget are the connectivity options. While there is a 34mm ExpressCard slot, there is not the 54mm version, imiting upgrade options. But there is headphone and microphone jacks, an Ethernet port, three USB ports and a VGA-out. Some netbooks (such as the Asus N10J) even manage to fit in an HDMI port, whereas this Dell didn't).

1 comment:

  1. Mine just died at the end of 2015. Lots of use out of it. Good 'puter. :)

    ReplyDelete