Dell Vostro 1520 Laptop Computer Review

The Dell Vostro 1520 is a laptop sold by Dell that is designed for small businesses. It has a thin design, 15.4" display, and a glossy black finish. If you're familiar with the Vostro 1510, this is the update. This update includes a wide variety of processor configurations, ranging from a 2.1 GHz Core 2 Duo T6670 to 7200RPM.

 

The Vostro 1520 includes the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Intel’s GMA X4500MHD integrated GPU or the NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS 256MB dedicated video card, up to 8GB of DDR2 memory, up to 250GB of hard drive space or a 128MB solid state drive, and a DVD-ROM, Combo drive, or a DVD burner.

 

The Vostro 1520 battery has a dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover thing going on, because although the form isnt working for most people, functionality is definitely good. The Windows Experience Index rating is 4.3 out of 7.0, which is quite good for laptops of its kind. Although its a laptop, I think it can replace desktop computers as it is good with performing everyday office tasks. The 15-inch screen is convenient and comfortable, and the connectivity ports allow its user to work and get it connected in any way he or she wants.

 

The high end model comes with Windows Vista Business and features 802.11a/g/n WLAN, an integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam and digital microphone, 250GB SATA hard drive with free fall sensor, 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM and a 2.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6670 processor.

 

As already mentioned, the Dell Vostro 1520 lets you choose from different configurations. If you have a tight budget, then you may opt for an Intel Celeron 900 processor and a hard drive of 160GB SATA. If you prefer something faster then why not have an racy Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 2.66 GHz with a fast 128 GB Solid State Drive. If that’s not enough, you have an Nvidia 9300 graphics card. Of course, with the upgrades come increases in weight. So think carefully what it is you really want on a Dell Vostro series laptop.

 

Details:

• Brand: DELL
• Model: Vostro 1520 (464-2008 - 58976P)
• Part#: 464-2008 - 58976P
• Color: Black
• Operating System: Windows Vista Business / XP Professional downgrade
• CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T6670 2.2G
• Screen: 15.4" WXGA
• Memory Size: 3GB DDR2
• Hard Disk: 250GB
• Optical Drive: Dual Layer DVD Burner
• Graphics Card: Intel GMA 4500MHD
• Video Memory: Shared memory
• Card slot: 1 x Express Card
• Dimensions: 13.05" x 10.15" x 1.03" - 1.49"
• Weight: 5.58 lbs.
• CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo
• CPU Speed: T6670(2.20GHz)
• CPU FSB: 800MHz
• CPU L2 Cache: 2MB
• Screen Size: 15.4"
• Wide Screen Support: Yes
• Display Type: Wide XGA
• Resolution: 1280 x 800
• Operating System: Windows Vista Business / XP Professional downgrade
• GPU/VPU: Intel GMA 4500MHD
• Video Memory: Shared system memory
• Graphic Type: Integrated Card
• HDD: 250GB
• HDD RPM: 7200rpm
• HDD Interface: SATA
• Memory: 3GB
• Memory Speed: DDR2 800
• Memory Spec: 2GB x 1+1GB x 1
• Memory Type: 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM
• Memory Slot (Total): 2
• Memory Slot (Available): 0
• Optical Drive Type: Dual layer DVD Burner
• Optical Drive Interface: Integrated
• Optical Drive Spec: Tray Load 8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+/-R write capability
• LAN: 10/100/1000Mbps
• WLAN: 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
• Card Slot: 1 x Express Card /54 slot
• USB: 4
• IEEE 1394: 1
• Video Port: 1 x VGA
• Audio Ports: Yes
• Audio: Integrated Sound card
• Speaker: Internal Speakers
• Touchpad: Touch Pad with two buttons
• Keyboard: Full-Size Sealed Keyboard
• Card Reader: 8-in-1
• Battery: 6-cell lithium ion
• Dimensions: 13.05" x 10.15" x 1.03" - 1.49"
• Weight: 5.58 lbs

The Dell Vostro 1520 features a 15.4 inch WXGA anti glare LED widescreen with an impressive resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The elegant note book is designed in great style and demonstrates a ultra sleek look. The mid-end business laptop is loaded with advanced technology and flaunts about its multimedia features such as 8X DVD +/-RW, Blu-Ray Disc, 2 speakers, and an integrated 1.3 Mega pixel camera with single digital microphone. The gaming and computing experience becomes scintillating with a built in 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS Graphic Card. Parading of its connectivity options like wi-fi, bluetooth, 4 USB 2.0 ports, and a 8-in-1 media memory card reader; the exquisite note book external memory could well be expanded up to 320 gb. Weighing just about 2.4kg, the Dell Vostro 1520 battery is steered by Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9550 and operates on genuine windows professional.

 

The keyboard is a bit too noisy, especially if you're a two-finger typist. And if you plan on giving presentations, note that the only video port is a VGA connector, which won't be compatible with some newer monitors or projectors that may have only a digital DVI or HDMI video input.

 

The hinges are well proportioned, but there are small sways of the screen when you change the angle of the same from the base. The screen, however, is stable at every turn, the notebook can be opened up to almost 180 degrees. When approached at the corner of the lid is closed, it closes automatically. Given the lack of a locking system, which would prevent the undesired opening of the screen, during transport should be careful not to allow any object to be stranded between the keyboard and the screen to avoid unpleasant surprises.

 

Under the hood, the Dell Vostro 1520 has an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 CPU, which runs at 2.4GHz. It supplies enough grunt for everyday office applications. This was shown in our WorldBench 6 benchmark where it scored 96, which is almost as good as a laptop with a 2.53GHz CPU. It's also powerful enough to run 3D rendering programs (it recorded a relatively zippy 1min 15sec in Blender 3D) as well as encoding tasks (it took 1min 10sec to encode 53min worth of WAV files to 192Kbps MP3s in iTunes). You also get 2GB of DDR2 RAM, integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics and a 250GB, 5400rpm hard drive (Seagate ST9250424ASG). The hard drive can be encrypted with the supplied software from EMBASSY systems, which works in conjunction with the trusted platform module (TPM) in the BIOS (this feature can also be found in the Dell Vostro 1720).

 

The Vostro 1520 has a decent range of ports. Four USB ports is certainly enough, FireWire is good to have and other than that everything is pretty standard as far as what’s included. The web camera and fingerprint reader are optional. For students the web camera would be a nice option to get ($40 upgrade), I’m not so sure the fingerprint reader is necessary unless you like to have that for easier logins. Missing is any type of higher resolution display output such as HDMI, DVI or even S-Video. If you don’t plan on giving presentations or using a large external LCD screen this won’t be a problem. Blu-Ray was an option on the 1520 battery at the time of my purchase, but without a method for hi-def output and no hi-def screen option this would be a wasted (and expensive) selection.

 

Performance wise the Dell Vostro 1520 initially comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 2.1 GHz which is a dual core processor as the name indicate and is quite good at performance, but in case of some need of even higher performance the dell Vostro 1520 do have options to be upgraded up to Intel Core™2 Duo Processor T9550 2.6GHz. Thus provides flexibility to users.

 

The Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M HD is great for general office use and even some multimedia programs. All of the word processing and spreadsheets applications run smoothly with this card. However, if you expect to use a great deal of multimedia applications, you may want to upgrade to a dedicated graphics card, such as the nVidia GeForce 9300MGS.

 

The Vostro family does a pretty good job of this, borrowing carefully from both modes of life. The keyboard is flanked by speakers and topped by a strip of back-lit, touch-sensitive buttons for multimedia playback, while the notebook's clean, if somewhat stolid, lines lend a professional air.

 

This is the Core Duo and Core Solo successor with a longer pipeline and 5-20% more speed without more power consumption. As an addition to the Core Duo design there exists a fourth decoder, an amplified SSE-unit and an additional arithmetical logical unit (ALU).

 

The Core 2 Duo for laptops is identical to the desktop Core 2 Duo processors but the notebook-processors work with lower voltages (0.95 to 1188 Volt) and a lower Frontside bus clock (1066 vs 667 MHz). The performance of equally clocked notebooks is 20-25% lower than Desktop PCs because of the lower Frontside bus clock and the slower hard disks.

 

Overall, as you can probably tell from this Dell Vostro 1520 review, it is a good laptop, and it serves its purpose as an office computer well. Even if your business keeps you on the run a lot, this laptop is fairly portable. You can do everything from photo manipulation to creating spreadsheets on this computer. You can also surf the web, check email, and run multimedia applications. When you’re away from your office, the battery life will keep the laptop running for a good amount of time.