Mardi 27 octobre 2009
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/2009
10:41
When we last reviewed the Dell Inspiron E1505 (dell e1505 battery),
dell laptop Battery the notebook’s rich
multimedia features, wireless performance, and strong battery life garnered it an Editors’ Choice award. Now, Dell follows up the E1505 with the 1501 ($844, as tested here), a low-priced
alternative and the first Dell machine to house an AMD processor. It’s also Vista capable and Premium ready–something you’re not going to find with run-of-the-mill value notebooks. The 1501
(inspiron 1520 battery )gives you solid performance at a decent price, but what you gain in savings you lose in functionality.The inexpensive Dell Inspiron 1501 doesn’t have all the extra
media-centric features or quick-launch keys you’ll find on similarly priced notebooks from Acer and Hewlett-Packard. This $974 laptop does have other things going for it, however—namely,
respectable performance and a superb display.Decked out in silver, white, and dark gray, Inspiron 630m, Inspiron 640m, Y9943, RC107 Latitude D620, 312-0386, the Inspiron 1501 won’t be mistaken for
a business notebook, but its looks are suitably understated for the meeting room. The laptop measures 1.4×14×10.5 inches and weighs 6.2 pounds, straddling the line between travel companion and
stay-at-home desktop replacement. It has a sturdy build, too, and feels like it could take a few knocks.The 15.4-inch WXGA (1,280×800-resolution) display, which uses Dell’s contrast-improving
TrueLife technology, is definitely a highlight. Text was sharp, and DVDs and Vista’s Aero interface looked great. An integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 (dell d820 battery )adapter that shares up to
256MB of system memory powers the graphics. Casual gamers won’t be disappointed with this chip.The 1501 came configured with a six-cell battery, which enabled us to go unplugged for a solid 3 hours
and 16 minutes of life with Wi-Fi on, and an additional two minutes with the wireless connection off. Wireless throughput measured a robust 12.6 Mbps at 15 feet from our access point, and 13.2 Mbps
from 50. This is a slight improvement over the E1505’s measurements of 12 Mbps and 9.9 Mbps from the same distances.Despite the missing multimedia controls, the 1501 offers plenty of other ports
and jacks: four USB, VGA, headphone and microphone jacks, and a 3-in-1 memory card reader.
This is a step down from the E1505, which featured all of those connections plus S-Video, FireWire, a 5-in-1 card reader, and optional Bluetooth. You’ll also find an ExpressCard slot, but nothing
for a PCMost of the owners of Inspiron laptops criticize the design of their computers. Not surprisingly, most of the modified laptops are Inspirons e1505/1501 (dell b120 battery , dell b130
battery). In my opinion, designers were having an “off day” when they created those white bumpers. Maybe the most annoying thing about the design is that certain parts of the notebook do not
match others. Inspiron 630m For example, the keyboard, touchpad, and screen have a “keep-it-simple”
design (nothing shinny, nothing stylish) while the back of the lid makes a quite different impression.
Despite these style blemishes, the Dell Inspiron 1501 (dell latitude d620 battery )has some charm in its design.The overall build quality is quite good. The chassis feels sturdy, it does not
creak when lifted on any of the corners. Applying even a quite strong force on the back of the lid does not make ripples on the screen appear. The screen hinges are tough and keep LCD in place.
You will need to use both hands to open the lid. That said, there are places which deform when excessive pressure is applied, 312-0386 but this isn’t an issue. The one negative might be that the screen latch does not feel sturdy — it has a
“floating” feeling as you can both move it up/down and left/right — but it holds the screen perfectly well.A very nice feature is that you only need to remove two screws to access the memory
modules, WiFi card or HDD.
A little more effort is required to access the CPU (I was not that curious).Inspiron 630m, Inspiron 640m, Y9943, RC107 Latitude D620, 312-0386, Other budget notebooks we’ve seen have dedicated
media-player controls, independent buttons for switching off wireless radios, and a healthy assortment of input/output options, but the Inspiron 1501 falls very short in this area. If having
extras like these (and a few more configuration options) is important to you, we recommend stepping up to Dell’s Inspiron E1505 (dell xps m1530 battery). For a couple of hundred dollars more, you
get slightly improved specs and lots of extras. Most users, however, will be satisfied with the basic array of connectivity here: four USB 2.0 ports, mic and headphone jacks, a VGA monitor out,
an SD/MultiMediaCard slot, and Ethernet and modem ports. Also aboard are an ExpressCard slot and a double-layer DVD±RW drive.The keyboard function keys are marked with icons for easy access to
actions such as adjusting volume and screen brightness, switching to an external monitor, and turning on and off the built-in 802.11b/g wireless networking.Inspiron 640m The keyboard itself is a bit mushy for our tastes, as are the touch-pad buttons, though all are
a comfortable size. Speakers at the front of the notebook push (hp dv6000 battery) out clear, loud sound.Dell did a good job outfitting our review model with capable core hardware. Its dual-core
1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50 processor, aided by 2GB of DDR2 memory, turned in impressive results in our tests and certainly has enough pep to run Vista Home Premium. Battery life was comparable
with that of other notebooks in its class, which means it’ll get less than two hours on a full charge (1 hour and 41 minutes, to be exact).For storage, our test unit had a 60GB hard drive. Factor
in formatting, as well as the space taken up by the OS, its applications, miscellaneous software Dell includes, and the partitioned section for the built-in system restore, and you’re left with
only 40GB. The other notebooks in this roundup have the same problem, but because they have 120GB drives, plenty of room is still left over for files. If you’re not using the notebook as a
primary computer, you can get by with 40GB, but an extra $35 will buy you an upgrade to an 80GB drive.
Dell includes a standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty, as well as 24/7 tech support.Although the Dell Inspiron 1501 demonstrated stronger wireless performance than the Dell Inspiron E1505
(dell d400 battery)and has a lower price point, we can’t recommend the notebook over its far more functional predecessor. If you’re looking for a decent machine that won’t break the bank, it’s
worth a look. Just remember, you get exactly what you pay for.Anyone buying a PC from a well known manufacturer like Dell, HP or IBM hopes to get a good customer support. No surprise,Inspiron
630m, Inspiron 640m, Y9943, RC107 Latitude D620, 312-0386, Dell provides fast and pleasant-to-use support.RC107
I had to contact them about several minor questions and replies came back very fast.After several weeks I noticed that my laptop did not have a DVD-RW, it only had a DVD Combo. Since DVD-RW is a
necessity nowadays and the optical drive cannot be changed in this PC, I went directly to the retailer. They contacted a local Dell office and I got my refund in two days. Sadly, I had to buy a
new laptop or risk losing a tax refund from the government. Because they did not have any Dells left in stock, I had to go with another PC. ?
