Kodak EasyShare at Best Buy $99.99
Entered CNET Catalog: 06/01/2006
SKU: CNETDellInspironE1505-2GHz-2GBRAM
Manufacturer: Dell, Inc.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/02/2006
Measuring about 14 inches wide, 10.5 inches deep, and 1.5 inches thick, and weighing 6.9 pounds (or 8.2 pounds, with its considerable AC power brick), the Inspiron E1505 is too large and heavy for regular travel. Skirting the line between desktop replacement, it joins the legion of other low-priced 15.4-inch wide-screen laptops on the market, including the Gateway NX500X and the aforementioned HP models.
The Inspiron E1505's 15.4-inch wide-screen display can be configured with one of two native resolutions, XGA or the finer SXGA+, and either a glossy TrueLife or standard, nonglossy finish. We prefer the finer resolution, which affords more screen real estate, but if you have bad eyesight, the lower resolution will make text and graphics appear larger, though less detailed. The glossy finish makes the display look brighter but also gives off a distracting glare in sunny or well-lit environments. Our glossy, SXGA+ test unit delivered a solid score of 160cd/m² on our Minolta luminance meter, which tests a display's maximum brightness. The Inspiron E1505's keyboard is adequate, and the touch pad and two mouse buttons are nice and big, though they don't afford a great amount of tactile feedback.
The Inspiron E1505 offers a standard array of ports and connections that should fulfill the needs of most basic users. The offering is virtually identical to what you'll find on the Pavilion dv4000, except that the Inspiron E1505 lacks a Type II PC Card slot (inconsequential, unless you already have a bunch of PC Cards) and has a media card reader that supports one additional format (SmartMedia). One of the very best things about the Inspiron E1505 is the set of seven handy multimedia buttons that sit smack in the middle of its front edge, which makes it easy to control music and movies, even when the lid is shut; no other vendor offers controls as simple and as good. Also onboard is Dell's MediaDirect software, which can play CDs and DVDs and access other digital media on the hard drive whether or not Windows is booted. The two speakers placed along the front edge deliver sound that's crisp and clear but lacking in bass.
Our top-of-the-line $2,300 Inspiron E1505 came preloaded with Windows XP Media Center Edition and a premium set of components, including a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, 2GB of DDR2 RAM (2 DIMM), a midrange ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 GPU with 256MB of video RAM, a big 120GB 5,400rpm hard drive, a dual-layer DVD burner, and a three-year warranty. Interestingly, in CNET Labs' tests, our Inspiron E1505 delivered performance that wasn't that much faster than a number of less expensive, somewhat less well-configured laptops, including the Lenovo 3000 N100, the Toshiba Satellite P105-S921, and Dell's own Latitude D520; we're skeptical that the Inspiron E1505's premium configuration is worth the investment.
That said, the Inspiron E1505's base configuration, which should do the trick for basic home users who just want to surf the Web and send e-mail, starts at about $700 and includes a decent lineup: a 1.66GHz Intel Core Solo T1300 processor; integrated Intel graphics; Windows XP Media Center; 512MB of RAM; a 60GB 5,400rpm hard drive; a multiformat DVD burner; 802.11a/g wireless; and a six-cell battery. We'd advise more ambitious users to shell out the $150 or so for the higher resolution display, a 100GB drive, and 1GB of RAM.
With a big, nine-cell battery (an $80 upgrade), our Inspiron E1505 fared well in our drain tests, lasting just short of 5 hours; still, battery life shouldn't be a huge consideration for a laptop that's not particularly portable.
Dell backs the Inspiron E1505 with an industry-standard one-year, mail-in warranty on parts and labor; upgrading to three years of warranty protection costs less than $200, which is a solid value. Toll-free telephone support lasts for just a year. The best part of Dell's support Web site is the customer forum, where users can go to get help from other Inspiron owners and Dell reps who moderate the discussions. Otherwise, the site offers the typical knowledge base and download sections.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
BAPCo SysMark 2004 rating | |
SysMark 2004 Internet content creation | |
SysMark 2004 office productivity |
In minutes (longer bars indicate longer battery life)
|
BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery-life minutes |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
BAPCo MobileMark 2002 performance rating |
Find out more about how we test Windows laptops.
System configurations:
Dell Inspiron E1505
Windows XP Media Center; 2GHz Intel Pentium M-T2500-2GHz; 2GB PC5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon x1400 256MB; Samsung HM120JI 120GB 5,400rpm
Dell Latitude D520
Windows XP Pro; 1.66GHz CD-T2300-1.66GHz; 512MB PC4300 DDR SDRAM 533MHz; Intel Mobile i945GM Express Chipset Family 256MB; Fujitsu MHV2040BH 40GB 5,400rpm
Lenovo 3000 N100
Windows XP Pro; 1.83GHz Intel CD-T2400; 512B PC2700 DDR2 SDRAM 333MHz; Nvidia GeForce Go 7300 Go 256MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 80GB 5,400rpm
Toshiba P105-S921
Windows XP Professional; 1.83GHz CD-T2400; 1GB PC5300 DDR2 SDRAM 666MHz; Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GS 256MB; Fujitsu MHV2160BT 160GB 4,200rpm
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96
User Rating: 
1/10
Caveat Emptor
Pros: see below please
Cons: see below please
I am on my 3rd hard drive, my 2nd Screen, my 2nd video card, and my 3rd power cord. At my best estimate, I have spent between 30-40 hours on the phone and internet with Dell to get my laptop to work properly. I have been lied to and strung along. I sent multiple emails that have not been answered. I had to spend money on shipping because Dell sent my laptop to the wrong address.
I recently found out that Dell has settled with 46 states for $3.85 million to cover the costs of an investigation into their trade practices and customer refunds. You can find more information at http://www.jsonline.com/newswatch/37453499.html.
You can make up your own mind concerning the type of PC you purchase. Caveat Emptor.
User Rating: 
8/10
Samsonite tough.......No joke!
Pros: I like everything about the Inspiron! Super fast and capable of anything.
Cons: I would like to see a better, more sensitive, wifi card or antenna.
User Rating: 8/10
Reliable Laptop - Good Performance
Pros: Device has been reliable for 2 years now, wireless works very well. Device works very well with external devices like mice and keyboards. Display is bright and easy to see in all conditions.
Cons: I take it to work every day. It's a bit of a work out. The monitor can be a bit flaky when the laptop is moved around too quickly
The speakers on the unit are only so-so. I normally use external speakers when I want to hear something special.
Like any other laptop, I highly recommend a backup of your most critical items or make a Ghost image of what you have in place.
All said, I continue to use the device and it works very well.
User Rating: 
2/10
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME OR MONEY!!!!!
Pros: What "Pros"???? DELL's computers are horrible.
Cons: **** poor customer service, heavy like a brick,
To conclude, I will NEVER, EVER recommend ANY DELL products to anyone.
User Rating: 
10/10
An Immaculate Laptop!
Pros: Graphics, speed, durability, connection, ease of use, keyboard, battery( 9 cell), DVD RW Drive
Cons: Nothing really except the bottom of the laptop gets a little heated, but still, no big deal.
User Rating: 
4/10
there is good and bad
Pros: there are not to many
Cons: i hav to change the power cord like four time
User Rating: 
5/10
Ok laptop for the price
Pros: Nice media buttons, nice keyboard, pretty cheap
Cons: quite thick, speakers have below average quality, not very speedy!
The speakers do not have very good sound quality. Another problem is how thick it is this is not a laptop to take with you. It is extremely thick and heavy. But if you don't mind those things this is a pretty good laptop. The Media controls are very nice and work well.
User Rating: 
3/10
Vista makes this computer completely unusable
Pros: good screen,
Cons: incredibly slow, zero battery life
User Rating: 8/10
Great desktop replacement
Pros: Great screen, easy to access controls
Cons: Battery died after 15 months
We upgraded to the 9 cell battery and it worked great for 14 months, now it only lasts 1 hour tops.
Great product as always Dell!
User Rating: 8/10
Great laptop!
Pros: All around good product.
Cons: Express card slot instead of both Express and PCMCIA II.
User Rating: 
7/10
Great for a first laptop
Pros: wide screen, nice design
Cons: a tad bit heavy
-Angel
www.FearlessIncome.com
User Rating: 8/10
Good product.. good customer support too!
Pros: Very reliable product, great multi-media controls, great customer support
Cons: size and weight
User Rating: 2/10
Stay away from this model
Pros: decent display/perf
Cons: wireless, keyboard, weight and size
1. Wireless (Broadcom, but dell branded as 1310?) doesn't connect correctly with my netgear router after coming back from suspend. Intel wireless on another Dell 700m in the same network comes up instantly. Dell support has never been able to fix this/give a driver update or replace this wireless, though I offered to pay for the difference.
2. Keyboard has serious issues of repeating random keys while typing. I usually type about 60 words per minute and haven't had issues with most other dell notebooks/desktops. This one is an exception - quite terrible. Again Dell support after hours of phone support haven't fixed this. They did send me a new keyboard to replace the original, but still didn't help; I guess the problem is either very generic problem on this particular keyboard hardware they use, or that the device driver is quite bad (vista home premium).
I gave up trying to call Dell after wasting hours on the phone, several times.
In fact my next notebook is going to be something else other than Dell - may be HP - and only after really trying it out in a store!
User Rating: 7/10
Best for entertainment but worst for professional use.
Pros: Screen, ATI Radeon X1400 @ 256 MB, Ultrabright screen, Soft Keyboard, and a nice touchpad.
Cons: Heat up problems, Unstable Configuration, No mic/Cam, Poor DVD Performance.
My systems stabilizes at a temperature if 60-70 if you are working with few windows. But during games it can shoot up to 100 degree Celcius. Also Their is no software provided for fan control.
Overall the system is appealing and good for new users, but definately not for business purpose, the wieght is around 2 and half KG.
Its a value for money system by Dell, I bought the system in 2006 for some 1300 $ including 80 GB HDD @ 7200 RPM, ATI Radeon x 1400 @ 256 MB graohics card, 1 GB ram, 3 year international warranty and other usual features.
Overall rating : 6.5/10
User Rating: 8/10
heavy but performs well
Pros: awesome dual core technology
Cons: heavy and a bit bulky
User Rating: 8/10
Great with a few problems
Pros: Fast internet
Cons: bad speaker placement
User Rating: 8/10
Good reliable notebook
Pros: Works well, good price
Cons: Had a few driver issues when it was new, should have purchased 2 gig of ram
User Rating: 8/10
Trusty laptop, but waaay too heavy to lug around at school.
Pros: It's a laptop and goes on the internet like I need it to, wide screen
Cons: Way too heavy, battery life is really "eh" for me, may be a serial killer of laptop power adapters
User Rating: 5/10
Very short battery life
Pros: Comfortable to use all the right slots available
Cons: Battery life
User Rating: 8/10
Refurbished ? Are you Sure ?
Pros: $750 (refurb) , Bright, detailed screen, Zippy, battery life
Cons: Heavier than expected, "Tonka Toy" feel
Purchased thru the Dell Outlet and it was at the door 2 days later. The only way I could tell it was a refurb was a little sticker on the bottom that said so. All Software was shrikwrapped, even got to peel off all the protective wrap adheared to screen and outside of case.
I think Im the first person to ever like Vista, it is very stable and zippy on this unit. Of course, I did need to remove all crapware and get rid of all the crap loading at startup using the "msconfig" tool.
Also got a big range imporvement by downloading the "Intel" driver fot the WiFi (not the DELL version)
Observations (not complaints):
Heavy, larger than what I was expecting in comparison to others in its class.
The plastic feel is hard to ignore after typing away for a while (IBM keyboard users would understand what I'm talking about here).
It does get hot, but they all do.
User Rating: 8/10
Good computer with some problems!
Pros: Nice features, runs smoothly, and customer support was better than I thought.
Cons: Paint chips a little, no pcmcia slot only expansion, i had some battery probs, tons of trailware.
User Rating: 
9/10
Spectacular desktop replacement
Pros: Fast; Great graphics; Perfect Size; Decent Sound
Cons: Glossy screen; headphone connector; Wi-Fi disconnect
I moved from a Dell 17" laptop which I loved. I took the 17" back and forth to work with me every day (I was going to grad school directly after work). I decided to treat myself to a faster processor when I graduated. And, the 17" was a little big to comfortably carry around every day. The 15.4" Dell is no problem whatsoever. It is easily portable.
It has a beautiful display. I play movies on it for my daughter when we go on road trips. She absolutely loves it. I play Guild Wars, Oblivion, Fable, and other games on it. It has stunning graphics. I would have given it a 10 except for the fact that Dell does not offer a flat version for the display. All the new laptops come with glossy screens. It does show every spot that gets on it and, it can get annoying to have to nudge the laptop this way or that to remove glare.
The sound is good. I don't think it is as crisp as the 17", but the 17" did have subwoofers in the bottom of the case. Again, I would have given perfect marks if not for one thing, a problem with all Dells I believe. I am already experiencing a problem with the headphone jack. I have to rotate the connector or tap it to one side to get stereo sound. This happened on my 17" as well. Dell came out and replaced the motherboard on the 17" because the headphone jack gets a loose connection.
As far as performance, I have no complaints. I am running Vista business with most of the graphics choices turned on. I am up and running at start up within 30 secs; I think it takes more time for me to type in the various passwords than for it to start. I run an Oracle database on it and have no slow downs in performance, even with only the client running and some of my other intensive software running simultaneously.
The only last problem I have is a disconnect of my wi-fi when I am at home. It may just be a compatibility issue with my router and my wi-fi card. I have no problems at work. It usually occurs when I am at home and playing Guild Wars or on-line game. I didn't have this problem with the 17". It may be the card; it may be Vista; I am not sure.
I, as always, urge people to shop at the on-line outlet store. You don't have to buy scratch and dent stuff. Some of it is stuff people ordered and couldn't pay for or changed their minds about. It knocked off around $500 from the retail price of the same configuration. I just watched the store for about two weeks to find exactly what I wanted.
Lastly, Dell's support has been stellar for all my needs. I never use the phone support; every company's phone support takes an extra hour or more to work. I have had several problems with my laptops over the last two years. I just have my laptop next to me and use the Dell on-line support on my work desktop. It has never taken more than a half hour to diagnose the problem. It has never taken more than 5 minutes to get in contact with support through the chat client. I always buy the 2-3 year warranty with full protection and accident replacement on my Dell computers. When something major happens (and it has), they have a third party tech out to my home or office within 24 hours. That is incredible service!
User Rating: 8/10
Love this product and would not by any other
Pros: Big Screen, beautiful colors, great price
Cons: Heavy, not for outside (truelife screen)
User Rating: 3/10
more problems by the day
Pros: cheap system
Cons: cheap build, audio playback issues, performance
Then i had 3 hard drives die on me, i presume from overheating (i now monitor temperatures regularly, an the disks do get higher then 60C if not on a hard surface). The battery after a little over a year is useless. My d key is now broken (i copy an paste d's when necessary now). I have a vertical line a few pixels wide up my screen which is a nice pink color.
Overall, it doesnt look pretty, doesnt perform well (mine is 1.7ghz, 1 gig ram). I tossed the old hard drive for a 100gig 7200rpm drive and didnt get any improvement.
The one thing going for it, its cheap, i only paid like $750 for it.I will never buy a cheap laptop again, shame on me. Ill be retiring it after 1.3 years service an shelling out over 1500 for a nice machine which will last me longer. stay away if you can.
User Rating: 3/10
Had it 2 months and sending it back to Dell
Pros: light weight - nice monitor
Cons: so far not reliable
User Rating: 8/10
Does the job
Pros: Speedy for the basics
Cons: Wireless connections take some expertise
User Rating: 9/10
Great laptop for the money!
Pros: low price (used a coupon), fast speed, great screen
Cons: Bulky design , build quality
When I first got the laptop I could hear right away there was something wrong with it. There was a high pitched ringing coming from it. I called Dell and found out the motherboard needed to be replaced. Within a week I had a new system in the mail.
The processing speed of this computer is spectacular for how much it cost. EI and office apps load in under a second. It has only frozen up because of uncompatable software with Vista. The screen is terrific. Its hard to find a higher resolution in 15.4 in. It makes it great for watching videos. I was able to save about $700 off the original price by using a coupon I found online.
The laptop was originally shipped with XP media center but I later upgraded to Vista. I was happy to find that everything works perfectly with Vista and the boot time descresed to about 30 sec.
Even though I did have a problem with the first computer I still give the E1505 a score of 9 because you just can't beat the price.
User Rating: 2/10
Awful experience w/Inspirion 1505 - Disaster of a notebook
Pros: Fine if you want to stay tethered to an A/C adaptor
Cons: Notebook won't boot Windows on battery unless in safemode
User Rating: 4/10
Wow, don't go with Dell, You'll be glad you didn't
Pros: Works pretty well the first 6 month, Beautiful screen (if you take the *gloss* option that is), Decent video card (managed to run FEAR!)
Cons: Very, very Buggy, Driver Problems, Dell's terrible customer help, Malfunctioning copy of Windows
My computer configuration was the following:
1.88 Ghz, 1GB Ram, ATI 256mb X1400, TrueLife screen.. (this should give you an idea).
All right, the first 6 month with this computer were pretty good, the computer worked well, a beautiful screen, no crashes, *some* small bugs (well Hey, it's a PC).
Then, after the first 6 months, things started getting ugly. I tried playing BattleField 2 on this machine: worked O.K but it crashed a lot. The first Blue Screens of Death started appearing on this machine. Eventually, after a month of playing, I stopped playing this game, the computer had a lot of spyware from playing games online. This brings me to my first advice: Buy an antispyware software, the one provided by Dell is not very efficient.
The months following were just.. buggy. When I closed the lid of the computer, it wouldn't turn on again. I had to open it, force it to shutdown. I have about 2000 songs on my computer and I use Itunes: it works great. But when I wanted to connect it to the internet, there were issues. The card I bought was the most expensive. However, I had a lot of problems with it, had to go through hours of custumer service, talking with a person that was barely reading what you were saying and always replying the same thing. Finally, I figured it out: the wireless card does not work with all routers, it works only with certain brands. As soon as I bought a new one, the internet worked well.
Apart from all of the constant bugs, computer crashes, and many weird quirks that only Windows has the pleasure of providing you, it is important to notice that, for a pretty hardcore user like me (playing Halo, listening to music, heavy photo editing using Adobe CS2), the computer heats a LOT. Do not put it on your laps, you'll get burned.
My sister, as a college gift, got the E1405, basically the same computer as mine, except in smaller. She isn't of the geeky kind and likes things to work without having to bypass the computer's bugs: This computer wasn't for her. She had more bugs that I did, the computer crashed a lot, the anti virus provided by Dell was inneficient, and 4 month later, the computer just stopped working. It would turn on, and just show the background. She lost all of the media on her computer, got it repaired and reinstalled Windows. It works better now, and she has about the same rate of failure that I do.
It all breaks down to this: if you are a light user --> Internet, picture viewing, movie watching, I'm guessing I would recommend this computer for it's low price and relative quality. However, if you plan to use this for using photoshop from time to time, downloading music (Itunes) and TV Shows, playing some games (not a lot), or just doing anything more than the strict basics of computing, this is not for you. Dell installs corrupt versions of Windows on this machine, it has a bad service, and in the long term, you will regret having bought this machine.
If you have any questions, feel free to comment my review, I will answer in the briefest delays.
I hope this helped~
User Rating: 9/10
Quality product at a good price
Pros: Fast, smooth, awesome screen, detailed, lots of upgrades available when building this notebook
Cons: driver conflict with software bundle and Vista, bulky, but that's about it so far!
* Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB, L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB) - upgraded for $250
* Windows Vista (included in price)
* 15.4 Inch Ultrasharp Widescreen SXGA with TrueLife (72% increase in viewable content) - $100
* 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667 MHz, 2 DIMM - $50
* 100 GB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive - $95
* Free 8x CD/DVD with double layer writing
* 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 TurboCache video card - $80
* Integrated Soundblaster Audigy HD - $25
* 53 WHr 6-cell battery - included in price
* Intel PRO Wireless card - included in price
* MS Office Home and Student - $150
The one thing that I really liked about this laptop up front were the options for upgrades. I went with the 1505 because I wanted to pay less on the base and max everything out so I could get another 6 years out of it (like my last Inspiron laptop). The screen is unbelievable. If you're into drawing on your computer, you can actually use dry erase markers on it (I haven't tried, but have been told this - only on the smooth surface screens like the upgraded truelife). The speed at which it accesses information, programs, etc, is awesome. That could be the hard drive and memory upgrades I purchased though. I haven't had any problems with this guy, but I will update in a few months. I love the color and feel of the computer, but it is a bit on the heavy, bulky side. It has those front speakers, which really add to the sound quality and volume. Not all Dell notebooks have those speakers or the multi-media buttons on the front, so they are a nice touch. The wireless card is quick and quality. The keyboard is comfortable, and the mouse pad isn't bad at all (they can be fickle on some laptops). I love all of the USB ports, and the card reader is something I didn't even know existed until I received it. The Core 2 Duo processor allows multiple programs to run with little interference, which has been great. Oh, and Dell's shipping/tracking was solid. It came in three days (although it said to allow two weeks), and I didn't pay for upgraded shipping.
I really have no complaints except for one: I have a driver incompatibility with Windows Vista. There are no patches available on Microsoft's site, and the site for the software is hard to navigate (Roxio CD/DVD program). I'm hoping this will change in time, but they shouldn't sell you a computer/software that you can't use. I was also slightly disappointed with the Leather snap on accessory, as it is plastic, and kind of cheesy up close. But it still looks pretty good. The battery life is so-so, but I didn't upgrade, and I knew that going into it. It didn't matter to me, because I usually have it plugged in wherever I go. I actually LOVE this computer! It's slick, and I think it will last just as long as my last one!
www.dell.com has a great website, so the process of building this laptop was really smooth. It even tells you what you pay for when you upgrade certain aspects, and it doesn't always recommend the most expensive upgrades. They try to throw in a lot of accessories, which is kind of annoying, but not terrible.
Great computer overall!
So, the patch to fix the driver incompatibility came out today, so I guess I can take that off the list. It was more of a Windows problem anyway. Roxio fixed it.
My hard drive broke... grrrr.... Physically broken...
User Rating: 8/10
Very good multimedia portable
Pros: This machine packs the punch at a good price and size
Cons: To much Dell software installed, No PCMCIA slot, gets a little hot
I am a multimedia journalist so I need to process digital video and images on the road so I built this machine to hopefully cope with the stress of multiple RAM-hungry applications and I?m pleased to say it has performed well.
It locks up occasionally but I suspect that has more to do with the OS than any hardware issue.
Because Dell decided to put an Express slot only with no PCMCIA bay I had to throw away four pieces of hardware, including an expensive data card, which annoyed me greatly.
The True Life screen is simply superb and gets a lot of comments from jealous workmates.
I also broke the firewire port and Dell replaced the motherboard within two days free ? outstanding service.
I cleaned out the OS and grabbed myself another 10GB. Overall very happy with the purchase.
User Rating: 8/10
this is so much better than the old inspiron...
Pros: good screen, never gives me trouble
Cons: too heavy..!
thank you, dell.
User Rating: 7/10
Pretty good laptop..
Pros: Looks great, the controls are great, awesome media software
Cons: Speakers are placed in an odd place, sound quality has messed up a little on mine
User Rating: 2/10
vista business based top of the line model sucks
Pros: nice finish; highly customizable
Cons: very bad performance; poor support
User Rating: 9/10
Best computer I've ever owned
Pros: Super compatable. awesome plug and play functions, i got the upgraded Bluetooth adapter works like a charm, screen is awesome, Intense gaming on the X1400 video card is a breeze, HEAT is Not an issue
Cons: The card reader only accepts 2 of 3 types that I use in my home.
User Rating: 5/10
Average quality
Pros: The Greatest Tech. Support I ever seen
Cons: LCD always get dead pixelsand dark spots
I sold than one then i got the E1505 15.4" screen "15.4 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife" and after a couple of month i saw a dark spot on the screen i send it for service and it came back to me after a week no dark spot but with a dead pixel and again not covered.
And I heard complains from friends that the USB fails from couple of friends not only one or two.
User Rating: 9/10
Almost perfect notebook
Pros: Performance, design, battery, price
Cons: no built in microphone
User Rating: 9/10
Great Laptop for the Money
Pros: Impressive graphics display (especially with Video playback); Sleek and user-friendly keyboard design; Auto-Scroll feature on touchpad comes in handy for Web-viewing
Cons: ATI graphics driver needs some work; A bit heavy for travel
User Rating: 9/10
Great product from Dell
Pros: Design, build quality, performance
Cons: Dell's perceived lack of customer service
User Rating: 10/10
Great Computer for the price!!!!!!
Pros: Able to put together a package that really rocks for a great price!!!
Cons: None so far!!!!!
The first thing I did was remove all of the shovelware and hook it up to my WiFi DSL and installed my programs and have had a blast with it from the get-go!
The Dell "On-Call" with their "Dell Connect" has been just as enjoyable. The few questions were quickly answered and made me glad I chose a Dell.
Since I ordered this before the release of Windows Vista, it came loaded with XP Media Center and right now I don't know if I'll take advantage of Dell's free upgrade program or not.
Even the Trend Micro's protection package has worked great so far.
In short, if I lost this Notebook today, I would turn around and order another one!
gtirr
User Rating: 9/10
Review Dell 6400/1505
Pros: Great performance, quick delivery
Cons: Standard battery life
User Rating: 8/10
Excellent value in a midsize laptop
Pros: Good performance and construction
Cons: Clunky styling
Construction is solid, and the keyboard and other peripherals(ports, touchpad) are all excellent quality.
Wireless range using the Intel a/b/g card is excellent.
The screen came with one stuck pixel, a bit of a shame, though I've long since gotten over it
I also find that laptop's appearance is decidedly clunky against many other competing makes -- HP, Lenovo, etc., though the Dell costs hundreds less.If you are using any CAD application ensure that you can still buy Dells with XP; Vista is still not supported by most CAD vendors.
User Rating: 4/10
Great Computer Lousy Coustomer Service
Pros: Great Display, Fast, very good at the little things
Cons: Lousy Customer Service
User Rating: 9/10
love this computer
Pros: love it all the way
Cons: not one thing
It Very large and easy to see screen and simple multimedia buttons on the front of the computer. It is great with downloads. First rate when it comes to running multiple applications. large hard drive with lots of space . a great computer!!!!!
User Rating: 4/10
Great Laptop with big flaw
Pros: Speed and Multimedia Buttons
Cons: NO MICROPHONE, reflective screen
Be aware that "TrueLife" means highly reflective screen surface. If you want to avoid glare, choose the basic matte version.
User Rating: 9/10
Laptop does everything I need it to.
Pros: Fast, light, perfect size for me, doesn't get too hot
Cons: Didn't use the CPU for performance out of the box, palm rest scratches pretty easily.
User Rating: 9/10
Excellent Value and Performance
Pros: Brilliant widescreen display, fast performance, attractive unit
Cons: A little heavy for regular travel, but not by much
User Rating: 9/10
Great performance, light, and fast
Pros: Great keyboard and touchpad, 15.4 widescreen LCD, Media Direct software supported by Cyberlink,
Cons: sometimes would get a little bit hot
The wide screen display makes watching movies and DVDs much better than regular displays. the quality of the screen is really good.
The overall speed is great that I can run many softwares all at the time.
With the 256 ATI Radeon, you can play most of the new games that has been come out lately.
Sound quality is really good, specially when I play games or watching movies.
Sometimes the laptop gets a little bit hot.
The keyboard and the touch pad is awesome and really comfortable to work with.
play games fast and good.( most of the hardcore game).
Intel Wireless card has better reception comparing to other wireless cards.
I had some problems to installing my wireless and memory reader that the drivers hasn't been send with Cd that came with it. In this case Dell customer service provide a really good service.
In the end if you want to get laptop with high performance that you can play games at good quality, internet surfing, introductory and intermediate photo editing the 1505 would be a good choice.
User Rating: 9/10
Beware of whiplash!
Pros: Light, fast, cool running.
Cons: No DVI output, no way to record wave files, DVD burner issues.
User Rating: 9/10
Amazing deal for this beautiful notebook. Worth every penny and more! I'm in love with this laptop
Pros: -Extremely fast Core Duo Processor, Large and beautiful screen, Very cool and quiet, Build quality comes close to Powerbooks and Thinkpads, Powerful internal wireless, Abundent USB .....
Cons: - Not for travellers (e1405 version is better for that)
- Extremely fast Core Duo Processor
- Large and beautiful screen
- Very cool and quiet
- Build quality comes close to Powerbooks and Thinkpads
- Powerful internal wireless
- Abundent USB Ports (4) well spaced
- DISCRETE GRAPHICS!!!!! (I play HALO CE on highest settings at highest resolution and get a reasonable 30 FPS)
- VISTA Capable (easily)
- Clear and vibrant speakers produce room filling sound (best laptop speakers I've EVER heard)
- LOOOOOWWW Price
- Also stable enough for Linux (Ubuntu)
- Media Direct software allows you to access media files without logging on to windows (can be insecure)
User Rating: 3/10
Piece of Crap...stay away from Dell
Pros: It looks pretty
Cons: You'll spend hours chatting or emailing Dell Tech Support
User Rating: 3/10
Too many problems for this price
Pros: Core duo processor is fast, good for media
Cons: Terrible wireless card, dvd burner issues
Another weakness is that the 8x DVD burner errors out when burning a 16x DVD. DVD drive is supposed to handle this and burn it at 8x speed.
Finally, quite often (once in a couple of days) monitor freaks out and starts garbling all open windows so that the only thing i can do is a forced shutdown.
The benefit of this computer i enjoy the most is its ability to copy and burn DVDs quickly (assuming it's an 8x or less DVD).
User Rating: 9/10
Beautifull Display!
Pros: Runs smoothly.
Cons: No satellite.
Steven in SoCal.
User Rating: 9/10
Best laptop for this price...
Pros: Gorgeous WSXGA Screen, super fast, Great Battery life...
Cons: none so far..
i especially love the gorgeous WSXGA+ Trulife ultraBrite screen (1650x1050). Screen is the most important thing to me in a laptop..
I am an amateur photographer and all the pics look so amazing on this screen. the coverage is increadible. It makes me much more productive..
The build quality is overall very solid, a bit heavier than some other laptops but i dont really pay attention to that since i am so happy with this laptop.
i d recommend this laptop to anyone....
User Rating: 8/10
Great Overall Computer
Pros: Fast and attractive
Cons: heavier than expected
User Rating: 8/10
Nice laptop with some great features
Pros: Media great, nice sturdy feel to it, great screen
Cons: battery life less than expected, a bit heavy for a notebook
User Rating: 9/10
Great laptop!...better performance....battery life....screen...etc.
Pros: great performance....good crisp screen display....great everything!
Cons: just a little heavy for TRAVEL...
the performance is faster than my inspiron 6000 pentium m...anyway its a great performance laptop but not somethig you would carry around everytime...
User Rating: 9/10
This is my very first laptop and I am so glad that I made the right choice.
Pros: Screen size is great. The key board & touch pad is user friendly.
Cons: I ordered the laptop with the 120G HD, and about 8G is used for operation. : (
User Rating: 8/10
Very Fast...Runs Vista Beta RC-2 without a hitch
Pros: Great screen, Media controls on front are perfect, comfortable keyboard, WIFI works well
Cons: A bit heavy
User Rating: 4/10
My hard drive went bad in 2 months
Pros: wide screen, cheapest dell
Cons: hard drive not stable, I suspect not the best parts are used for this system
I got very frustated that the hard drive went bad in 2 months. Lost a lot of videos and photos.
I would recommend anybody using this laptop to take regular backups.
I do not recommend this laptop to anyone.
My wife has a 700m which is much better built and has not given any problems in 2 years.
User Rating: 3/10
Stylish, but not without unsolved problems...
Pros: fast core duo processor, lightweight, stylish
Cons: unsolved sound problems, problems with default 1390 wireless card
First, about a month after purchase, I started noticing bizarre problems with the audio. It sounded like skipping, or hiccuping. And it even happened with system sounds, such as the Windows startup theme. It was off and on, though. I downloaded all of the driver updates I could, as the device manager says my soundcard and all other peripherals are working properly. No luck. I contacted Dell support about it--they gave me the runaround, basically repeating everything I'd already ruled out as the problem.
I still have the problem, occasionally. As a music buff, this angers me to no end, and I wait for the day they release more driver updates to both the Sigmatel audio card, and the 1390 Dell Wireless adapter. According to some at the Dell Support Forums, there's some sort of interference with the wifi card and the sound card, though Dell has yet to come out and state this directly.
I've also had problems using my wireless card with this computer. While the signal coming through the utility says it's "excellent", I'll randomly get disconnected. Sometimes, I just can't connect, and others, I'm connected, yet cannot access anything online. All other laptops and computers in my house work FINE on my wireless network. Just my brand new laptop won't work. I feared calling tech support again, and consulted the Dell Support Forums, where I found that I had to disable the powersave features to the 1390 Dell WLAN mini card, as well as fiddle with the antenna diversity. I'm sorry, but I doubt most normal "home" users will be able to figure out how to get around all of these little "glitches". It's been suggested to stay away from the default Dell 1390 WLAN mini-card from many users. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra money on the Intel wirless card they offer...
Dell has some serious problems addressing their own problems. This will definitely be the last Dell I purchase.
User Rating: 9/10
Great Laptop
Pros: Great battery, good power, good design
Cons: preinstalled software
Overall, its a good buy)
User Rating: 10/10
Next to MAC, Most popular machine
Pros: easy to use, lots of features, good customer service,
Cons: dude your getting a dell commericial, everyone owns it
Has the media buttons in front which is great for controlling muting, volume. Also comes with media direct which is great for dvds and such
Overall a great machine.. small, light, lots of features
LONG LASTING BATTERY.... Perfect for anyone
User Rating: 8/10
Great Value for Development
Pros: Got it at an awesome price (with $750 coupon), Nice keyboard layout, great bright screen
Cons: mediocre video card, unneccessary junk software
2.0 GHz Core Duo, 1GB DDR2 RAM, X1400 256MB ATI Video Card, XP Pro, 1680x1050 resolution, 6 cell Li-Ion battery. All this came to about $1400 or so.
The laptop came with a lot of crap software so I did a clean install and re-installed Windows XP Pro.
I mainly bought this laptop for development in Visual Studio 2003 and Web Developer Express along with SQL Server. Not a bad laptop. It does the job done, can't complain. Also, the video card says 256MB, but its really 128MB dedicated and the other half is shared. I think it's a great marketing ploy by ATI. Wished it came with an NVidia card instead though. Games run decent for not so extensive 3d games, but World of Warcraft plays really well with this laptop, especially if you have the true life bright screen. Beautiful.
I think for the price I paid for this laptop, it is well worth it.
User Rating: 9/10
Great Laptop
Pros: Good Quality and the right coupon code = Great Price
Cons: Too Many Trialwares, the Geforce 7300 runs hot.
Performance-wise: my laptop is able to handle games like F.E.A.R Combat (high res), BF2142 (med settings), Duegeon Siege II, & Fable beautifully. Adobe Preimere 2 runs a tad slow but it is a resource hog.
When it comes to listening to MP3 I love the sound quality is good...the standard sound card (sigmatel stac)/speakers do a great job. The buttons on the end make it easy to adjust volume or mute...works with Media Player or Itunes. The laptop hard drives are SATA the lower storage drives are 5400RPM where as the larger drives are 7200RPM. If you decide to upgrade the hard drive, it is cheaper to buy it some other place than Dell...Overall I am impressed with this laptop. W00T to Dell
User Rating: 8/10
Decent configurations but few problems.
Pros: Dual Core, Screen, Price, Bluetooth, Card Readers
Cons: Media Center OS, Media Direct, Keyboard.
So hard to tell negative sides:
1.) First day, one of the arrow key came off!!! But I could push it back and in almost 10 months didn't come out. Wow!
2.) Media Center OS and it's Media Direct player crashed on first run. So it was exciting that Microsoft is consistent among all OS versions.
3.) TrueBrite screen is extra bright. I can comb my hair. No good while watching movies.
4.) Buggy feeling of graphics card/DVD player or whatever because having problem with full screen. May be my individual configuration.
Still reading for positive sides:
1.) With Core Duo and 2GB RAM, I was running Oracle 10g, Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 (Student edition from school), MySQL, ColdFusion Server Developer Edition and Dreamweaver. It was pretty amazing what you can do with this machine.
2.) Hugh file transfer is also fast(er).
3.) Recently using bluetooth. It's really nice to have which wasn't felt for first six months of no-use.
4.) Handy media buttons.
5.) Card readers are pretty fast.
Just keep feeling speed all the time!!! A Best Buy!!!
User Rating: 4/10
Inferior software
Pros: Good processor if you got the 1.73gH before the downgrade
Cons: Poor CD-burning software and soundcard
User Rating: 8/10
A perfect solution to an average person
Pros: Widescreen, amazing looks, battery life, multi-tasking
Cons: Start up time, very small hard drive, poor graphics card
User Rating: 9/10
What's Not to Like about the 1505???
Pros: Powerful, Very Useful for Work and Play
Cons: Adware is obnoxious
ATI Radeon Mobility X1400
Intel Core 2 Duo (2.0 GHZ)
1 GB Ram
120 GB Hard Drive
8X DVD Burner
Dell Draft N 1500 Broadcom Wireless
This puppy is a great multimedia machine. The ATI card used with the 1680 x 1050 screen is amazing. The clarity of movie playback is breathtaking. Games are not too shabby on this laptop. Granted...the vid card is not TOP of the Line...but midrange gets you decent frame rates at 1280 x 800 and some 1400 x 900. Older games can be played at full resolution. I am not a heavy gamer...so this is fine for me...I want clarity...and Dell and ATI deliver. Just make sure to order with minimum 1 GB ram, because ATI hypermemory is 128 mb on GPU and 128 system ram.
As far as weight...this machine is light. You want heavy...my old Toshiba Satellite weighted in at 11 lbs...the Dell 1505 is barely 7 lbs. I can carry this machine around all day.
The Dell Draft N card is decent. I use with a G router, so no big issues. Backwards compatibility is the rule of the day...and never one issue with this card. Fast...actually a little more headroom than the average G card. Fast downloads, no dropouts at all (use with a Buffalo WHP-HR-G54 Router). Strong signal everywhere in the house and outside.
Got a good deal with the fully configured machine. Only feature that I did not order was bluetooth...no need yet. All in all...I saved at least $500 with instant off and rebate for 4 Year Warranty. If you want something you can carry around AND are a light to mediium gamer...but appreciate the fact that any computer is only as good as the display and performance...this is the machine.
User Rating: 8/10
A lifesaver notebook
Pros: very lightweight, gets the job done, easy to use
Cons: try not to use photoshop cs2
User Rating: 9/10
Really efficient, well priced, very reliable
Pros: You get everything you pay for, nice strudy design, bright screen, very reliable
Cons: Gets hot very fast, design a little too simple
User Rating: 
6/10
Missing possible dvi port for ati x1300 and remote for WinXP Media Center.
Pros: Great big screen, and wireless connection
Cons: A bit slow for its fast processor, a better standard battery is needed, problem bottom heat
It makes you e little mad when you read the Dell's user's guide for the media center when Dell has not provided the remote that is right in the first page.
I am not sure but I think that the optional ATI x1300 video card should also have a dvi port or at least it is suited to work with one. The Inspiron E1505 has only the old boring s-video and the vga outputs for external monitor and tv connection.
The intel pro wireless works very well and internet is great. The big lcd is also good except the true life option which reflects the outdoors' light too much.
User Rating: 8/10
A great system with few minor flaws
Pros: Fairly lightweight considering size and mine has a lot of features. Also, brilliant screen super fast great graphics and is very sturdy
Cons: Speakers aren't great and their is some light bleeding. Plus really poor dell support
I noticed while reading the bad reviews of this system everyone says that dell support is bad. I agree completely, however that is no reason to say the sytem is bad. All of those reviews say in the end that the system is good so it is unfare to rate the system itself bad.
In the end this really is a great media computer.
User Rating: 1/10
Nightmare...and end up paying $100 for the pain
Pros: Arrived on Time
Cons: Incompatible with many modems, Dell refuses to own the problem.
You will spend HOURS talking to tech support who will manage to get your computer hitting the net....but it will only hit the net for a short time or until you turn it off and on again. Unfortunately Dell will declare you problem resolved each time you report it so they can charge you a $100 or 15% restocking fee when you finally catch on to the endless game you are playing and decided to get your money back!!! Dell has a huge compatibility issue right now with the wireless on this machine. It is so huge that they are laying it squarely on the consumer's pocket books so they can recoup the cost of the machine they sold you...which is likely way less than $100. Do not buy this machine, we bought it to replace a unit damaged by Katrina. My partner is unemployed right now and the last thing we needed was to throw away $100 and hours of cell phone minutes.
User Rating: 8/10
A great laptop for the money, fast, nice display
Pros: Very fast, lots of I/O, good performing WiFi, nice display
Cons: Upgrading CPU difficult, had to upgrade memory myself to 667
User Rating: 8/10
I love this notebook
Pros: big bright screen and good multimedia capabilites
Cons: not powerful enough for the hardcore or even average gamer
User Rating: 1/10
Worst experience I have ever had
Pros: Looks pretty sitting on my desk
Cons: It doesn't work
I have had this computer for about 6 weeks at the time I am writing this and still do not have a computer with a working wireless connection! I have been, and come back, from vacation already.
Lets start with Dell's customer service - there isn't any! They will apologize to this quite often, but the truth is out of the 25 or so individuals I spoke with at Dell regarding the defective laptop I received not one had a clue. The technical care people and the customer care people have no way of speaking to each other even though they are pretty quick about telling you that you need the other department (both sides do this and won't conference each other).
The laptop I received was confirmed by Dell to be defective. Dell's attempted response to this was to attempt to send me a refurbished system. This is a BRAND NEW machine that never worked and they wanted me to accept a refurb - If I had wanted a refurb, I would have bought one!
Regardless of this the laptop still is not replaced, though I do now have an order number for it 6 weeks after purchase - the only problem now? I have already given up and demanded a refund yesterday!! Amazing how that works, huh? Maybe I should have demanded a full refund on the 1st day I had a problem - maybe I would have received a working laptop a month ago!!
User Rating: 4/10
Nice not so light laptop with some features
Pros: Nice sound, durable and solid
Cons: bundled with useless software, watch the price
The laptops is heavy and you can find lighter, less bulky laptops with more features at this prices.
If you see a TV tuner offered to you. Be certain it is an external box you attach to the uSB.
I dont recommend buying this laptop. Dell might be reknowned to have great customer service but they did not resolve my shortage of $200.
User Rating: 2/10
Junk! Junk! Junk!
Pros: Pros? What Pros?
Cons: Crashed in less than 12 hours!
User Rating: 8/10
Amazing Price to Quality ratio! Best value on market!
Pros: Screen, keyboard, speakers, speed, graphics, all the essentials.
Cons: CD/DVD Drive can be LOUD!
The Essentials:
1.) The Screen: Beautiful Display- no dead pixels after 1 month of use, very bright, extremely sharp. Better than both of my friends HP's.
2.) The Keyboard: Very nice keyboard, feels great. Keys are nicely spaced- not cramped together like my previous laptop. Would like them to be quieter.
3.)Processor: I thought about waiting for Core 2 Duo for a very long time, and determined that Core Duo would provide enough powe for my tasks. I was right- Core duo is extremely powerful and I have yet to have a heat issue- even after hours of gaming.
The Touchpad: VERY VERY NICE. Scrolling works great and is a HUGE improvement. Right and Left click buttons are also very quiet, which I love.
The Build: Very sturdy. Not to sure about the quality of the white plastic trim, but I do like the physical appearance A LOT. Only notebook that looks better is the macbook. Very efficent for keeping a good air flow. (Stays cool) Media Control buttons on the front are very nice- love how they light up! Great ammount of Space for typing. Hinges are very sturdy as well. USB's on the right side are very practical, as well as the 5 in 1 memory card reader- very nice for fast photo transfers.
The Cons: CD/DVD drive is very noisy if there is a CD in it while booting. I don't understand this- my previous Dell did this also- obviously they havent fixed it- this is the obly aspect I do not like about this notebook. Once it reads the CD it quiets down, but I don't think it should create any noise at all.
The bloatware that came with my E1505 really wasn't that hard to get rif of. Really only took me about 1 hour to get it the way I wanted it. Only things I kept were PC-Cillin Protection, Dell Media direct, and the Sonic Burning Software; There were probably about 7 programs that I removed via Add/Remove programs.
Reason for buying: I bought this laptop because you can not beat the bang for the buck in this case. For those specs I paid $1500.00- along with them came a 3 year warranty with accidental damage included. This price came with a Dell Coupon (Which can easily be found online) and a college student discount. I ended up saving over 600$. This notebook was money well spent. If you compare hardware to hardware, any other notebook will be well into the $2,000 price range. I love that Dell offers a good video card also- being as I do play games. Oh - Core Duo with 2G of RAM is more than enough power to run most of todays games.
Bottom Line: you can't get a better priced notebook with the same hardware, plus the build and design is great, along with all of the essentials.
User Rating: 7/10
Average notebook, nothing special
Pros: Good display, excellent media center notebook
Cons: Subpar graphics options, expensive, It's Dell
User Rating: 6/10
Great computer but faulty DVD-burner drive
Pros: great screen (HD-ready if you get the wsxga+), quiet fan, 4 usb ports and mini firewire, sturdy design, LOUD speakers, media slot is great
Cons: intel graphics chip is NOT VISTA-complient, DVD-burner broken from day one, large screen means that icons will seem blurry if DPI is set above 125%, hardware doesn't mesh in with winXP
a couple failure points- intel graphics from dell is not vista-compatible (no glass effect or directX 9.0c), laptop does get hot at times, the multimedia buttons can sometimes freeze up older windows programs indefinitely, and in my case, the DVD-burner was busted. i have struggled with dell for two months for them to give me a replacement but every time they say that its a software issue (i checked it with dell diagnostics and nero cd/dvd speed - dell hardware is faulty on this model). ac adapter gets really REALLY hot so i would ONLY use it for charging up the battery when the system is OFF or else it could catch fire or burn you.
User Rating: 8/10
E1505 meets it's expectations
Pros: It has a lot of options, core duo, play buttons, good speakers, great value.
Cons: Gets a little bit hot, aceptiable to scratches, white trim...
User Rating: 10/10
About as happy as a laptop user/consumer can be thanks to my great bargain!!!
Pros: Great deal, full tech and warr support w/ultimate features for dirt cheap! Incredibly fast shipping!
Cons: Dell support, XP software, etc pre-installed on Storage(D:) drive, so 105 of 120 GB are user-writable. Other than that, stinks it can't take my college exams for me...
So one day at work, the tech who I had happened to talk to the day before forwarded me an email from Dell with $236 off Inspiron notebooks. Went to check it out. Must have spent 3+ hours customizing specs until I finally found what I wanted. Just to check how much the customized laptop that I had just made was going for, went to eBay. Found a great deal (http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D260014290935%26ssPageName%3DADME%3AB%3AEF%3AUS%3A11) on a brand new E1505 with a 100G 5400rpm SATA HDD, T2400 Duo Core 1.83 GHz, 1G SDRAM, 8X CD/DVD RW DL, 15.4" WXGA+ widescreen w/TrueLife, 128MB ATI X1300 video card, HD Sound Blaster, Intel 3945 Internal Wireless card, 6 cell battery, and all the other basics with a 1 YEAR LIMITED, MAIL IN WARRENTY for $820.
I called up Dell trying to get a price quote for extending the warrenty on this laptop. They requested the specs, and I gave them to her. She then put me on hold for two minutes, came back and told me she had an even better deal. She offered the exact same deal, with a 120 GB HDD, A 3 YEAR LIMITED, AT HOME, HARDWARE WARRENTY SUPPORT FOR $1060(after $200 mail-in rebate), far less than what I would be paying for an upgraded warrenty alone(I believe $310 was the 4 year limited extension alone). To end the story, I upgraded to the 4 year completecare accidental coverage with a 4 yr limited, at home, HW warrenty support for a total cost of $1172. Not to mention that the state of Tennessee is having a "Taxfree Holiday", so $123 is still in my savings account and Dell's shipping is always free.
I received(Thursday) my laptop four days after I ordered(Sunday) it. It came with XP already installed(no CD to install). The screen looks great, the speakers sound great; hence, DVDs look and play absolutely beautifully.
A definate deal for anyone on a budget, especially if you can pull of a deal similar to the one i got!
User Rating: 7/10
My First Notebook. I called DELL up and decided to purchase one to go back to school.
Pros: it's good from what i see i dont have anything to compare it to.
Cons: its huge...and heavy... I travel with it to and from school, and it's a load.
User Rating: 8/10
So Far So Good...for my first laptop. Great for students!!!
Pros: Media Controls in front, weight not much of an issue, easy to use
Cons: Heat on botttom sucks, pre-installed McAfee bogs down system. Original battery sucks.
User Rating: 6/10
Major Quality Issues
Pros: Inexpensive for what you get
Cons: Major display problems!
I ordered an E1505 in mid July 2006 with an Ultrasharp TrueLife Wide-screen WSXGA+. First of all, I don't like TrueLife...there's a lot of extra glare associated with it, but the best screens all had TrueLife, so I got it anyway. I'm angry Dell won't let to you avoid TrueLife.
Bleeding light: at the bottom of my laptop screen bleeds light. For instance, when I have the black screensaver on, the bottom of the screen is grey, not black, because it is bleeding light.
Blurry IE images: when you open up Internet Explorer all the graphics and photos are grainy and blurry. (This has been mentioned in other reivews/chat rooms). The problem oddly goes away if you decrease the DPI of your screen down from 120, but I want my screen at 120, because anything less is too small to see. After DAYS of talking with Dell tech people, they found a partial fix: R98539.exe. So, if you have this problem, go to dell.com, and search for that, and it mostly fixes the problem, though some webpages have really small text... others are fine.
Blurry icons: the icons near the clock at the bottom of the screen, and other icons throughout windows are blurry. It's very weird. Dell can't figure out how to fix this. (Again, this is fixed at DPI settings below 120).
So, I called Dell with all of this, and they said, "Oh, this is so weird, we're going to send you a new one." The new one just arrived, and it's EVEN WORSE! The bottom of the screen bleeds even more light, and the blurry images/icons are just like the first one I got.
FURTHERMORE, my brother got an Inspiron 9300 one year ago, and he has the same blurry icon/IE image problem. It's insane. My respect for Dell has plummeted.
The Good:
Besides the major display issues, everything else on the machine seems good so far. I was worried it would be too heavy for the daily travel of law school, but it's not that heavy at all (just put it in a lightweight laptop bag, and you're fine).... and my E1505 is totally packed with options, so it's about as heavy as you can make it.
User Rating: 1/10
Garbage product from a company w/falling stocks
Pros: Duo Processor and front end media controls
Cons: Very poor customer service /Can't undrstand tech reps
User Rating: 9/10
The heat is the only big issue on this baby
Pros: INCREDIBLY CHEAP with Dell coupons or using the Dell Outlet, the speakers are very loud, the front multimedia buttons are very handy, the battery life with the 9 cell is more than enough
Cons: The heat at the bottom of this will make your legs uncomfortable really quick.
The only real shortcoming of this is the heat. On my lap with shorts on, I could probably only stand the heat for about 10 minutes. I usually use the notebook with a pillow and after a few hours of surfing the net, I feel the surface of the pillow and it feels like I just pushed it against the heater.
All in all, it's an incredible, unbeatable deal if you want a dedicated graphics card (X1400 runs BF2 on low settings, can on medium with a few instances of choppiness, don't even think about trying high. But, I realize that playing on low settings doesn't bother me at all, now that I actually play the game) With the 9 cell, I have about 4 1/2 hours of battery life give or take 15 or 20 minutes. I LOVE IT!
User Rating: 9/10
Great for online games.
Pros: Price and performance.
Cons: None at this time.
User Rating: 9/10
A bit heavy, but a awesome laptop to get
Pros: Very fast, nice screen, discrete graphics card (major +),
Cons: Heavier than I expected as the 9-cell battery in the laptop is the cause.
What also made me to get the 15-inch is the discount I got from my college by the Dell University website. I was shocked about the discount, my budget was around $1500 for a computer so I went all the way up and fully loaded that baby. You probably won't believe it but the total price was $1513. (+tax= $1601). I don't think you will see a fully loaded laptop at that price (If someone does let me know). So you college students, go through your school to buy a laptop and you'll save a lot.
Once I first fired up that baby, I was amazed by the clarity of the screen (I went for the best UltraSharp Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife). I didn't care about the glare on the screen nor the bloatware on the laptop as it didn't affect the speed at all. One thing I was concerned about is the weight, (7.4 lb ouch) I guess I loaded too much on it. I have a 9-cell battery (0.88 lb) which is the problem with the weight but it is really helpful when staying away from the power cord for a while (a 6-cell battery (0.57 lb) can lighten the weight off a bit). It doesn't feel that bad if you transport it in a book bag itself but since I won't be carrying this laptop with me everyday, I guess its not bad to get this laptop. It also have 256MB ATI Radeon Mobilty video card which ran my games very well. Not sure if it can handle Doom 3 or Half-Life 2 but the game I have Need For Speed Underground 2, does require a good graphics card to see its full beauty but the E1505 took like it was nothing at high settings. Overall, everything on the laptop is great. The front speakers produces great sound (even without bass) when listening to music, watching a DVD or playing games. The integrated Bluetooth was useful for my Motorola Razr for transferring photos and music.
Intel Core Duo processor T2500 (2MB Cache/2GHz/667MHz FSB)
15.4 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 DIMM
100GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Windows XP Professional
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Intel PRO 3945 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
You can tell it is the top of the line E1505 notebook and to mention I got 3-year warranty and 3-year Complete Care accidental plan? Dang, I never did think it was going to be this good.
I definitely recommend this laptop to anyone who wants speed, mobile entertainment, and a nice size screen for DVD and games. For the ones who want portability, try the E1405 as I think it is also a great notebook.
I forgot to add this to my review but sometimes when you watch a DVD or play a game on it, the laptop can get very hot to the point that you don't want this on your lap. Even if you charge your laptop while using it, the AC adapter can get hot also. I don't know if the others experienced this issue but I thought I should mention this issue.
Just wanted to update the E1505 review but I have to say that after having this notebook for 3 months now, the performance is amazing. I tested a few games on it including Half-Life 2 and Need for Speed Most Wanted and the computer ran very well with surprisingly high settings thanks to the ATI graphics card. I never thought it would do that well especially with Half-Life 2. Also I definitely have to say that the picture quality is spectacular with TrueLife especially when viewing HD movie clips despite the light leakage from the screen but that doesnt bother me. If you want to see something that will blow you away, try watching a High-Definition movie clip on this computer with the TrueLife coated screen and it will definitely steal your choice for a notebook. All before, I was a Gateway person and I also have a Gateway desktop for 2 years and dont get me wrong, its powerful but the Dell notebook overthrew its performance with the fast processor and graphics card. Its also great for productivity including word processing and research which I use it for schoolwork in college. For the people who are looking for a good notebook computer this holiday season that likes to enjoy movies, music, photos and games, go for the Inspiron E1505. Trust me the performance will blow you away.
Just wanted to update the E1505 review but I have to say that after having this notebook for 3 months now, the performance is amazing. I tested a few games on it including Half-Life 2 and Need for Speed Most Wanted and the computer ran very well with surprisingly high settings thanks to the ATI graphics card. I never thought it would do that well especially with Half-Life 2. Also I definitely have to say that the picture quality is spectacular with TrueLife especially when viewing HD movie clips despite the light leakage from the screen but that doesnt bother me. If you want to see something that will blow you away, try watching a High-Definition movie clip on this computer with the TrueLife coated screen and it will definitely steal your choice for a notebook. All before, I was a Gateway person and I also have a Gateway desktop for 2 years but dont get me wrong, its powerful but the Dell notebook overthrew its performance with the fast processor and graphics card. Its also great for productivity including word processing and research which I use it for schoolwork in college. For the people who are looking for a good notebook computer this holiday season that likes to enjoy movies, music, photos and games, go for the Inspiron E1505. Trust me the performance will blow you away.
User Rating: 8/10
Great Value for your money laptop!
Pros: Fast, light, reliable, easy to use, awesome battery life
Cons: too much trial software, cheap feel to the mouse buttons, need coupons to get discounts
User Rating: 7/10
A Very Good Notebook w/ A Few Shortcomings
Pros: Great price w/ Dell's Internet Coupon, Nice Screen, Dual Core Processors, Quick Build
Cons: Quirky Video Card, Much Heavier Than I Expected, Crapware
This notebook arrived within 12 Days after placing my order online at Dell Website. It loaded windows very fast on the second boot up (about 27 seconds). I had to set up the laptop on the first bootup which took about 10 minutes. The internal wireless detector picked up a neighbor's broadband internet signal instantaneously (very nice). The screen was very glossy like and really bright. After tweaking a few settings is near perfect, however veiwing angles could be much better. Movies and certain TV shows looked beautiful and vivid.
Surfing on the internet wasn't as pleasing to the eyes as the fonts looked fuzzy and images (clip art drawingas) looked slighty blurred or grainy.
Video games didn't play that well on this notebook and that could be in part to the quirky video card which I will have to give Dell Tech Support a call about. For example, I tried playing the game The Sims 2, but the video card failed and a blue screen appear stating a "atidug3 fatal error" had occurred.
I also found Dell's Media Direct to be troublesome at first until I finally got the hang of it.
Overall, not a bad computer at all for the price and upgrades. Oh yeah, I can't forget about all the crapware I had to unistall. I kept McFee Virus Protection and Sonic Media Recording Software as I learned from a few forums how important Sonic is to burning DVD's recorded through XP Media.
User Rating: 8/10
Good piece of gear, with some flaws
Pros: Solid construction, Tech Support top notch, Beautiful LCD screen
Cons: No back-up CD's, Too much bloatware (AOL, Netzero, etc), Chasis color
User Rating: 8/10
Great, But one major quirk
Pros: Large, bright screen, Core Duo, Media Center, Card Reader, 4 usb ports, the Multimedia buttons, VGA out, Svideo out, decent battery life, 1024MB of RAM, good price
Cons: Read the review
OK, I will stop rambling, I don't even think they make this model anymore.
~Greg
User Rating: 8/10
Perfect For Light Travel, Desktop Replacement
Pros: Light enough that you can carry on a plane, feels like a solid desktop when you put it on the desk, great screen resolution, DVD-dula layer burner is a huge plus, and nice system recovery feature.
Cons: If it weighed a little less, then you could really carry this thing around without a problem.
I like to position of the ports as well. The Smart Card reader is perfect since my friend and his wife do ALOT of digital photography and this laptop will certainly make their life easier when tranferring pics. It also has bluetooth and wireless lan built in, so they can transfer pics that was as well. It a smart design for sure, very sexy, and it feels good to type on. I've had alot of Dell laptops in the past, and this one hits the sweet spot with comfort, usability, and will for most people suffice for a desktop replacement when traveling, or in school, or business.
Now, I wouldn't go crazy trying to play some some processor or graphics intense games on this thing like "Fear" but you could still have fun with a lot of basic games, and even some RTS games.
Again, it hit the sweet spot for my friend who has to travel some but needs a good desktop replacement where he can do multimedia, including DVD creation and photoediting. Hope this helps! Oh, and other similar models by HP or Compaq may be priced slightly less, but they have a horrible track record with technical support and repairs. Go with Dell. The difference pays off in the long run. I've one Dell laptop for OVER 6 years now and it still runs GREAT for all the basics like word processing, surfing, and email.
