![]() ![]() You also get a 2.0 megapixel webcam as standard and a handy little remote that sits in the 54mm ExpressCard slot.Ĭonnection options include HDMI, D-SUB and S-Video for video, four USB ports and FireWire, along with staples such as Ethernet and modem ports. Our system came with Intel Draft N Wireless, 10/100 Fast Ethernet and Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR, so you’re not missing out on much. This may upset some people, but if you’re after discrete graphics then the XPS range is where you want to be and a large majority of people simply don’t need or want a laptop to play games on, especially when the integrated graphics generates some tangible improvements in battery life. Graphics, as with the whole range, is supplied by Intel’s GMA X3100 integrated solution and there are no other options available. This is supported by 2GBs of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, with a 160GB 7200rpm SATA HDD. Our sample system sits somewhere towards the upper end of the range, with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 that runs at 2.0GHz with 2MB L2 Cache and a 800MHz Front Side Bus. But, though the 1525 is noticeably cheaper, it doesn’t look or feel like a cheap laptop, so you needn’t feel embarrassed to own one – quite the contrary, in fact.Īs ever, there’s a fairly extensive selection of options on hand, with CPU offerings going all the way back to a 1.6GHz T2330 to the more recent T8100 and T8300 45nm Penryn CPUs – both of which can be read about in our Inside Mobile Penryn feature. You don’t get a slot-loading optical drive and the battery packs lack the useful little battery meter that the premium line has. Dell has also borrowed a trick from HP by sinking the touch pad into the chassis, and the keyboard is truly excellent, with light, crisp and responsive keys that make typing a breeze.Īgain, the keyboard is identical to that found on the XPS range, but not everything is the same. Inside things look good too with nice textured sliver plastic and handy touch-sensitive media controls ripped more or less directly from the XPS range. Its new slimmer and lighter frame is a massive step forward, while the selection of lid designs is exhaustive. Overall, initial impressions of the Inspiron 1525 are almost entirely positive. Our sample has the Street design (above, on the left) probably the worst of the lot though a couple of them look pretty decent. Standard options are for either a matte black or glossy white finish, while you can also choose from pink, brown, red, green or yellow Microsatin finishes or a new selection of designs called Commotion, Street, Chill and Blossom. There’s also an even larger array of lid finishes to choose from. This is a very decent weight for a notebook of this size, while the quoted thickness of 25mm to 37mm, front to back, means it feels slim and elegant. Dell quotes a starting weight of 2.7kg with a four-cell battery, but we found it weighed exactly that with a standard six-cell battery. Indeed, the new XPS notebooks were very much the response to such criticisms and Dell seems to have taken the lessons learnt there and applied them to its replacement, the Inspiron 1525.Īn entry level 15.4in notebook, the 1525 shares a very similar wedge shaped base to that of the XPS M1530. Though it introduced some new elements, such as a range of colourful finishes, it was bulky and uninspiring in a time when notebooks were becoming slimmer and easier to handle. But let it not be said that Dell has had things all its own way, because there have been a few turkeys lodged in there too – the XPS M1730 springs to mind.Īnother underwhelming effort was the previous Inspiron laptop, the Inspiron 1520. ![]() Its new range of XPS notebooks, the M1330 and M1530 were both great machines, while its desktop offerings, like the XPS 420, haven’t been half bad either. Dell has been on something of a roll recently. ![]()
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