Prime Notebook Computer Review

The Inspiron E1505 is Dells widescreen notebook featuring the impressive new Intel Core Duo CPU. Outside it looks just like the Inspiron 6000 it replaces, but the new hardware inside makes for impressive performance. It is quite customizable and available at a competitive price. The Inspiron E1505 is sturdy enough to feel comfortable lifting it by one corner. It is comparable to Sony and others but does not come near the solid IBM ThinkPad line. But there is a gap at the bottom of the LCD and this area also gets quite warm. Proccesor the Core Duo is fast. More software is being written to take advantage of multiple CPU cores, many common applications do not. The overall responsiveness of the Dual Core machine is impressive. For example Photoshop tests reveal that the Core Duo is almost exactly TWICE as fast as a single core Pentium M of the same clock speed for common tasks photographers do. The big 5400 RPM drive performs well, although a 7200 RPM drive would be even better.

Dell Inspiron E1505 specs :

Processor : Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 at 2.0 GHz per core.
Display : 15.4″ Ultrasharp SXGA+
Memory : 512MB DDR2 533MHz RAM
Graphics : Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Hard drive : 100GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive : 8X DVD
Battery : 53 watt-hour 6-cell battery

The screen is listed at having significantly higher viewing angle, higher resolution, and slightly higher brightness. It seems about on par with most other mid- to high-end notebooks. The screen is very sharp with nice saturated colors and high contrast. The keyboard has good tactile feel and is very firm. There is almost no flex, except at the rear where the whole notebook casing flexes in when pushed hard. For the operating systems, you can use Windows XP Media Center Edition. Everything is about the same as XP Home for most purposes. Dell also includes Media Direct software that can be accessed without booting into windows. It is very fast startup time. The E1505 contains the standard array of newer, non-legacy ports. The four USB 2.0 ports are split between the rear and right side of the notebook, which is much better than all in one place. There is no old parallel printer port or serial ports.

For the wireless, the Dell wireless 1390 802.11g card picked up signals well and connected to a variety of local wireless networks. Sadly, the E1505 lacks the DVI port of its big brother.The Dell E1505 is quiet. Only under heavier tasks does the fan does come on. But with three speeds of the fan, the lowest is very quiet. Unfortunately, running benchmarks will often cause the fan to quickly bypass first and kick into second and then third gear. After a while it will slow back down and stay there. If the fan is already running at a lower speed when the benchmark starts, it usually won’t speed up.

After about two hours, both sides of the palm rest became warm, but not at all hot. The keyboard and area under the screen generated more heat. As with all notebooks, heat is more of an issue when used on an insulating lap. Running heavier tasks does not generate noticeably more heat. The computer will cool down for 15 minutes. With the smaller option 6 cell battery and a powerful new processor,the Dell lasted longer than expected. At maximum brightness, it played a DVD for 2 hours and 30 minutes. Under normal light tasks, with WiFi on and almost maximum brightness, the battery lasted almost three hours. The optional 9-cell battery, which is the same physical size as the 6-cell, should give about 50% more run time.

Finally, for the conclusion the Dell Inspiron e1505 is a fairly run-of-the mill notebook for a bargain price, but it offers a few surprises. The 2 GHz Core Duo CPU is very fast. Battery life was good, with the optional 9-cell battery was recommended. The E1505 was good in non 3D applications. It have very respectable life battery, quiet under normal use and moostly cool running. It is also have good keyboard and speakers. But E1505 not available with high end graphics,must get spendier XPS line for that. And have no non-glossy option for high resolution or expanded viewing angle.