Inspiron 1501 vs vostro 1000

A bit of a Cheap Man's Dilemma Here...

I ordered an Inspiron 1501 for $499 from Dells' home division, but noticed there is a Vostro 1000 from SB for the same price and nearly identical specs.

The only major difference is that the Inspiron comes with a TrueLife™(glossy) screen, while the Vostro comes with Anti-Glare Display. Vostro also comes without the junk trialware, and is available in XP instead of Vista.

are there any other differences between the two I should be aware of? Build, support, etc. How do the LCD displays compare?

It will be used mainly around the house for web surfing, used as a child pacifying device on roadtrips, and some other light applications here and there.

General specs:
AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 Dual-Core processor TK-53 (1.7GHz/512KB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 Dimm
80G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW (Inspiron only has a Cd burner/Dvd reader, which is enough for me)
ATI Radeon® Xpress 1150 256MB HyperMemory™ (integrated)
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Wi-Fi Mini Card
4 cell battery (Inspiron has a 6 cell battery - a must have for me)

 

Vostros' build quality is supposed to be identical to the new Inspirons, which made a step up from the old ones (which include the 1501). I'd say that the build quality is going to be better, but don't hold me to that 100%.

Small Business support is supposed to be better than Home/Home Office support as well, I think.

 

If you look closely at the photos you’d see that Vostro 1000 has the same chassis as the 1501, since internal components are also identical I’m guessing it’s the same notebook in black (like the new inspiron 1420/1520 and Vostro 1400/1500), therefore build quality will be identical. However after sales support could be different.

I’d pick Vostro because it its new and black (for the same price).

 

If the Vostro is the same price for the same configuration, I would also recommend getting that since the small business line is supposed to offer superior customer service. Also, the 1501 is not a notebook I find particularly attractive, and I think it would look much better dressed all in black. In addition, I prefer XP, and I dislike glossy screens and preinstalled programs, so if this laptop was for me it would be an easy choice.

 

If you spring for another $100 you can get the Vostro 1500 smart value package with core2duo, 1gb, 120gb, 8400M-gs and a DVD burner.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/hot_offers_nb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

 

Nebediah makes a good point, if another $100 is not an issue for you, the 1500 will be faster, have better graphics, a better build quality, more ports, and you can make your own choice for the glossy or non glossy screens and xp or vista.
Unless you really need a budget machine, the 1500 is worth more than $100 more than the 100, so it is an excellent deal currently.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. You made the decision harder instead of easier

I really like the specs on that 1500, even if it is beyond my self imposed budget. It seems like an excellent deal. I'll have to rethink it. Has it been offered for less than $599 yet?
The 1501 was offered for $449 a couple of weeks ago, and in a slightly better configuration than what I ordered for $499...

 

The $599 price has been the same since the Vostro launched on the 10th of July. I don't know if Dell small business offers coupon discounts like they do on their home computer lines... and I can't see that price getting much lower.

 

Also, if you're just looking for an outright bargain on a computer you might want to check out forums like slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com. You could probably find a sweet deal in the $400 range without too much effort.

 

I purchased a Inspiron 1501 from Dell for $374 and I absolutely love it including the white bumpers.