Inspiron 1525 at Staples

I was at Staples this morning getting a last minute gift for my husband and I happened to see the new Inspiron 1525. It is a nice looking machine, thinner it appears than the 1520. There also were signs for the 1420 (blue cover) and XPS 1330, but neither was on display. Hopefully Dell will have good luck selling these out of Staples, it is nice to see them in real life before buying.

 

Great news!

Does it have coloured lid? All-grey inside when opened up? Is it wedge-shaped with the rear thicker than the front? Do you remember the graphics card options?

 

All excellent questions! It had a black lid, webcam, either a 120 or 160 GB hard drive and 1GB RAM. I didn't notice a real wedge shape, but Staples has their laptops pretty fixed in position, hard to tell. I have no idea about the graphics card, the information card had limited data on it, and I didn't have a ton of time. The price was $749 (or $789) so my quess mostly entry level stuff. Oh and it was silver on the inside. The other difference is that the media buttons that used to be on the front are moved to the insider right corner... and they are not true buttons but a flat panel activated by touch, like the XPS 1330 has. It looks great!

Is is truly easy to add RAM? Our family needs another laptop, and I would consider the 1525 but will probably wait and order from Dell. I would like a different color, probably a stupid reason, but it is the truth.

 

has the 1525 even been released yet it isnt on the dell website?

 

I know, that is why I did a double take this morning. It should be announced soon.

 

Hmm. This sounds a bit odd.

Surely they'd announce the 1x25 to the public before releasing it to retail....

 

pics or it didnt happen!

 

yeah and they always release products on their website before releasing them in stores

 

@nizzy she cant take pics because it was in a store not in her house!!

 

Depends on the model. I don't know about the 1525, but for the 1520, one of the two DIMMS required removing the keyboard, which is a bit challenging, but the other DIMM only required unscrewing the memory cover beneath the laptop.
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=E8658757FD147018E030030ABD622FB2&l=en&s=dhs#6


BTW, Staples would install the RAM if you bought it there when buying the laptop, but might charge you extra.

 

Its Pretty Easy Buy A Single 2gb Ram Stck And Install It Form Beneath The Laptop. No Need To Disasemble The Pc And Remove The Keyboard

 

This is true only if she only wants 2.5 GB, since the laptop comes with two half GB modules.

 

That sounds a lot like the 1530...only cheaper.

 

Are dells being sold in the USA only? THeres a staples store in my city in UK so im wondering if its also in UK.

 

I dont think staples in the UK will be selling dell machines as Dell recently did a deal with DSG (Dixons Stores Group) to sell dell stuff in their shops, so you'll find them in currys, comet, pc world etc, meant to start selling them in January sometime.

 

yeah i heard the same thing

 

lol.. I'm under the idea the 1525 is for the retail market. Not a 1520 replacement.

Either way, I doubt that Dell would be showing off something that doesn't technically exist as of now. Unless they announced it publicly ?

PICTURES DAMNIT!.. I'm with Nizzy..

 

Google "inspiron 1525" and a few pictures will turn up.

It looks really ugly to me.

 

that's what I think.......its a cheaper version that's in disguise as an updated 1520

 

I know what it looks like, im saying everyone has a camera phone these days and could take a pic to prove you saw it. I could have said the same thing, but without proof its just hot text on a forum.

 

To be honest.. Using Google searches to find credible proof of things is really poor judgment/advice.

Anyone can easily Photoshop/fake an image. I can make it look like I'm playing Crysis on 1526 while in a volcano, riding a elephant as he is about to jump off a diving board into a pool of peanuts.

With that aside, good for whoever that does see a 1526.. lol

My opinion, why the hell are their stuffing stores with a product that doesn't exist, nor has been announced. It's technically just a rumor at this point in time.

 

i think there probably is a 1525 coming out because of all the returns they keep getting each time someone orders lol

 

I just did a Google search for kicks. Guess what I got?! Avatars, signature pictures, of all the members on THIS forum. And pictures of every other Dell machine. Not a single 1525/1526. I guess Google doesn't like me.

 

in that case why have they crippled the specs of the 1520 and completely withdrawn the 1521 ? The 1520s is time is up.

All the pictures I have seen of the 1525 do not match the OPs description (touch buttons etc). They are from the press releases from back in November , so I guess we have to wait until January to see the real thing.

 

I made that speculation because I've seen nothing about it at all now suddenly people see it in the retail.

Either way I don't care.. We're all doomed to upgrading within weeks after buying damn computers.

 

Yeah, thats probably why the 1525 will also offer HDMI.

 

http://www.lesdelliens.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6754

 

I went back to Staples today and took pictures, not great ones, but "proof". I am not sure why I felt the need, but then again, I can't really believe that people think I just made this up. I am not sure how to post images, hopefully this works...

 

Nice pictures!

I'll keep my Inspiron 1520 anyday.

 

Whats the difference?

 

Good find. Looks exactly the same as the 1520.

 

Hmm, is that the speaker grille above the Inspiron logo?? And is it me or I can't find the latches and "latch holes"?

 

What an odd way to roll out a new platform... Hopefully they change the prices when it hits dell.ca, so a well configed inspiron is cheaper then an equally configed xps 1530.

 

An Inspiron 1525 with T2330 and 1 GB RAM??? seems like they downgrading the current inspiron (even if it the base level).Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Well the current Inspiron 1520 starts with the T2310 Pentium Dual-Core, so the T2330 is a little bit of an upgrade.

 

Thanks for the update.
Actually in India it starts with T5450 so I was a bit confused.

 

Where are the multi media buttons on 1525 ?

 

Thanks for the pics!

 

oooh! Nice pictures!

 

Soooooo..........any speculation on what's up with the 1525 and why they would be releasing it at Staples before anywhere else in the world apparently?

I am looking to upgrade my current Inspiron 9400 but am not satisfied with all the reports coming from the 1520 owner's camp and don't really need the power of an XPS so I was waiting for the release of the 1525 (even if it is exactly like the 1520 there is a chance they solved some headphone jack issues, hdmi, etc.)

I had assumed that the fact that they have been modifying the dell website (dropping the 1501 and the 1521) meant that they were getting ready for the new inspirons.

So show of hands.....who thinks the new inspirons (1525/1526) will show up in january and who thinks the 1525 is a purely brick and mortar retail machine (which seems odd to me).

 

bensmom243, thanks for making me feel like a huge dick for doubting you. LOL - But honestly? That's such a screwy move... Releasing a system in retail without an announcement, press release, nothing on the blogs nor site, techs claiming ti doesn't exist etc. Leave it to Dell to think ' out of the box'.

It looks the same as far as the design goes. Slight wedge shape, everything is rearranged, and looks like we got 'tension' function hinges. Which I think suck because those hinges loose there snap and become floppy as hell. I'm curious to know if they did any upgrades to the GPU. Everything else I could care less about.


By the way, were the screens grainy? LMFAO

 

I guess they just changed the number for verifying where or who purchased their system like E1505 and 6400 a while back. I haven't seen 1520 in person so I wouldn't know, but this would be my guess. And I agree, they really miss out on some advertising opportunity on such a quite release.

 

I think the store put it out ahead of release date...It happens but its rare. I submitted this thread to engadget, so we will see if they do anything with it.

 

That's a possibility. Toys'R'Us has released video games ahead of time before.

 

Yeah... except dell has not officially announced the 1525, let-alone made a release date

I guess they are just going to do what apple does when they make updates... Chose a date to switch-over to the new hardware(without telling anyone) and changing the orders for those who's machines have not been made to the new platform.

Yeah, it ****s the casual consumer, but it wont slow sales down(people waiting an extra week/month for the new model) and they'll prob. only get a few complaints and demands for exchanges.

 

I think they will show up on Dells site/retail in January. This is not a brick and mortar machine. This is an update/fix for the 1520. I understand that some people have managed to fix their headphone jack static issues by taking apart their 1520's.. but for most, it has meant many returns and replacement systems, replacement MOBO's you name it. The headphone jack layout is in front now.. any bets if the headphone jack issue is still there? And how come there is no info on the updates for 1420's or 1720's? If the 1520 gets the upgrade ahead of the the other two.. then I am assuming the timing of the 1525/26 is more of a fix then an update. Hopefully Dell will upgrade their 14" and 17" inspirons so they all have HDMI. Offering BD on these machines.. as they do now with no HDMI is stupid and dumb.

 

cool.....I figured they would be showing on the site soon, but I have been out of the computer buying racket for a few years now so I didn't know if this manner of releasing was commonplace.

It's good to see everyone is as perplexed as I am.

B2TheEYo mentioned 'tension' function hinges. what are they and how do they differ from the current 1520 design? Do they really get floppy?

 

Dell uses them on their 1420/1400 and 1330 laptops (and maybe more too). There is no physical latch, but the lid is stiff to lift up so it holds it shut with tension. If you cant find a dell laptop to see this on, many hp's have it (you can see this in a store if you check one out).

 

If those are the only reasons they designed a new system, then Dell is dumb.

1- The headphone jack noise, as someone on this forum found out, is merely a 5 cent fix(adding insulating tape to the sound card screws):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=197984&page=2
A forum member came up with that. I'm sure a Dell engineer could have come up with something better that didn't require moving the sound card to the front. Btw, anyone else hate front headphone jacks?

2- Most people wouldn't buy a blue-ray disk player without a HDMI or DVI output. However, they don't realize that component video gives the exact same quality provided the cables that are used have good shielding(the $80 difference between the radioshack and Monster brands makes a big difference). Dell offers a component video adapter for the 1520 and it's been proven to handle at least 1080i(nobody on NBR has tried 1080p, but a review on Dell's site says 1080p works fine):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=195224

I realize the latter is not Dell's fault, but they could have noticed that most people will never use the VGA output. Instead of redesigning a brand new system, they could have offered an option to replace VGA with HDMI

 

LOL!!!!!