Inspiron 1525 at Staples

anyone also realized that the headphone jacks are in the front?

 

Did you read page 5 on this thread?

 

1.Component is analog
2.Component does not carry HDCP

2 important aspects for high def... Esp. protected high def. content(like professionally authored HD DVD/Blu ray discs)

 

daniel_g, look at the guide in my signature ... lol


As for the hinges yes there the tension ones. A lot of the newer HP's have them. I think the MacBook does as well. Or it uses magnets to hold the screen down to the base, which I doubt because magnets are like drugs to computers.

My experience with those hinges is honestly terrible and nothing good. There handy because no latch and no holes on the base. I found after awhile they lose that 'snap' tension to hold the screen down to the base and the screen ends up flopping around when gravity gets it's chance. I honestly hope vendors have perfected them... Otherwise this might be the next big horrific event issue.

The front headphone jacks don't please me.. It's just gonna be something extra poking into my stomach or something when on my lap. Also it won't sit properly in my notebook stands for the couch/bed/etc... I hardly believe simply moving them solves the issue. Even the 1420's have the noise issue and there jacks are on the front.

And yea, you can use component for HD video. WHO CARES if it doesn't have HDCP, that means you can record it then - HDCP is the encryption. Only people that's bad for is the movie studios. Boo-hoo, I'm making a archival copy of my legally owned crappie movie. Why do you think HDMI is promoted by Movie studios so much? Usually they cry and ***** and whine about everything - they typically think you need to pay for the same movie over and over again. With HDMI they don't gotta worry because it's all scrambled. But I'm not gonna go into a huge debate.

I never seen anyone connecting a laptop up to a HDTV before in my life, desktops, never laptops. If you use a HDTV for a monitor, that's why they make VGA/DVI jacks.. lol

 

I like HDMI over VGA simply because sound and video is all in one cable.

 

Im sure ti will be sold on the dell sites after Jan 6th.

I would be suprised if the machine was emnbargoed and someone made a mistake by sticking it out on the shelf. It also looks like the base spec machine.
I expect the 1520 will disappear soon in favour of the 1525. The thinking is it will be announced at the CES show which starts on Jan 6th.

 

Is it me or, from the pics, does the 1525 look a bit iffy. I mean it looks thinner but it doesn't look as nice when compared to the 1520.

 

Where are the speakers on the 1520?

And on the picture showing the inspiron 1525 lettering what is the black thing at the top?

 

Thanks, didn't know there was a guide for the 1520 - I figured it would be almost the same fix so I posted the guide for the 1420..

Cam_86 also forgot the HDCP has not been fully implemented yet. The most important date for HDCP is 2012, when Hollywood starts using the ICT flag wich will prevent analog HD. But until then, analog and digital signals will output the same video quality.

EDIT: OMG, just noted you did all the work on top of your carpet. Good lord, how did you have the guts to do that lol

 

They are placed below the media control buttons, on the lower front edge of the laptop.

 

Believe it or not, I typically always just sit on the floor and do this stuff.. I find t more comfortable - LOL. You'd think static electricity would be a massive issue but not the case here.. Likely because I'm always touching the casing.

 

The component output adapter fix won't hold up if the studio decides to put additional ICT flags on the disc (DRM) The component path is not DRM proof. This solution also needs a separate analog audio path as well. Once Dell decided to put BD players in these things they really needed to offer HDMI.. and they didn't. They screwed up and they know it. Since the 1525/26 now offers HDMI this can be considered a non public admission of that fact.

We are at time of transition from s-video to HDMI. The fact is both are being used today. Over time, HDMI will indeed gain speed. But the smart thing is to offer all outputs during this time of transition. HP is smart to realize this and has all three outputs on the dv6500t, VGA, s-video and HDMI.

I understand that many will not like the headphone jacks up front... I personally don't mind it on my dv6500t. But if it eliminated the issues for dell it will be a positive move nevertheless. I doubt it will hurt their sales any. It still has the advantage of the best price point with the faster GPU offerings. I think dell would rather redirect the audio jacks path then to spend the extra time in insulating the wires. It was probably cheaper and a more consistent fix for Dell. Or they are too dumb to realize how easy it was to fix This solution does follow Dells conclusions from what their internal document had to say on this issue, " Status/Next Steps: Issue root caused to MB layout issue" Indeed it appears from that statement they were oblivious to the insulation fix.

At any rate, once they decided to add HDMI they probably had to build a whole new case/MOBO so it really didn't matter about where the jacks would go. But they really seem to be copying HP's dv6500 with latch less lid, jacks in the front, and including HDMI. All smart moves if you ask me. It puts the pressure on HP to redesign their case to fit a larger GPU.

 

again.... does the 1525 have multi media buttons ????
And i guess the speakers are mounted above the keyboard (just like the toshiba\hp pavilion models).

 

As reported by another poster on this thread and from what I can gather, the media buttons are above the speakers. They look to be part of the front lcd frame.. just below the LCD on the right side. Yeah I forgot to mention the 1525 also puts the speakers in the same area as the pavilions as well. I don't understand why some ask what the difference is.. They changed things around quite a bit. I think moving the media buttons from the front was also a good move. Look at the pics posted earlier on this thread.. you should be able to see the media buttons... its a bit blurred but still visible.

 

That's why I mentioned ICT flags in my second post, because component is not safe from that. However Hollywood won't start using them until 2012 - Last year I think they were saying 2010 but it seems that changed because they know that when that happens they will screw up everyone who bought an HDTV before 2005.

Anyhows, 2012 is fine by me. I got a BD, but to date I haven't used it to watch a single HD movie. All I needed it was to store personal HD videos and hours of anime. But if I was to watch a movie, I would probably do it on the computer itself, without hooking up to an HDTV(which I lack anyways) thus making both the HDMI and component video output useless for me lol

About the front jacks, I'm just curious, dell sells docks(more like USB hubs with padded top) that are meant to be placed below the back of the laptop:


That's actually a good design, it not only saves space, but it also helps reduce heat and makes typing a lot more confortable. With the jacks on the front I think this type of dock is no good anymore. Can anyone with a 1420 confirm this by placing either a dock, or a book under the back of the laptop and try to hook up a headphone?

 

So a component cable, coming out from a 7-pin Svideo cable will look as good as a pure digital signal?

ALL analog signals will have interference, ESPECIALLY if they all share 1 cable at a point. Squeezing 3 cables of video and 1 of audio on something the width of a pencil is obviously going to have a lot of colour bleed. It'll still be HD, but it will clearly be of the poorest possible quality.

 

Yeah, according to those that bought the proper adapter they say it looks really good. I know its almost impossible to tell the difference from regular component and hdmi. But the 7-pin S-video seems to be stretching it. Its a work around for those that don't have a choice. If you are serious about outputting HD from a notebook to a HDTV then wait for the 1525. That way you can run both video/audio with one cable and not have to worry about DRM or getting additional adaptors. Although, you will still have to buy a HDMI cable.. nobody includes those.

 

I don't understand the reasoning. In the case of HDMI, it doesn't matter how many pins, or how wide the connector is, the signal ends up going through the cable which is no thicker than a pencil as well. This wouldn't matter if digital noise didn't exist, but it does, and if present it's often worse than analog since the data is not dissorted, but completely lost. Take for example the 'morse code' that some people hear in their headphone every now and then. If the noise reached the video card instead of the sound card, trust me, you wouldn't be pleased with what you would see on the screen(maybe something like green artifacts popping out of nowhere at some points).

It doesn't matter how close the pins are next to each other, they will usually not interfere with each other. 99% of the nosie comes from otside sources, and most of it is 60Hz which is easily filtered out since component signal runs at about 8MHz to 10MHz.

In any case, if the distance between the output and the input is small, signal noise will most likely not be the factor between the quality of HDMI vs Component provided you have high quality cables. The most important consideraton will be the quality of the circuitry that scales the input in the TV. If you want to read further about this, click here: http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/122868.html

 

According to engadget's article they are now listed on Australian's dell site.

 

Just tried to configure one from dell.com.au
Only one processor choice(T7250)
Only integrated graphics(x3100)
WXGA and WXGA+ LCD
No blue ray

On the other hand, it has more color options than the 1520, inluding glossy ones :O

 

Looks like they threw in some new colors and a gloss finish to some. I do like those options.

 

Here is the 1525 at the Dell new Zealand site:

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=nz&cs=nzdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

It lists the HDMI along side the intel integrated graphics x3100. This looks thinner then the 1520 and allot like a HP dv6500t. Like maybe its sharing the same case? I am beginning to think I am about to eat my own words.. but this may not be a 1520 replacement? If this is the same size as the HP then they won't be able to fit a 8600gt card in this. From the pics on the new zealand web site it looks amazingly like my HP dv6500t. I mean scary similar. I am beginning to have doubts as to whether the 1525 will have the space inside to house a 8600GT card.

 

i think you'll see more options added to the 1525 as time goes on, right now that just looks like the base level machine.
They are probably waiting to set pricing of the penryn cpu options once they get an idea of what their rivals are offering.

 

They made the 1525 a lot smaller than the 1520 looking at the dimensions. Damnit! haha Whatever I wouldn't have been able to get a good deal if they weren't phasing out the 1520.

 

ahhh it looks better thinner.

 

If you look closely and compare it with XPS m1530, they have the same casing, only the lcd lid is different. However, m1530 has only 3 usb and no modem port, and 1525 is better than m1530 with 4 usb and modem port.
I also believe 1525 will have the option for 8600 GT since m1530 has the option for it. They share the same casing, so I think it's possible.
I think 1525 is going to be popular with thinner casing and attractive design.

 

m1530

1525

 

To be honest, seeing it on the Dell site.. Pisses me off - lol.. Like before I didn't care but now - Wow I really hate Dell. Like do you understand where I'm coming from here? Here I was expecting the 1520 to last at least a year or so - then I expected better to come out naturally - after it lived it's typical product life cycle. - But - This damn thing didn't live long enough to see it's first birthday and we got a shiny new one just ready to kick the 1520 off to the side.

Looking over the pictures, pretty much every design flaw as far as the way the lines and edges go - there completely gone in the 1525. Everything is finally flushed out and smooth.. It's less bland and actually more pleasing to my eyes to look at it's lines.

Although, the port layout is terrible - it appears everything is on the sides.. Bad news if you use an external mouse. Things like AC adapters, networking/phone cables should be at the back.. All the video outputs should be together, not spread out. Left handed people are gonna hate this, VGA, AC, EITHERNET, HDMI and USB cables all popping out the left side - YaY for thick cables... That's gonna be fun to use a mouse with all that going on.

And for all the people thinking it won't fit a 8600, yes it will be able too.. It's a little thicker looking then the M1530 - so it should have plenty of room.

And people mentioned it's identical to the HP systems? You're almost 100% right. It's entirely a solid rip off of the HP systems. Right now to the design options for the lid.. lol

Don't get me wrong, all the new options between colors and patterns is great..

I'm just speaking out of anger right now because I'm more pissed off about the perfected designed case quality compared to the 1520.. Could care less about any of the pattern or hardware upgrades/options.

I feel like I just got slapped in the face..

 

Interesting..

This morning from the front page of the notebook section on the UK site it said there were 7 Inspiron models, (recently its only said 5), click the link and it only shows 5 models, not 7. The menu page has now reverted to showing 5, not 7.

Although the direct links work both the Aus and NZ sites do not show the 1525 if you go in from the front page.

B2 : Its the way the cookie crumbles, sure you coulda waited for a 1525 if you had known, but then you could wait for the next gen processors due out Q2/Q3, then of course you could wait for the sales in the fall/christmas.. then you could wait until the next big thing comes out.. before you know it you've waited 2 years, spent the laptop cash on other things and still don't have a laptop. Wait 6-8months then you can laugh at all the 1525 owners when the next models come out
Take a minute to think how I feel, a little over 2 years ago I spent £750 (currently $1500US) on my Acer, its been a good machine, until the inverter went and took out some of the graphics stuff on the motherboard, its now unusable and also an uneconomic repair - expensive mistake!

 

I just had a talk with a dell germany sales agent and I asked him about the inspiron 1525.
He told me that the 1525 will be released in germany between mid-january and the end of january. Concerning the graphic card options he said that, just like for the 1520 right now, the 1525 will only have the option for an onboard x3100. Furthermore he told me that after a meeting last week all salesmen were advised to tell customers asking for the graphic options on the 1525, that there only will be the onboard solution.
I don't know what to think of this. Maybe he just told me this for me to go for an xps1530 right now because of the enhanced graphic option. But in the end he could be right...

 

Thats what I was thinking. That dell is going to market the 1525 as a multimedia machine/non gaming laptop. My question is, can the X3100 integrated graphics even handle a BD player? Why even bother putting HDMI on this if they can't even offer a BD drive? If Dell really wants to take a bite out of HP's market share they really need to keep the beefy 86xx GT and BD options. This would be the new standard for this class if they did.

The wording on the NZ site kind of hints to how Dell will market this, at least initially: " INSPIRON 1525 an exceptional wireless movie and multimedia experience, the slim 15.4 notebook"

Looks like dell may be protecting 1530 market share and the higher XPS profit margins by leaving out the dedicated gpu. I mean, lets face it, if it had the 86xx gt it would no doubt steal a ton of 1530 sales being this is looking pretty close to 1530's form factor.

If this is the case, then Dell will once again make a stupid mistake. First they put a BD in the 1520 with no HDMI, and now HDMI with no BD? Lets hope Dell is not that stupid..... again.

 

Some obeservations:

1. if the 1525 will be released later in other countries than Austrailia, and the 1520 will still be around for penryn, that means BIOS UPDATES!!!!!!! cross your fingers.

2. Hey, the 1520 might have lived a short life, but look at what you got: dedicated graphics on the cheaper inspiron line. And just a side note, on the 1520 you can still listen to music and control it with the screen closed...and therefore off.

3. I do think that the 8400 GS will be out for the 1525 later...because if not, this is the most over priced laptop ever...take me to best buy now.

 

Or maybe even 8600 GS?

 

The 1520's A03 BIOS update added 'support for new Intel processors'. Nothing new has came out since the 1520's release that I know of, besides Penryn which is due soon.

My fingers are crossed 3 times over and back again... lol

HI DesertNM, Dell are very stupid... We should all know that by now atleast.. But I agree completely. If they drop dedicated graphics their morons. I don't see how they'd loose money, either way someones buying a Dell, which you'd think they prefer over people buying something else and not paying the premium for the XPS. Know what I'm saying?

 

not sure I believe the german dell dude, in the uk the 1520 lost the dedicated graphics option a week or so before christmas, as if they were running down the model. I think the 1525 will be available with more processor and graphics options once they are officially announced and added to the dell sites properly (both the NZ and Aus site do not show the 1525 on the menu/options pages.)

 

ALright, I went to my local staples and checked it out. I got a video coming in just a sec. Let me just edit it and its on youtube.let me just confirm that Its much thinner, has no screen latches and all the ports are on the left side of the laptop.

the first hand video of the dell1525 is coming right up.
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+rep for the video, nicely done sir. now my question is, would you sell your 1520 to get the 1525?

 

Aw Hell No... lol



XDViPeR, great stuff +rep. Oh, did people happen to look at you funny for video taping a computer in the store? lmao.. I can just imagine the looks I'd get..

 

Is it just me or does the general chassis design of inspiron 1525 look extremely similar to inspiron 1420 and vostro 1400? Little things like the placement of the blue LEDs, speaker grille, dvd drive shape...

 

i think you are right, it looks like a grown 1400/1420.

this is good, because the design of these were quite modern, the 1520 wasn't a real progress to 6400.


there should be no doubt of dedicated graphic options on the 1525, because there can be made a lot of differentiation to XPS1530 apart from weight an sice: real powerfull graphic on 1530 - 8400 at least on 1525, LED-option on 1530 - just LCD on 1525, just glossy-screen on 1530 - non-glossy option on 1525...

if i think of all this, the 1525 is not to close to 1530.
for me the 1525 would be the better choice, it's cheaper, i don't play on the notebook an i hate clossy-screens...

 

Andrew (site super mod) already hinted on the home page thread that BD might come later. Personally, I can't think of one laptop that can run BD off an Intel integrated X3100. If this is to get BD, then I agree, the 1525 will probably get the 8400m but don't expect more then that.

 

If you want to know what it really looks like, its a HP dv6700t. The resemblance is scary. If dell throws in a 8400m later on, the clone will be complete. But yes, with the speakers behind the keyboard and jacks up front.. its also very similar to the 1420/1400.