Inspiron 1545 Questions

Hey guys,

I've included my build below, but I'd like to know what else I should do in order to get the most out of my purchase. Any help would be appreciated whether it be key drivers to download or cool widgets to get for my desktop!

Inspiron 1545, Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, 2.4GHz, 1066Mhz, 3ML2 Cache
3GB, DDR2, 800MHz 2 Dimm
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330
Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 Home Basic Edition, English
9-cell Primary Battery

Anything else I should mention?

 

That looks like a pretty sweet build. Eventually you may want to upgrade the 3GB RAM to 4GB, but that's cheaper to do on your own than going through Dell. You'd also need 64-bit Vista to take advantage of that. Luckily, Dell has all the necessary drivers for the Inspiron 1545 for both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Vista on their downloads page, so you're in luck there.

As for desktop widgets, there's not really too much of that kind of stuff for Windows, but if I'm not mistaken, yours should come pre-installed with the Dell Dock, and Vista includes the Windows Sidebar, both of which are pretty neat. If for some reason yours doesn't have the Dock, you can scoop it up at http://www.delldock.com

 

Yeah, I believe my order status page mentioned the Dell Dock, so that should come pre-loaded as you suggested. I just wasn't sure if people created cool widgets for Windows like they do Mac, guess not.

As for the Drivers, once my Laptop arrives today, I only have to go to Dell's download page in order to get the latest drivers for my system? That's easy enough, lol.

Yeah -- I thought about paying for the 4th GB of ram but thought it would be much cheaper to just grab from a Fry's Electronics or NewEgg instead. I also wasn't sure if they were sending the 64-bit or 32-bit, so I played it safe by just getting the maximum supported ram for the lower bit offering.

I don't think it's too shabby of a build for $695 -- especially with the gaming capabilities it has. It seemed like too decent of a deal to pass up with that 20% off promotion they're running on this model.

 

Pretty nice.

But if your getting the max supported RAM, you need a 64bit OS to use it all.

 

Don't get me wrong, there are some neat desktop modding tools and custom themes, some of which look pretty nice. You just have to pay for most of them

Your drivers should be pre-installed. When I got my notebook, everything was installed and ready to go right out of the box. But if you ever reinstall Windows or reformat, then the Dell site is good for getting all your drivers back.

I would assume it comes with 32-bit. Talk to Dell and get them to send you a 64-bit disk. Some say they cooperate and just ask for your shipping address. When I did that, I had to haggle with the CS rep on the phone for a good 20 minutes before she agreed to send the disk. Luck of the draw, I suppose, but you should be able to get the disk for free eventually.

That's definitely an excellent price.

 

TBH, this graphics card will not be able to play new games like crysis. You need a mid range graphics card to do that. Overall the system is good except the gpu. If you are not into gaming then this laptop should do everything you need fine.

 

It's not that bad...it ranks just slightly below the 3450 according to benchmarks, so it should be able to play most games decently. The Source engine will run beautifully, I guarantee that. Buy the Orange Box if you don't have it.

 

It's going to play everything I want to play. I have no need to play Crysis, I will just stick to Killzone 2 on my PS3. However, it should play all of the other titles I'm looking to play.

 

Alrighty, initial impressions.

I'm LOVING the HD 4330 for my gaming needs. I've been playing The Witcher for the last few hours at high settings and full resolution. Absolutely phenomenal game thus far!

Running my laptop on sysreq, it shows I can meet most games recommended settings from Left 4 Dead to Dead Space (which is odd, since I didn't think I could hit this one). I know SysReq isn't 100% and is more like a "guideline" than sure thing (kind of like Wikipedia), but it's still impressive to say the least if you know what I mean.

So far the only issue I have with this laptop is the fact that the N key squeeks when I click it. Very annoying.

 

Glad to hear you're having fun with it, and your graphics work well. If you can play Left 4 Dead, as you say, I recommend it. It's an excellent game.

I'm sure Dell will replace that under warranty if you tell them about it. If not, you could get a new keyboard from an online reseller and install it yourself, if you're comfortable. If it's anything like the keyboard on my Studio 1535, then it's a very easy process.

 

Yup, people have been slamming the HD 4330 , but it's actually not that bad. I haven't got mine yet, it's coming in the next few days; but I've played on my friends and his did manage quite well.

Unfortunately he does not have Crysis to give that a test, and I could not be bothered to go back to mine, then back to his to test it out. I will have to be patient and wait the last few days for my dell to arrive.

I'll run it through some benchmarking tools when I do; I've said it before in another post, but there seem to be few and far actual benchmark results for this GPU.

Glad you are happy with your purchase!

 

Yeah, I was a huge L4D player on 360, but recently sold my 360 for bills, lol.

No kidding, this machine is very rock solid. I actually adore it a lot more than anything else I've used, including a Mac (lol).

 

hi Fragilex i think we should do a 1545 owners thread cuz i dont see it here. and i think you and i are the only ones that order/own one!!.

mine is pretty basic

C2d T6400 2.0Ghz 2MB, 800MHz
3gb ram 800MHZ
320 GB ram
intel 4500mhd (yea i know )

i got it for $549.00 w/o tax and shipping

the only game i wish it could play is L4D ( that game is like Crack!!!)

i already have a 2gb mini sd for ready boost thats gonna be awsome!!!.

 

Lol, I'm the thread starter and get completely left out of this?

 

sorry so 3ppl with 1545 lest make the owners thread then

 

Actually, I think I'm one of the first if not the first to make a thread about ordering a 1545 here. The 1545 I ordered for my girlfriend arrived at her home on 3/17. Ordered on 3/4 or 3/7 I believe.

 

Not sure how the mini SD will do for readyboost; it's all related to it's read/write speed. If you go for something like the Sandisk Extreme III then you stand a better chance of it seeing a better performance boost rather than just your standard SD card. I've got one lying around somewhere and I'll give it a go when my laptop arrives.

I'm not sure about the whole 1545 "owners club" as it were. I do however think a full review is in order, as soon as I have mine that is something else I plan on doing - in which I'll try to include a load of benchmarks etc.

The only problem with reviews & benchmarks for ANY dell is that they are fairly customisable. Therefore, what you see with your 1545, I might not see with mine. Still, I think it will be a worthwhile activity, even if it is only to cover things like dimensions, options available, position of vents, common issues etc.

 

i order mine 4/8 ESD is 4/30
but i enter dell to make a new CTO and it sais ESD 4/24 i was like !!!
i want it to ship now!!!!!!!!!!!

im gonna try mi mini SD, it was laying around so i think is worth the try.

i just want a thread so if a have an issue i dont need to make a new thread or something like that.

 

I understand; might be an idea. Not many of us around yet though.

Hope yours arrives soon, hope mine does too - should be in the next day or so as it's with the courier now.....Business Post, dealt with them before so hopefully shouldn't be too bad - assuming it's not got balls'd up between Walsh Western & Business Post.

 

OK, I set up an "official Inspiron 1545 owners thread"

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=373780