Inspiron 1545 to have 16:9 ratio screen?

This is interesting! (Sorry if posted before)

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/12/08/dell.inspiron.1545.leak/

Dell has unwittingly revealed a major revision to its Inspiron notebooks courtesy of a company-hosted technology guide discovered late yesterday. The Inspiron 1545 will be one of Dell's first truly mainstream notebooks with a 16:9 aspect ratio display and should switch from today's 15.4-inch LCD to a more movie-friendly 15.6-inch, 1366x768 (WXGA) screen with the option of an LED backlight. It should also mark a jump to Centrino 2 that carries anything from a 2GHz Celeron to a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo and will bring GMA 4500MHD integrated video as a result.
Little else is known from the leak, though the baseline RAM will be doubled to 1GB while the enclosure appears headed to a darker, glossy look versus the silver tones of the existing Inspiron 1525. Dell also makes clear plans to ship the system with an Ubuntu Linux option in addition to the expected Windows Vista choice.

When the 1545 or a smaller equivalent like the 1445 would appear hasn't been divulged with the leak, though the proximity to the holidays without a matching announcement may point to an early 2009 update. [via Engadget]

 

Sorry, Direct link to Dell info

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1545/en/index.htm

 

This seems to be a trend to go toward 16:9. I really don't mind the resolution, but a lot of people seem to be kicking and screaming about the different AR.

 

Isn't there already a sufficient lack of vertical space with 16:10? Less vertical space = more scrolling. More horizontal space is nice to a point, but I can already fit two documents next to each other with 1280 pixels. And I still don't see why corporations think it's so great; a lot of movies are 2.4:1 which it totally impractical for computers and a lot have been sold in 4:3 fullscreen, which this only makes worse. 16:10 seems a good compromise, although I think 16:9 does result in slightly less surface area per standard screen (and thus probably cost).

Not that I care too much though, as long as 16:10 doesn't become extinct and aspect ratios don't keep on getting more and more stretched out. If the X4500 is still the only option, my mid-2007 Inspiron 1520 will still be the best Inspiron graphics-wise. Which is pretty ridiculous really. Even the Studio 1537 isn't actually better graphicswise, just on par.

So I've yet to be convinced Dell made the right move by limiting decent graphics cards to more expensive models in the business line. Certainly hasn't seemed to result in HP losing market share or Dell making record profits.

Only other noteworthy thing is that Dell said it'd be all LED by 2010, which means they'll either have to go 1565 or remove the CCFL option within a year of release to keep that.

 

I feel sometimes I need a bit more horizontal viewing area, but that is only at work where I am looking at wide spreadsheets all the time.

Yeah I have a feeling even offering CCFL at this point is kind of a waste.

 

Hmm... Interesting, interesting. This is a coincidence; this morning I saw this Inspiron 1545 from Engadget as well.

More pics of the specs and even it underside casing can be found there too. I've decided to take the liberty to post the pictures here - I lost the official Engadget link but I got the images.

 

Weak. Dell seems intent on eliminating more ports and making their low-end laptops even weaker than the competition. The way things are going, they should just make the Studios low-end and cut the Inspiron line altogether.

 

No HDMI sad. I like the inside coloring tho.

 

No HDMI is a bad idea. They wanna push the consumers into the Studio price zone if they want HDMI.

 

I have this laptop and its awesome

the whole hdmi doesnt bother me as I dont think I would ever use it

(just imagine trying to hook your HD TV with a laptop)
if you did that, you would more than likely end up using the mains aswell, so may aswell go and buy a blu ray player

audio is superb however you need to update your network drivers to eliminate a clicking/popping sound while playing music

overall the laptop is top notch, 3 gigs of ram to play about in a new Core 2 Duo processor (which are the first in the inspiron range to run at a lower temperature)

however I do find that the fan comes on every now and again (but thats due to me starving the laptop of circulation

as for battery life, i'm again not too fussed about it as I never use it (always plugged into the mains with the battery disconnected)

the widescreen ratio is ideal for watching movies (even my girlfriend prefers to watch movies on it)