My Vostro 1500 - feel free to post any questions, requests...

Currently busy with getting everything setup on it, the only thing I have done so far is take screens of the bloatware on it before I removed it all (and they are saved to jpg using MSPaint, sorry!).

In general, I am surprised, it exceeded my expectations - but I guess the reason they went down in the first place was all the negative feedback about it here. My screen is nice, everything else is working great, I cannot fault this thing.

I forgot how to check the screen manufacturer so I will find that out along with taking and posting photos of the laptop. And the headphone noise was one other thing I didn't check yet. I might also run some benchmarks.

For the time being, if you have any questions or requests, let me know

EDIT:

Benchmarking:

Aquamark 3:
Initial: unknown
After some simple clean up: 31000
After a fair bit of tweaking (not OCing): 84400
After some more tweaking: soon...
After overclocking: maybe some other time
Remarks: wow... just shows how much tweaking can do, don't have time to narrow down the main culprits but McAfee's non-essential components, the many unneeded services and processes etc. were probably big contributions. Other changes included a defrag (even though it is a new system) - this was done with JkDefrag, disabling indexing service, cleaning out the registry, removing some visual appearance options (I still want my computer looking nice), and many other things. Took about 5 hours over 2 days but I'd definitely say it was worth it.

3DMark 06:
Initial: unknown
After some simple clean up: 2980
After driver upgrade to 163.71: ~3100
After a fair bit of tweaking (not OCing): will do soon
After some more tweaking: soon...
After overclocking: maybe some other time
Remarks: had a small problem running it this time around for some reason, will get it soon though, I eventually want it in the 4000s

 

Oh well, it seems Dell no longer put a recovery partition on Vostros.

As for the screen manufacturer, IIRC go to control panel, system, devices, select screen and then look at the various items in the drop down box.

 

Ops, double clicked. :-/

 

Which type of screen do you have?

 

Sredni, yes, no recovery partition, just a boot, main and mediadirect partition. I attached a screenshot of the partition table, as well as how it is now. Didn't want to set it up for dual booting yet so it is just Windows and a data partition. Again, the screenshots were created (and compressed) by a crap utility hence the poor image quality.

RC, it is a WXGA 15" (or is it 15.4?), 1280x800 with TrueLife. The device instance ID which I believe Sredni was referring to is SEC3358, odd as I thought this was the one people were complaining about preferring the LG one instead, or maybe this was for the WXGA+ screens.

 

People have mostly been complaining about AUO screens. I think a lot of it is psychosomatic. Some people have legitimate beefs with AUO, but the same goes for Samsung and I've even heard LG rants.

People who read this board are going to go into their purchase looking for something to be wrong with their LCD if it's an AUO. Then, if they find something wrong with it, they'll share it with everyone here.

Even with all the posts on Dell LCDs on this board, it doesn't make up a fraction of a percentage of Vostro owners which makes it about the least scientific means of determining quality I can think of.

 

the sec being complained about most is the sec3350 not 3358

 

I decided my screen quality was awful long before I knew it was an AUO. Likewise, I could immediately tell my replacement Vostro 1500 screen was much higher quality before I knew it was an LG.

I don't think all AUO screens suck, they just suck more often.

 

Also, did you get a recovery disc with your vostro? Also are the WXGA (1280) screens on Vostro 1500 and Inspiron 1520 EXACTLY the same?

 

is it ugly?

 

Did they send you a vista cd?

 

Both my original Vostro 1500 and replacement Vostro had Vista CDs.

 

Like I said.

 

Figures. I was suspicious of that kind of mentality here, thanks for confirming it.

Yes, a WinXP reinstall CD. I confirmed this before by asking them at the same time I called about a problem with online ordering, does anyone else find their site really sucks? As for the screen, I don't know what it's like in comparison to the 1520.

I was surprised to see it isn't, my mum even likes it. I was expecting something that was heavier, looked bulkier and less attractive but it easily surpassed my expectations. Its not near as heavy as the reviews here make of it and I will have no problems riding every day with it.

XP CD (I chose XP over Vista but if I chose Vista, I assume they would have sent a Vista CD, refer to DerKaiser's post)

 

I don't think so. My AUO screen on my first Vostro was horrendous. The whites were off-white/beige, and it had terrible backlight bleed, almost like two spotlights shining up from the bottom and top. And was a little "blurry". Nothing like I've ever seen before, actually. But new one is great. A little bit of backlight bleed at bottom and top, but other than that, super.

I have had this same issue with my Dell monitors (2407WFP and 2005FPW). The only saving grace is that once they do send you a good one, they are tremendously spectacular.

Took two exchanges with my 2005FPW and three with my 2407WFP. But in the end, this 2407WFP is un-freaking-believable. I can never go with anything less. Bright, wide, crisp clear, lots of inputs, and thin. Best thing about it is the number of inputs. Have three PC's (two with DVI KVM switch, one VGA), PS2 composite, and Xbox 360 S-video - when not on my HDTV.

 

I'm thinking about ordering a Vostro in the next few days. I'm really torn on the screen though. I dont want to have to worry about shipping it out for replacement, so which res. should i request?(ideally id like to go with the whatever x 900, but if theres a smaller chance of me getting a messed up screen by going with whatever x 800, i'll make that decision)

How many hidden partitions are there on the laptop? and more importantly, are you given a REAL vista install disc, or is it just a 'restore' disk that has all the bloat-ware pre-installed.

For those interested(and maybe willing to give some advice) i am planning on getting:
t7300, 2 gigs of ram(free upgrade) 160 gig 5400rpm drive, 8600gt, 1 year of complete-care, with the travel remote, and the S-video to component converter cable.(Someone on these boards earlier said the S-video port has extra pins that pair up with the component cables)

 

On both my Vostro 1500s (original and replacement received 3 days ago), there were three partitions, a large main partition, a recovery partition and a partition for Mediadirect. The Vista CD is just a Windows install disk, not a recovery disk, it just installs Windows. After installing, you then have to use the drivers CD to install the missing drivers.

 

Well, if it matters, I chose WXGA (1280x800) and the general consensus in the forums is that this one has proportionally less issues. But that was not the reason I chose it, the reason was I didn't need a larger resolution and 1280x800 borders on practicality for me and the next one up was about A$50 more, not worth it.

I took a screen of the partition table, see post #5. I used GPartEd which shows hidden partitions. Just boot, main and mediadirect partitions.

I chose XP, but the same probably applies to vista too: I was given a reinstall CD, there was not enough bloat and system degradation to justify a reinstall so I haven't looked at it but I assume it would have all the crap on it. Oh well, just download an image of an original CD from the net (not illegal afaik as you use your valid product key with it).

Looks great, in fact, I have no suggestions, probably because it is almost exactly like mine (except with a t7300 instead of a t7100)

 

You get a restore partition with the bloat that was originally installed on your laptop. The Vista DVD doesn't have the bloat (trial versions of stuff you don't want, etc.). However the Dell disc is customized for a Dell computer and isn't identical to a retail Vista DVD. For example, there are posts where people reinstalling from the Dell DVD did not have to install AHCI drivers during their reinstall because they were included on the Dell disc.

 

Is there any pattern with which laptops have the recovery partition? I definitely do not have it but I have seen new/old home/small business laptop combinations with/without the recovery partitions.

 

Quick question, did they send you a Roxio DVD Burner software that was supposed to be bundled with your DVD-RW drive? I didn't get it... Odd... On the other hand, I have Starburn, so I didn't really care.

But still, do they normally forget to include CD's that are supposed to be bundled with the system?

 

Yes, Roxio was installed and came with its install CD. Don't think I'm missing any of the other CDs.

 

I'm really confused by partitions, and don't have a huge amount of experience...
I currently have a partitioned hard drive, and believe that the data might survive if the other one 'crashes/dies'? Is that right?
I might ring Dell and see if the CS people have a partitioned hard drive as an option...

 

Partitions are used for several purposes. The recovery partition you are referring to doesn't store a backup of your data, it provides an option to start afresh or recover your Windows installation. Maybe you were thinking about Norton Ghost / other backup partitions.

 

Oh, okay. But it is still a good thing right? I must have got confused. Do you mean that it provides an 'entry point' to your computer if the other driver stops functioning?
How easy/is it possible to partition my own drive using software? Is it worth it?

 

it certainly is worth it.
If you partition your hard disk and keep for example, the OS on one partition, the OS data (temp files, mail, internet cache, desktop data), on another, and your personal data on another partition as well you could survive a complete crash of the OS with corruption of the registry with little or no damage.
I also have a separate partition for applications. In that way I can keep all the customizations I've made even after reinstalling the application (I rename the folder of the application, reinstall it in the previous folder and then switch folder names).

As to how easy it is: well you probably have to surrender one primary partition to create an extended partition in order to accomodate all the volumes you might need. It's not hard, it just take a little bit of time, especially because of Vista's bad habit to fill up all the hard disk space it can see.

I strongly advise, while you are in the process of repartition your hard disk, to create an ext3 partition for Linux. It will come handy as a recovery partition you could boot from in case of problems with Windows.

Do a search onb this forum for "partition", you will find many threads that could help you further.

 

Hey Guys

I just got my hands on a Vostro 1500. Got it last friday, with windows xp home (I opted for it, as i find XP better and less bloated than Vista)
I have installed a copy of windows xp pro + SP2.

I did away with the media direct and the recovery partitions.

I read about the screen thing on the first page, how do i see this on my machine (in windows xp pro i.e.)??

Hey, can you guys suggest any optimal settings for getting the max juice out of this baby? And if possible, any s/w for monitoring the rig? (NHC is ok?)

Also I cannot install the Bluetooth driver from the setup DVDs, I simple can't find the thing!

Anyone know their location, please let me know!

Thanks guys...

CK

 

Good on you, Vista sucks!

For your Bluetooth issue, I have "Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module" on my resource CD.

For monitoring and tweaking/oc'ing, I use nTune.

To get the most from the computer, look for guides. Repositioning boot files, removing "last access" stamping, disabling indexing service and disabling about half the other services that run on the computer, as well as removing most of the junk that loads on start up help.

If you want more input from users, I'd suggest starting a new thread.

 

umm, sorry if this sounds a bit strange but what is the catch with the vostro machines?

They are sooo cheap, i just specced everything up apart from the RAM, and it is still under £900 including VAT and delivery.

 

Good question! Probably no one knows for sure, but you get what you pay for. For me, that means getting a 3 year warranty as insurance against cheap parts. For many people (including myself), it means going through the hassle of replacements and returns to get a decent screen. It might also mean putting up with a noisy headphone jack.

But on the whole, I'm quite happy with my Vostro 1500.

 

I feel the same way. Excellent Laptop!

 

Not sure. I haven't found a single problem yet. I guess it is a bit big and heavy but I have no problems riding over an hour a day with it, maybe the comfy backpack that came free with it masks this problem by being so comfy.

One catch might be the bloat (see first post of this thread), but even that was not enough to make me reformat yet, everything uninstalled nicely. But that doesn't explain why it is so cheap compared to other Dell's as well.

Anyway, I haven't suffered from any "you get what you pay for" symptoms yet and don't think I will for a long time yet. I'd say to get the bargain while you can.

I also heard something from someone (sounds very credible, doesn't it!), that Dell's aggressive pricing was an attempt to regain their losing market share.