My opinion: don't buy Dell.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1420 that works just fine after 4-5 years. My only issue is that the touchpad is starting to go on it. I was looking at the XPS15z but I'm bored with Dell as a whole. My Inspiron gets pretty hot even using it on a table playing a free flash game, which doesn't seem right to me.

 

Dell reports Q3 earnings, enterprise division rakes in record $4.7 billion -- Engadget

nothing we don't already know, but dell makes all their money from enterprise sales, consumer is just an afterthought to dell.

 

Well, if you have the older processors they tend to run hot, specifically the T5000 and T7000 series, as they are all built upon 65nm while the T8000 and T9000 series are built upon the 45nm.

If you are not really satisfied with the current line up of laptops and don't mind doing just swapping out your current touchpad, you can probably get an unused touchpad for your model for around $30 on eBay.

 

I am one of those that have never had a problem with Dell computers.

from my sig you can see I have owned a few dell laptops. All still work without issues. All the HPs now have problems (mostly screen lines/stripes).

I used and abused my 1640 without any issues. After reading the forums I felt I must have gotten the only machine that didn't overheat. Heck I even overclocked it for a year. Now my wife is using it.

Now the XPS 15 has had absolutely zero problems as well.

To be honest I probably won't buy another dell, that is only because (in my opinion) they either make really ugly but fast laptops or nice looking and not so fast laptops. They totally forgot the people that want both.

 

Thanks, but I plan on replacing the machine with a MUCH more powerful one in a few months anyway. As long as it keeps chugging along until then, well, see my sig Looking forward to the backlit Sager NP8150. No reason for me to want an AW after that.

PS, the processor is a Core 2 Duo I believe, not exactly sure what number it is. It's a 1.8ghz I think. Going to give it to my younger sister when I get my monster machine. Might want to replace the pad then, idk.

 

Ahh no problem and good choice, you can find parts really cheap for the Inspiron 1420/1520/1720-series on eBay. If you are going to hand it down, you'd probably better off replacing the processor as well (as it will run cooler). The 1420 did have more heating issues than the others because of the smaller build and larger-sized components.