New Dell Inspirion Design

I would almost consider buying a Dell especially for the fact you can get a 7900GS at a pretty cheap price, but I can't stand the design of the e1705 especially with the white bumper and the lack of a full keyboard w/ dedicated num pad. They have all that room, they need to add a better keyboard. Also I know the white bumpers can be removed or covered but still. I much prefer the look of the Precision M65 and the XPS M1210 which has an integrated camera. Anyone know if Dell will be coming out with a redesigned Inspirion Model? I am guessing no since they didn't come out too long ago, like a year and a half?

 

I believe the current design came out about 1 to 1.5 yrs ago, so I don't think they will be coming out with a refresh for another 1. Dell's models typically run for 2.5 - 3 yrs before a refresh.

 

well, my prediction is that the new design would comes out when the new centrino platform comes out (about h1 2007) microsoft do encourage that the design of all/most windows computer be more prettier, to rival apple i presume. also i think that the XPS M1210 is butt... no, even cr@p is more beautiful than that!

check out the TOSHIBA Sattelite P100 series, they have; good design, num key pad, HARMAN/KARDON speaker!!!, and beautiful screen that DELL just can't match. the P100 w/ the 7900GS comes with different colour lid and a blue lighting running along the speaker, the effect is subtle and sophisticated. Go Check it out!

ohh.. the only good thing about the e1705 is that... i think that the chassis, the bottom casing (edit: bottom casing is magnesium), and the lid is made from alumunium. i praise DELL for using magnesium in such a product. but, they design it so that maintanance is hell! you need to dissamble to keyboard and lid to get access to the innard system (in case u want to clean the heatsink).

 

Ha thanks for the reply and information on the Toshiba. The XPS M1210 isn't that bad...is it? Well at least not crap bad.

 

XPS M1210 isn't all that bad, but for most of the people here, its far too small. I have to agree with Wobble, on the P100. Its is a very good laptop, and it has a very good design.

 

They cahange there designs every 2 years

 

I think the Inspiron line will be changed either when Intel revamps the Centrino line as stated above, or when(if) they release AMD processors in their notebooks. As to when that happens, I'm not sure.

 

Well, if Dell does redesign the Inspiron line, it won't be good for existing owners - it'll probably mean a different BIOS, so no one will be able to upgrade.

 

i don't really care about the appearance and i actually LIKE the white bumpers

But yes, you are right, the E1705 deserves a num pad, since they waste all the space on the sides. For the E1505, the lack of a num pad is acceptable, since it's a 15.4" laptop, but for E1705, it's not acceptable to have the keyboard of a 15.4"

 

I am glad someone agrees with me on this one.

 

I'd expect a redesign when the Santa Rosa platform becomes available. When is that supposed to be you ask? According to the Wikipedia article I read about Merom, April of 2007.

 

Come on the 1210 is a beautiful notebook. The matte black exterior really looks great. I dont think you can appricate how good it looks untill you see one in person.

As for redesigns. I would have like to see something like an XPS model of the E1405 (M1410?) with a card like a 7600 or X1600 in it. I think something along that line will come out with santa rosa in 07. I mean there is alot of screen room between 12.1" and 17" in the XPS line. The Inspirion's have a great screen selection, and yeah those things really need a new design. Those white bumpers really are ugly, and yeah the 1705 could use a num pad on it. Its got a ton of extra room for it, I really dont know why it dosent have it. But yeah I think Dell will come out with some new designes in 07 along with santa rosa like said before.

 

well, i'm not saying that having a number pad is bad... but, it does put the keyboard off-center, and i for one don't like it.

 

oh i would like to apologise if i offend any DELL owner, especially the XPS M1210 owners, but i just can't accept, tolerate or stand at DELL design, i guess what i'm trying to say is i'm revolted at how bad the industrial design team is! even the DELL logo is crap.. for god sake! and this comes from a fellow (dissapointed) dell owner!

 

I absolutely agree! God, if they could just come out with a 17" with a numeric keypad, and fix that light leakage problem, they would have an incredible machine. Alas, they pump all this power into a notebook that, aesthetically, is disgusting. As many problems as HP has, their notebooks are gorgeous from a design standpoint.

 

Totally agree. I used to own a 600m, which surprisingly had dedicated graphics. I was shocked to realize that the e1405 (which I got for my sister) had no dedicated graphics options.

There is really no excuse for the lack of dedicated graphics options on midrange notebooks, these days.

 

I've gotta say the num pad is not a good idea in my opinion. I wouldn't want it. If you use the computer's keyboard as your primary keyboard, it sucks to try and type with the keyboard being off center of the screen. I am happy with my keyboard centered

 

Me too. I just can't stand the keyboard being off centered. Since I seems to spend 90% of my time typing letter instead of numbers, I'll live with stretching out my finger a bit to type those numbers.

 

I think this is mostly for Dell's marketing strategy. They want you to buy the more impressive, expensive, new XPS line for dedicated graphics and keep the Inspirion line open for basic computing needs, not a high end gaming notebook. The low cost of an e1405 is appreciated by many who don't need a dedicated gpu, but with the coming of Vista there is a greater need for more than just the integrated solutions.

 

It seems you are right. I wonder about the future of the Inspiron line. I think that it will one day be like the current B systems, and XPS will dominate (and give Dell all its profits). The XPS line has integrated graphics options - the whole thing is a sham - Dell can do everything for a low price, but they have to subject us to so-called "elite" setups in XPS.

 

That's why I started looking at other options such as Sager, Compal, and Asus notebooks. I love Powernotebooks.com

 

Those are great brands for high end machines. The only reason why I am stuck looking for a Dell is because I am in love with the front media buttons. I use my current tablet as my music player, and having the option to control music from the front, and when the computer is off is just wonderful.

I know that HP has a 'quickplay' function, but I just get a very 'budget' feel from looking at their notebooks. They feel far too plasticy -- kind of like the inside of american cars.