Official Inspiron 1545 Owners Thread

The 1535 had touch-sensitive controls for that, remember?

 

Little late posting this but yeah its a pretty durable computer. I dropped mine down the stairs like 4 times. xD Not the smarrtest thing ive ever done, but nothing seems to happen. Once a stick a ram fell out but that was no big deal. Its a good notebook, but if your looking in for some games, i can't really suggest this computer. And to tell you the truth upgrading RAM to 4 gbs, is really kinda pointless. I've only seen a slight performance upgrade, and that was watching movies and thats not a lot of my time. I had 1 gb of RAM and ipgrading to Windows 7 RC seem to have sped up the computer enough to cover RAM. If that makes sence. haha.

 

I have tried to block ALL memories of the 1535!!! Can a defective computer actually cause post-traumatic stress disorder??? If so, that's the case here!

The touch-sensitive controls only worked intermittently, so I just stopped using them (actually disconnected them)! I now remember that I just used the Volume button in the tray icon (beside the clock). Lack of dedicated volume controls is a deal-breaker for me now! I miss the old thumb-wheel volume control on my old Toshiba from years back....simple and it always worked!

 

Amazingly, the 1545 I ordered from Dell Outlet on Tuesday showed up this morning! The estimated delivery date of 7/15 was shown on the order and I used the FREE Ground shipping option. Points for lighting fast shipping!!!

I've spent about an hour with the 1545 so far. The first thing I did was upgrade from 2GB to 3GB of RAM (had a 2GB module on hand to swap with one of the 1GB modules installed). The bottom panel is secured with four screws and a few tabs, so it's very securely fastened but also simple to open in less than a minute.

First impressions- I'm just not a fan of the now-predominant 16:9 aspect ratio, and the 1545 does nothing to change that. The perceived increase in width is greater than the actual increase, but it's noticeable.

The matte black lid is simple and attractive- no complaints there.

Opening the lid reveals the only flaw I find with the design- the glossy black palm rest and display bezel! After using it for under an hour, I had to get out the microfiber cloth and polish away the smudges. I miss the silver interior of previous Inspirons (1520/1525 in particular).

The display (LED) is better than expected. I didn't care for 1280x800 (16:10) displays, so I wasn't sure about the 1366x768. Of course a 1600x900 resolution would be awesome, but the basic one is more than adequate.

I'll get to spend some time with it over the next few days before giving it to my sister. So, I'll have a better overall opinion of it after I use it more.

But so far, it's looking like a helluva bargain!

 

Yup, for the price it's a pretty good machine considering the price; and you can get rid of the glossy palmrest by taking it to pieces and re-spraying (I'll post pictures of mine when my new Panasonic TZ3 arrives), or even one of those clear palm rest covers that you'd be able to find on eBay (though finding one that fits might be difficult).

 

The glossy palmrest is my sister's problem- she's getting a FREE laptop, so she can just live with it! :yes:

But I can't understand how they (Dell designers) thought it was a good idea!? They made the lid matte finish, unlike their main competitors (Toshiba Satellite, HP Pavilion and Lenovo IdeaPad). That tells me that they know that glossy black finishes are a PAIN to maintain....so why the heck put it on the inside where hands and dirty fingers will be in constant contact???

I've seriously think that Dell designs some products and then thinks "this is too close to perfect, what can we do to screw it up?"

 

Heh yeah maybe.

There is a silver palm rest available for it that doesn't show up finger prints so much; but they don't seem to offer this as an option for some reason.

 

I thought I had seen a photo of a 1545 with a silver/gray palmrest at one point! I wonder if it's only on certain colors? Or perhaps the 1545 in some other (non-U.S.) markets all have the silver palm rest?

 

I don't know what the criteria is, but I know that in PC World (a big computing retailer in the UK), the silver palmrest is all that is available on the Celeron based 1545. However, this means that it is available.

Might be one to keep an eye open for on eBay.

 

You are absolutely right! Here it is-


And I just thought PC World was a magazine....

 

It's available in a few other places too, I think I even saw it in Tesco (supermarket chain).

Eventually spares will be on eBay; or potentially even companies like the parts people may be stocking the palm rests.

 

They sell Dell laptops at your grocery store? That is strange, but kinda cool, too!

I've never been in a UK supermarket before. I've shopped at "Harvey Nicks" and Harrods several times...and I love those little "Boots" pharmacies...or "chemists", I think you prefer to call them...

Now I want to visit London again...it's been about three years since I was last there...

 

Tesco is kinda like the UK equivalent of walmart in that they sell just about everything. Mind you, we have walmart over here too - they bought out another supermarket chain.

Anyway, lets stop talking about that, it's a little off topic.

 

I've just noticed another problem.

The enter button on the touchpad (sorry i'm not sure of the 'tech' term for it, but what would be the click button on the mouse) had just started to play up. It's as though it's stuck, you have to press really hard and you don't get that click feeling/sound you should. It's making navigating difficult because you end up clicking stuff you're not supposed to. Any idea what this might be? There's nothing stuck in there as it happened while I was using it, like it just broke or something. It wasn't a gradual thing.

It kind of feels like it's gotten stuck inside a bit, looks a bit 'lower' than the right click button.

I keep finding small problems with this laptop and it's disappointing.

 

Yeah, same problem. When your typing or something sometimes you click hard enough for the mouse to click on the touchpad. If my cursor is somewhere else i will end up typing in the middle of an already written sentence, which is kind of annoying. I havn't found any fixes for that. Or sometimes the mouse itself will freeze up, and you have to press really hard on the touch pad to get it to work, then making the mouse super sensitive. Don't know if its a hardware problem or software. Too sensitive where you don't want it, not sensitive enough when you need it. xD

 

What are the delivery times like for UK customers regarding the Inspiron 15?

 

As with any Dell, it depends on the configuration. Speak with a sales advisor about your chosen spec, they should have more info.

 

Ordered mine from the outlet last friday, and got it this friday. A whole week of waiting... I love this laptop.

But... they sent me the wrong goddamn power adapter so now I have a dead battery and have to wait till tuesday for the new one.

So idiotic. What kind of idiot employee packs the wrong power adapter?

 

It's Dell's fault for changing the adapter used on the Inspiron 1545! The 1545 has a hex-shaped plug, unlike any recent Dell products that I've used.

I know for certain that the adapter of the Inspiron 1520/1525, Studio 1535/1537 and Latitude E6400/E6500 are all interchangeable! There are two versions of it- a 65W standard adapter and a 90W for models with dedicated graphics. Still, they all work in any of those models!

Why they changed it for the 1545 is beyond me???

 

they tried to make it stylish?
the dont use a large inside in the conector they use a tvcable like center, dont know if you get me.

besides all about this laptop is different front al the others.
no hdmi
no lights
no multimedia keys
fkeys changed to fn
so this laptop is one of a kind on dell!!

 

Actually, the Studio 1555 also has no LED indicators, no multimedia keys, and has the F-keys changed to function keys.

 

The Inspiron 14 is very similar in overall design, with exception of the palm rest- it's silver on the 14.

The 'minimalist' look of the Inspiron 14/15 is an attempt to differentiate it from Studio models. That's also the reason why it lacks HDMI, eSATA and Firewire ports.

As for the multimedia keys and led lights- they tried touch sensitive controls on the Studio 1535/1537 and it was a nightmare! Even the Studio 1555 doesn't have multimedia keys (a questionable decision on a laptop aimed at the entertainment/multimedia user).

Going forward, the Inspiron line is being marketed as a budget/entry-level laptop. I just wish they would make the palm rest of the 15 silver like the 14's. And the 14's power button is in the upper left corner beside the speaker grille. The 15's 'cyclops' power button in the middle is odd looking...

 

do you think this system would run well games if i had a Ati4670 Desktop GPU equiped Via ExpressSlot 2.0 (Does this system have a 2.0?) as theres a real nice one one Dell outlet.
* nspiron 15 (1545) Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB cache)
* Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic

System Price : $589.00

Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista Home BasicMemory
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)Hard Disk Drive
160 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)Video
Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HDWeb Camera
No CameraMedia Bay
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capabilityCertified Refurbished
Certified RefurbishedBase
Inspiron 15 (1545) Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB cache)Hardware Upgrade
6 Cell Primary Battery
65W AC AdapterSoftware Upgrade
Windows Live
Microsoft Works 9.0
32BIT Operating System CD
32BIT Operating System CDSystem Color
Jet BlackLaptop Screen
15.6 WXGA Laptop Screen Display with TrueLifeNetwork Interface Card
Dell 1397 802.11B/G Wireless Mini Card-im fine with this only have 104Mps wireless system and when i game ill probably hook it up to the gigabit Ethernet. which is running on road runner 10mbps so ill run gaming and downloads on that

 

You can't use the external video card from ATi with an integrated video card from Intel. There can only be one graphics driver working at the same time. You would need to find one with the ATi 4330.

 

i will be using Windows 7 which fixes that

 

In that case, I'll take your word for it. What games are you thinking of playing?

 

I remain unconvinced of the vi-dock and other substitutes. You see, the bus width for the expresscard slot is so ridiculously slow in comparison to the pci-e x16 that a dedicated GPU would use.

 

the thing is that the 4670 is a mid range card so it dosnt use as much bandwidth you only take a 5-10% hit on 2.0 however i do not know what the hit is on 1.2.

i plan on playing AION runs i Modified Cry engine I and some fps/rts. i own a Xbox so i can play more demanding FPS games on there. but i wont be running crysis or Farcry . but i do want to play AIOn on 1200p with all high settings and as much AA as i can get.

 

Villagetronic via. FACEBOOK.

 

I just ordered my 1545.

*Intel T6500 2.1GHz, 3GB RAM, 250HD, X4500HD Graphics*

Can someone give me the specs on this video card please?
clock, memory(deticated as well?) ... Every site seems to give me different details.

Any chance of playing anything like Far Cry 2 on low detail?

 

Far Cry 2? Hell no. You might be able to run Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike, maybe Unreal Tournament 2004, but most likely nothing newer than that. This card is designed to decode HD video, not render 3D in real time.

 

Ok well no worries, didn't really intend to play games anyway. Any issues running Linux? Think i might give Mint 7 a go

 

It's been pretty smooth sailing with OpenSUSE.

 

Look into gaming 4500MHD on youtube; there are people who have played 3D games with it. Far Cry 2 though. Hmmm, you might be able to on the lowest of low settings; but maybe not.

Besides, who wants to play that game? Rolling through hours and hours of endless desert just trying to find someone to shoot. Now the original FarCry, I can understand wanting to play that.

 

Is the 4350 better then the hd 3450?

 

Do you mean the 4330 (seeing that this is the Inspiron 1545 thread, I am guessing that you do).

From the crysis test I did earlier in this thread it would appear so.

Also, look here: http://optimitza.cat/benchmarks/laptops.

It's not a fair comparison, but the 3450 would have to go some way to beating the 4330 according to that chart.

 

O sorry got confused yes the 4330, just wondering by how much and what settings do you run crysis at.
I youtubed and it showed it playing gta iv pretty smooth.

 

Keep in mind that GTA IV also uses a lot of CPU power too, so if you got a poor one of those then you're stuffed.

Take a look at the link I posted and you'll see - it shows settings that were played on there.

 

i got a question now i see the fonts like BOLD in the forum and in other pages should i be worried?

 

Visit your optician

Does it happen in both Windows & Ubuntu?

 

havent look in ubuntu
but i noticed some default font missing in FONTS folder. i made a friend send me a copy of times new roman and arial. TNR were deleted by some reason but ARIAL were there but ARAIL (plain) didnt apear on font selection.

 

Wow so the 4330 is better then the 3450 which kind of suprised me. Wait is the 4330 integrated.

 

No, it's dedicated. Bottom of the budget barrel dedicated.

 

So i take it there is no HDMI or S-Video output?

How does the VGA measure up in quality?

If i was to get a VGA to HDMI adapter would it be the same quality as running just a single HDMI to HDMI.

Also, what are the speakers like?

 

Speakers are not great, I use external Logitech ones. No HDMI port or anything, there is a VGA port, and the 4330 does a good enough job there. It's not DVI though..... Bleeding annoying, because the card supports HDMI output; just Dell chose not to.

The 4330 is not bottom of the barrel budget card. If it was bottom of the barrel budget card, how did it manage to score so highly vs some of the other cards at the link I posted earlier. It's more like middle of the barrel budget card

 

What's the wireless reception like on the 1545?

 

That will change depending upon which card you have installed; they give you a range of 4 I think. I have the Intel 5100 and am very happy with it. Can connect anywhere in my house or garden with zero dropped connections.

 

My parents ordered me a 1545 without asking me anything, like what should be changed and stuff. The only thing I guess I am worried about is the processor. Is the processor (Intel® Pentium® Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache) alright? Does anyone have it in their laptop? I might buy a different proc. in the future, once I see how much I use it at school. Can anyone give any info on the proc. I do have though? THanks!!!

 

OK, what will you use the laptop for?

That processor is more than likely fine for many many things. The spec sheet is here http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=37251

 

Hey guys,
Im about to order my Inspiron in a few days. Just wondering about the 4330. I have looked through your benchmarks Fragilexx and was quite impressed. I do have a gaming desktop which I use all the time.
However, I would like to have the option of playing a game or 2 when I'm on the move. How do you guys think the 4330 will run Warhammer Online? What type of settings would I be looking at?

Any thoughts regarding L4D or Dawn of War 2?

As I said, Im just looking to see if I can take some of my fav games with me on the move. Low to medium settings is fine.

Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor T6500 (2.1GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2M)
ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD4330 - 256MB

Thanks for any help!
Dex