To all Vostro 1500 Owners - Speakers

Hi there

I was wondering if you could help me out with regard to to the Vostro 1500. In particular the speakers.

I had dismissed getting a Vostro, instead getting a HP Pavilion due to seemingly much better sound and speakers as well as there being no question marks over the screen.

However, I thought I should check with the Vostro owners first.

What are the speakers like for listening to music and watching movies compared to other laptops geared more towards home entertainment?

Also how much of a gamble is it getting a good quality screen on the Vostro. ie no bleed or grain.

My laptop will be mainly used for watching movies, listening to itunes etc so a reasonable sound system and screen are required really, although I do have access to some good external speakers.

Thanks in advance

 

The speakers are good, and VERY loud, although not quite as good as the HP HK speakers on my 3 year old 15" system (poor bass response-no subwoofer?); my (LG Philips) screen isn't grainy. The Vostro is much less expensive and has much better video options, not to mention being MUCH sturdier (although very heavy) and having better battery life. If you're going to use it as a desktop replacement, I'd get the Vostro and use the external speakers.

P.S. NO BLOATWARE!!!

 

Yes the lack of a decent graphics card option is putting me off the HP Pavilion. I tried one today and the buttons on the pad are VERY plasticky which wasn't good but it is a very nice looking laptop.

Isn't the Vostro 1500 a bit of a brick? In looks and weight? I have seen loads of pictures but it is still quite difficult to tell.

The bad thing about the Vostro is you cannot see it in person before deciding to buy!

 

I seen the vostro and it looks ok. it is not big and clunky

 

I think it's an awesome laptop. I was worried about it being too big but when I got it, it's a perfect size. The speakers are very good, but probably not better than a notebook aimed at multimedia playback.

If you have not heard about the noise issue when using earphones, you may want to consider that. Although my laptop has this issue, it's very noticeable when I use my $20 earbuds, but hardly noticeable when I use my more expensive (bigger) earphones

 

I just received my Vostro 1500 yesterday. I am surprised by how loud the speakers get - which is pretty rare in a laptop. The speakers are on the bottom of the laptop, although on the front lip, angled part so they are not pumping straight into the surface it is on. The bass response is not something you'll be waking your neighbors up with but it is adequate.

As far as the headphones noise issue, I usually use speakers or a decent set of headphones and the noise is not noticeable at all. In fact I thought that my laptop did not have the problem, until I decided to test a crappy set of earbud phones. With cheap earbuds I was able to hear the noise while the music was stopped - it sounds like little electronic glitches, like the hard drive or CPU working or something. However when I had the music playing the noises were almost inaudible, certainly not noticeable unless you are trying to listen for them.

I liked the style of the HP much better but I was really put off by the fact that they don't offer anything larger than 1280x800 in notebooks 15.4" and smaller. That was a deal-killer for me. I got the Vostro 1500 with the WSXGA+ 1680x1050 screen and it is really beautiful. No "grainyness" or anything like that. There is slight light bleeding on the bottom edge, but I only noticed it in a dark room when there were dark colors displaying on the screen.

I am pretty impressed by the style of the Vostro 1500, and this was really my main concern. It is pretty sleek and the black matte color is pretty cool. My wife has a 15.4" HP laptop and hers is a little thinner but unless you carry laptops as a career it is not worth thinking about. You won't notice the few ounces difference. The Vostro was cleverly designed with smooth curves around the edges so it does not look thick or boxy either.

I highly recommend the Vostro 1500, get the best GPU and CPU you can afford, because you can easily replace the memory or hard drive later. Good luck!