Yet another Vostro 1500 Mini-Review (pictures included!)

Well I'm heading to University in September and so I wanted a laptop, both for school and to replace my aging gaming desktop. At first I was looking at the ASUS laptops, in fact I was very close to purchasing one (the f3sv to be exact), but then saw the Vostro 1500 which had better specs, better battery life and a better price (approx. $200 CAD cheaper) so I opted for the vostro instead, and I am very glad I did.

Also keep in mind this is my first laptop.

Specs:
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Screen: 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Display with TrueLife™
Memory: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 Dimm
Graphics: 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
Hard Drive: 120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Operating System: Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2, English
Optical Drive: 8X CD/DVD Burner w/ double-layer DVD+R write capability,
Sound Card: High Definition Audio 2.0
Wireless: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Wi-Fi Mini Card
Camera: None
Batteries: 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Warranty: 1 Year Return to Depot Service and Technical Support

Price:$1364.00 CAD (before taxes)

The Box and shipping etc
I ordered on July 25th and I got my hands on it on August 7th (it arrived earlier but then I missed it on the 5th and purolator was closed on sunday and monday so it took a couple extra days to get it), a whole 6 days earlier than estimated. In the box was a Dell contact booklet and a product information guide and a small Vostro 1500 pamphlet which didn't really give much information on how to operate the laptop. Also I got the XP pro reinstallation CD however I did not receive the drivers CD. I don't think any thing else was included.

Build and Design: 8/10
First off, this laptop is solidly built. There is no flex on the palm rests, no flex on the key board or touch pad, and no ripples were produced when I pressed on the back of the screen (I pressed it pretty hard too). The hinges feel very sturdy and are nice don't make any creaking sounds or the like when I close or open the screen. The latch however does seem to be cheap, although I don't think it will break with normal everyday use.

However I didn't like the design very much. I prefer the boxy thinkpad and ASUS (some ASUS laptops anyways) and if you're like me then you probably won't like the look of this laptop because its all of its edges are rounded and has a "fat" look to it.

Performance: 9/10
For a $1364 laptop, this thing is fast!. It starts up in under 30 seconds and I can have over 10 IE windows open with Windows Live Messenger going and Winrar extracting a large file with no lag what so ever!

I haven't done many benchmarks yet but I have played a couple games like Rainbow Six: Vegas, STALKER, and Armed Assault at Native Resolution and medium-high settings at reasonable framerates ( I'll get some screenshots and stuff later). Also I got a 3dmark06 score of 3425 on the free version of 3dmark06.

Screen: 9/10
The screen is nice and bright is still easily viewed on the lowest setting. I don't notice any graininess on the screen but that could be just me. And I noticed a little light leakage on the bottom but its only noticeable when the screen is totally dark. But of course this is my first laptop and I may not notices things that other might.

Battery Life: 9/10
With normal usage such and web browsing with winamp and windows live messenger going with lowest brightness setting and the lowest volume level ( which is still very easy to hear and depending on the mp3 can be sometimes loud) and with wifi off i get around 5 hours and ~40 mins. I managed to get about 2 and a half hours out of the battery while playing R6Vegas.

Keyboard and touchpad: 8/10
Like I said before, this is my first laptop so I have nothing really to compare the Keyboard and touchpad to. But I still find them very nice to type on and use. However looking at a couple of my friends laptops the touch pad does seem a little small, which really isn't a big deal to me.

Audio: 6/10
The sound is a little tinny and has little base, but that is to be expected of all laptops I think. Also when you use headphones you can hear interference the cpu, however you have music or a game going u can't even notice it.

Heat and Noise: 9/10
When web browsing and chatting or idling, there is a little heat (a very tolerable amount) at the left palm rest and the top left corner of the keyboard and you can barely even hear the laptop. When doing something intensive such as playing a game you start to hear the fan going, however the palm rests and the rest of the laptop remain at a tolerable temperature, except, of course, where the fans are located at the top left corner of the key board.

Overall: 9/10
Overall I'm very happy with this laptop. It looks like the chassis will last more than 2 years with me carrying it around on campus. The CPU and GPU are extremely fast and will handle most tasks and games you throw at it with ease.

Anyways just throw any questions or w.e my way and I'll try to answer them. O and sorry for the low quality pics, they'll have to do for now. If anyone wants more just tell me.

 

Nice review, but one question... Did you take a picture, or screenshot for the last one? If screen shot, you might want to reconsider taking a picture of the screen... just a suggestion

 

very nice review

 

You might want to call in for price protection
I ordered my vostro a little while ago and they changed one of the base configs
you can get exactly what you have, plus 160 gig hard drive and wireless N for 1330 CDN before taxes

 

I can't wait for mine

But it has a little fat look, I agree.

 

Can you tell me the battery life? In the review you said you surf the net yet without wifi on. Can you pls clearly tell me what you are doing to get the 5 hours and 40 minutes?

 

Nice review, I ordered one yesterday (same reason as you, for college. I'm commuting so I need a solid build). With the sae specs (but a 160 gig hard drive) I did pay $72 less (before taxes). I also really hope mines comes in a few days early like yours. I ordered it kinda late and its expected to arrive 2-3 days into my first semester.

 

What CD's were included? Any Windows software cd's?

 

If you don't get the backup disc's you can order them here:
https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form
OR you can call your Dell CS rep to get them.
Seems like the cd's you get varies wildly from person to person.

 

@k2yip
mmmm price protection. i mite look into it. thanks for mentioning it!

@manzi
my lappy was connected to a router via ethernet cable

@NapalmDeath
ah, thx for the info. tho all the drivers can be dled from the dell site so it isnt a huge huge issue for me.