i1525 showing the end of the Inspiron?

I navigated over to Dell.com and Dell Canada yesterday to see their new offering just to see what they replaced my i1520 with since it is so young. What I saw made me question the future of the inspiron line at Dell...

Has Dell decided the Inspiron line is for budget consumers only and the XPS line is for anything beyond that? Much how Intel decided Pentium is now a budget name and Core is premium?

As I saw some pretty start drop outs between the 1525 and the 1520 (I only glanced some areas not all).

1. No dedicated (discrete) video option on ANY of the configuration (and you can't add on yourself)
2. They added an HDMI port, but now HD drives
3. Really poor resolution options (non as high as 1680x1050)

I know no one can say for certain if my assumptions are correct, but it makes me wonder if my i1520 will be my last Dell? Have they been brused so much by Lenovo and HP that they are scrambling to find a market and resorted to killing a great line?

 

They didn't want the Inspiron line to compete with the XPS line.

The Inspiron line has always been low-level consumer entry notebooks, where as the XPS is the premium-level consumer notebook.

Obviously, the two levels have differences.

 

What part of them offering only integrated gpus give you the idea that the inspiron line is dead?

Before they only had a 17" XPS notebook, so they couldn't have the XPS line as the only gaming line. But now that they have a 13", 15" and 17" XPS gaming notebooks, they decided to market those as the gamers one, and the inspirons as a purely budget line.

 

I'm almost 100% sure that Dell will offer a dedicated graphics card option for the new 1525. Otherwise, nobody would really want it. One of the main differences between the 1420 and the old 1520 were the graphics cards, and people chose the 1520 because it had a better one.
So in conclusion, I'm sure Dell will add one sometime in the future.

 

The 1520 is still being sold. The 1525 is for people don't game and don't need dedicated graphics and would rather have a thiner light notebook that costs less.

 

I just went to dell.com, and couldn't find the 1520 under the 15.4" options.
I did find it under the 'Windows XP' machines. They are slowly killing it.

The M1530 starts at $999, making it one of the cheapest notebooks on the market that features the 8600M. So I really don't see a reason for dell to include a dedicated graphics card in the 1520. I can probably see a 8400M if they ever add BD, but not an 8600M.

 

The Inspirons are gonna be marketed as basic consumer machines - cost effective but enough for people to do stuff like browse the web, e-mail etc.

If you want dedicated graphics and such, seek the XPS line up. With the new XPS machines, they are VERY much affordable now.

I think Dell feel like they messed up added dedicated graphics to the Inspiron for some reason. It was the only reason I got the 1520, cheapest yet more powerful notebook for the money. But with XPS's starting at 999/1299 with the same specs, but now way more sexier, there no reason to complain if you ask me.

 

I can find it under 15.4 inch with ease???

 

Yea that's what I'm seeing it as too... That they are attempting to broaden out the XPS brand as their "mid to upper level" product line. Similar to what I mentioned about Intel, taking their Pentium brand and repositioning it to be near the Celeron after years of it being the upper level (now the Core brand targets that market).

I'm not sure though that it is a smart move for Dell to be making. Intel did it without issue, but they also have very little competition as AMD is not even a serious competitor (they can't produce enough chips to even challenge Intel), but Dell is getting some insane competition. Lenovo and HP are pushing them to the realms of Gateway in terms of industry share.

The Inspiron is their oldest laptop brand. I remember owning an Inspiron 7000 way back in 1998 when they only had a 15" machine. The strength of the brand, IMHO, would make it a far better choice to target the lower AND mid market segments (which is how it worked when the XPS initially dropped).

Otherwise the laptop brand that is synonymous with Dell will get written off as being in the realms of crappy options and performers. Not an image you want attached when you're struggling for any piece of marketshare you can get.

I, for whatever reason, don't like the XPS machines. If Dell does make them the only option for me to buy (as is the case today) for the specs I enjoy I doubt I'll buy from Dell. Their looks just don't sit well with me...

I like professional looking machines. The XPS look like show off machines to me and I wouldn't want to pull one out of my bag.

 

The way I see it, they just replaced the 1520 with two models: the M1530 for those interested in graphics performance and high-end features, and the 1525 for those who aren't.

Sony does pretty much the same thing now with their NR and FZ series.

 

Sony doesn't try to create two seperate brands. They leverage the brand they've built for ages, Vaio. So those are called Vaio NR and Vaio FZ. Dell is going to suffer with this Inspiron change I think.

 

If they want the inspiron and the XPS line to differ, they should change the XPS name from "inspiron XPS" to just XPS.

 

True, but I don't think Inspiron really has as much brand cachet as Vaio anyways. So I wouldn't say they're losing much here.

 

im pretty sure that dell doesnt make an i1520 or i1525, nor have they ever sold a laptop beginning with i. ive heard of the 1520, but not the i1520

 

Dell has used the Inspiron brand for over 10 years to represent their consumer laptops. For a good half or more of those 10 years they were the #1 PC maker in the world. I would think their brand had as much "cachet" as Vaio *shrugs*.

And you're just splitting hairs...

I've been using the iXXXX (XXXX = model number) for over 10 years now...

There are an infinite amount of unofficial acronyms so no need to split hairs over such an unimportant issue.

 

The new Inspiron line will not feature discrete graphics. That's what the XPS line is for. Besides, the 1530 is the sexiest 15.4" out there. Screw the purple Inspirons.

 

Ah, hadn't noticed that if the 15.4" option on the left side of the screen was clicked, it showed up.

But if you click 'Inspiron Notebooks' > '15.4" Widescreen', it only shows the 1525.

Anyways, try to get a 1520 with Vista, and you won't be able to. The also removed the Blu-ray drive option.

 

I just configured a 1525, wow they suck ass..

They have HDMI, but no high definition media options.. Nice Dell, continue with your game. Consumer laptop = offer high end options/Blu-ray option = no hdmi output/HDMI output included = no hd media options - Congratulations, you're idiots.

Either way no matter what I say or think they'll sell millions and I'll look like a jack ass that's over reacting. When really, I'm not. lol

 

Well Dell sales are down quarter after quarter so I don't think you're wrong...

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/21/Apple-laptops-drive-transformation_1.html

It seems to me that Dell either has really poor execs or are trying to ready themselves for a takeover.

 

See now that theory worries me.. If they get taken over and gutted to rid of competition, then what do us Dell owners do.. Like I see it as a end to technical support and well warranties and such. Of course I'm just assuming and speculating but if that turned out to be true - scary.. lol

 

Well, personally, I think most people look at the "Dell" brand, and don't pay much attention to the "Inspiron" branding. I think most people decide to look at Dell and they go to dell.com and they just end up finding the Inspirons there. Of course, I don't have survey data to prove it or anything. But... on the lid of the laptops, where Sony writes "VAIO", Dell doesn't write "Inspiron"... they just write "Dell".

I'm glad they have HDMI even if I'm not getting Blu-Ray or anything... if I'm going to output the picture to an external monitor, I'd rather do so using a digital connection to prevent signal degradation. Anyway, I don't know if they'll add a Blu-Ray option to this model or not... but if you want it now, you can get it in the M1530.

I wouldn't worry too much. Dell has a market cap right now of $49.5 billion, according to Yahoo Finance... and it usually costs a little bit more than the market cap to buy a company. There are a few companies out there that would be able to buy a company of that size... but not very many. For comparison, Acer paid about $710 million for Gateway.

 

why would anyone want to buy gateway? aren't they a failing company?

 

Their one of the worst computer companies. Worst quality control and everything else. LOL


swarmer, I don't care about a new machine at all, just stating some of my observations on the new machine. The choices they make seem really stupid sometimes.

On another note I don't support Blu-ray or HD-DVD. I'm waiting for one to win the whole war so I'm not locked into buy two $400-$900+ players. Then again without competition prices likely will go up once one wins. Oh well, that's a different matter, let's stay on topic.

 

I'm sure you know by now that right before CES Warner dropped the bomb and announced they will start to only support Blu-Ray. They were the only major studio to support both standards. Because of the huge volume or percentage that warner represents in the content market, most analysts are saying that the war is over. There are only two minor studios that offer HD DVD, paramount and Universal, and its only a matter of time when they will rejoin BD. This is devastating to the HD dvd camp. In fact, right before CES, Toshiba canceled their press meeting to try to regroup. They are still saying the war is not over.. but it is. The fact is, warner was seeing which format people were buying before christmas and BD out sold HD DVD by a huge margin. Toshiba's stock took a dump after the announcement. I would say its more then safe to invest in BD now. Only reason to wait is for some price drops in the players which should happen since more people will now be buying since the war is essentially over.

 

Yeah I read all about that.. I laughed and said "Finally..".. I completely agree man, I think the war is over. But I'm gonna remain an unsupporter just because I hardly watch movies on disk and when I do start to support, I want it set in stone .

I'm the type of person who waits for it to come on TV.. LOL

Still good news though for those who invested in Blu-ray. Although, Microsoft might have a mess on their hands with Xbox360 and such.. Hah..

 

I personally think the 1525 is very much a bellwether of the end of the "traditional" Inspiron line. About 3.5 years ago, I bought a desktop replacement laptop, an Inspiron 9100, and it was (and has been) a killer machine for my purposes over that time. The hard drive finally died, and I've got a choice between spending $100-$200 on a new HD or upgrading to an entirely new machine, and right now there's *nothing* in the Inspiron line that matches up (IMHO) with the corresponding level that my 9100 represented three and a half years ago.

I would not be surprised for Dell *not* to offer a dedicated graphics option on the 1525 given their "rebranding" (or, more accurately, reposturing) of the XPS brand from their gamer orientation to upscale consumer as well. They built a slimmed down, lightweight 15.4" lappy, and if you start adding dedicated components, you lose both of those advantages, not to mention their limited CPU selection (none of the CPU's w/4MB cache are even available). To me, that speaks volumes of their orientation. I was able to buy a dedicated graphics subsystem for my old Inspiron 9100 way back in the day.

Gateway may never return to its halcyon days, but Acer is trying to get that brand name back into the game at least. They offered a Gateway 5450-based 15.4" lappy w/3GB, a 250GB HDD for $750 at BB this last weekend, and try as I might, I couldn't dismiss it out of hand or out of the box when a relative of mine picked one up. The build quality was sound, it looked really sharp, and there were nuances about the machine that suggested to me some care had been taken into its production. Not to pump Gateway in particular, but the point is that Dell is getting some competition from the retail channel. Heck, even I had to admit the Gateway was really sharp looking, even if that has zero to do with its guts..and a comparably outfitted Dell box was over $1K, although you could probably get it closer with coupons or discounts, etc. Point is that this machine was new, available, in a box, ready to go, and it worked when the power was turned on. Sometimes I think Dell has lost sight of that.

Don't misunderstand; this isn't a "bash Dell" answer. I'm still itching to drop the hammer on a M1530 purchase, but the point is that Dell is really trying to "rediscover" itself, and to push the Inspiron line down a notch wouldn't be surprising. Lots of things Dell has done lately just leave me scratching my head...and their seeming indifference to negative customer response just grows more peculiar by the day.

 

HD-DVD isn't entirely dead, though admittedly the corpse is showing signs of stiffening. More broadly, though, MS doesn't care (much) about who wins the format wars. That's why they stuck with regular DVD players in the XBOX consoles. They're getting plenty of $$ from XBox Live downloads and subscriptions and cameras and headsets and (fill in the blank), so I'm not at all sure they're too worried about who wins the format wars. Heck, the ability to download and play true hi-def digital content is, over the long-term, arguably more important than the type of disc on which it gets distributed.

Besides, with companies like LG (and others) releasing dual-format chipsets, the "format war" will be superseded by the commodity-like availability of players that will handle both formats, and if there's *really* that much demand, I'm sure MS will plug one in either to a future base 360 console config or as an add-on.

sd

 

LOL - Stupid me I was under the idea there that the 360's games we're on HD-DVD, not DVD. But now that I think that wouldn't make sense because why would their be a HD-DVD addon? My mistake . That's why I said they'd be screwed if their system's games ran on the format but I for some reason screwed that up there, when I was well aware of it.

Yeah MS wouldn't care because their really on the right track with the digital downloads bit. I think, that form of distribution is full proof. As long as high speed connections are available. Although if you're in a rural area like, then your gonna miss that boat so I can see why it hasn't full taken off.

Problem with those Dual format players is you don't get 100% of the experiences. Some of them didn't do that whole interactivity thing that one of the formats offered. I imagine by now though, the dual format players have gotten those quirks worked out.