Vostro 1500 questions...

Im thinking about getting a vostro 1500 and had a couple questions that folks that had them might be able to answer.

1. Ive read in reviews that the case is plastic or magnesium alloy... which is it or is it a combination of both?

2. I read somewhere that the extended battery was bigger and stuck out the back of the unit... but cant seem to find the article or find anyone else mentioning it in reviews. Does the extended battery stick out the back? would it require a larger case due to this?

3. Comparing the stats on the 1680x1050 display and the 1440x900 display it looks like the 1440 display is brighter and has better viewing angles... is there anyone out there that has seen both that could tell me what they think bout these? I have a 1680 display now (e1505) and like it but more brightness would be a plus.

Thanks in advance,

Dan

 

I have a Vostro 1500.
As an answer to question one: Yes, the Vostro 1500 has a combination of a magnesium and plastic case.
The top case (at the back of the LCD) feels very "metal-like". Same with the underside of the laptop. The top case (palm rest etc.) is in plastic. But the inner frame of the notebook is still in magnesium alloy...

Answer two: I have a Vostro 1500 with a 9 cell battery (the one that sticks out). This 9 cell battery sticks about 2,5cm out of the back of the notebook. But this is not annoying or anything. It only looks a bit "different", but gives a much longer battery life while running on battery only. I can often work almost 5 hours with battery only, while playing music and surfing the internet.
You can just buy yourself a normal notebook-bag, designed for 15,4" (widescreen) notebooks.

 

Flyingraptor,

Thanks for the info... a couple more questions... first, are the plastic parts painted like the e1505 or is it just that color plastic. Having problems with wearing the paint off my e1505 (miss my 600m in that regard as it was all magnesium or similar)

Also, how do you like your Vostro? I know... general question. ;-)

 

Well...
The plastic is really black. I don't think it's painted...
But actually the Vostro has different tones of black. The upper case (handrest and above keyboard...) is in plastic with a metallic black shade (also referred as "gun metal"). Some parts (like the DVD-drive and HDD-cover) are in a "antracite-like" colored plastic. The metal parts (underside and back of LCD) are (I think painted) in a black shade.


And yeah... overal I'm pretty satisfied with my Vostro.
But I've had some quite some problems with it. The CPU suffered from the well known "CPU whine"... Which was SO annoying...
I heared a constant whine (like morse code)...
I've had a very long e-mail conversation with Dell's helpdesk and they sent me a technician several times.
Nothing worked. I also had to download new drivers and so on... Blablabla... they probably didn't really know what was the problem. After searching the internet I figured out myself that it was a CPU problem. On top of that my screen buzzed sometimes and I had my motherboard replaced in order to fix the whine.
In the end they just sent me a new laptop... With an upgraded CPU (I think they did that just to make me stop complaining, as that was the cheapest upgrade available). So now I have 2 Vostro's, as they don't seem to pick up my old one...
My new Vostro also has the whine. But not so hard as on my older Vostro. I just fixed it by using "RM Clock"...

So... I might have had some problems with it... But Dell's service was pretty good and in the end I'm pretty satisfied...
And... not everybody heares the whine. Only young people (with a perfect hearing) seem to hear it (in a quiet room).
Only thing I would advice you is to select a 7200 rpm HDD. I have a 5400 rpm HDD and I'd better taken the faster HDD...

If you still have some questions... feel free to ask me...

 

Hi Flyingraptor,

I'm think of getting a Vostro too. What do you think of the keyboard and track-pad/buttons? Also, the sound quality from the speakers? Is the fan very noisy?

Thanks!

 

The fan isn't noisy. The keyboard and buttons are great like they style of the keyboard and fact that it's spill proof. I haven't had much experience with laptops but can't say much about the sound. It can go pretty loud and is clear but even a cheap under 10 headphone will be better.

 

Thanks for that.

Are the track-pad buttons very 'clicky', or are they more silent?

 

Well the buttons on the keyboard (and those of of the "mouse") click very smoothly... Not very "clicky" at all... I like them a lot.
The sound of the speakers is good. Actually, they sound very good for a laptop without subwoofer or anything. Just, the bass is rather weak... When playing e.g. dubstep music (wich has a LOT of bass)...

 

my LG WSXGA+ works great