Dell Inspiron 1501 - $499 (CAD)

$499

AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TK-53
Genuine Windows® XP Home
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
80GB Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability+O216
1 Year Return to Depot Service and Technical Support


Not too bad of a deal. Does anyone know if the Vostro 1000 and Inspiron 1501 use the same case pretty much?

 

Similar but not the same. For me, the Vostro looks like a black inspiron 1*20

 

That is a pretty good deal.

Can the ram be easily upgraded as well as the video card on your own?

 

No, the 1520 shares with the Vostro 1500. The 1501 is the last (earlier) generation of Inspiron... replaced by the 1*20 series notebooks.

 

The Inspiron equivalent of the Vostro 1000 is the Inspiron 1521. The 1501 is an older model, with a somewhat less sturdy design.

 

Thanks for all the help folks!

For sure, very nice deal for an entry level laptop.

Yes, the RAM can be upgraded. The video card, no. You can't upgrade the video card on any laptops (well 99% of them anyway).

 

The vostro 1000 is just the black version of the Inspiron 1501 rather than the new 1500/1520/1521 series.

 

Ah ha! Yes, that's what I was wondering. This helps make my choice even easier. Thanks!

 

Damn! I got this for 579 last week.

 

I just talked to DELL and was told that the Vostro 1000 is essentially an Inspiron 1501 (in a more conservative color). I compared the cheapest models:
Vostro (CAD$549 = US$520.7 ):
http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=ca&CS=cabsdt1&l=en&OC=N1000A2X_F_1E
Inspiron 1501 (CAD$499 = US$473.3):
http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=ca&CS=cadhs1&l=en&OC=1501A2XP_F_1E
Both can be configured with Win XP, processor, optical drive, RAM are the same, the Vostro comes with a 4 cell battery (vs. 6 cell in the Inspiron).

Could someone comment on why anyone would pick the Vostro (other than subjective preference for the dark case)? Does Vostro have any advantages that I overlooked? I asked the DELL rep to tell me sg. concrete and he could not come up with anything. Also, the Inspiron is available with or w/o Truelife display, and some people complain that the glare is of the Truelife screen is really annoying.

Summary:
1. Any reason to go with the Vostro for $50 more (while getting a worse battery too)?
2. Should one get a Truelife Display or get same display w/o Truelife (cost is the same)?
3. I know the Inspiron 1501 is VERY basic - but for $499 Canadian (US$473) and free shipping, it seems like a good deal if someone is looking for a machine for very basic photo editing, e-mail and web browsing, watching the occasional DVDs (only when away from home). The laptop will not be hauled around much, will not be used for video editing or gaming, so performance and weight are not major issues. Also, all the other $500 laptops seem to be even worse than the Inspiron 1501 (this ACER is more portable at Bestbuy: http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodd...tid=20354&PCName=laptop_acer&logon=&langid=EN but that is a none issue for us, and the ACER has a smaller screen, comes with Vista which is a drag on performance, comes with a more basic AMD processor and it has less memory (no biggie but still). So the DELL seems like a good value as long as someone is pretty sure that all they need is the basics (and I am sure about that .
Any comments would be much appreciated.

 

"2. Should one get a Truelife Display or get same display w/o Truelife (cost is the same)?"

TrueLife has a glossy finish. If you would be annoyed by reflections of stuff behind you if there's lights in the room where you use the notebook, go with the matte screen. Otherwise, TrueLife does add some brilliance to the display, if you don't get distracted by reflections easily.

"3. I know the Inspiron 1501 is VERY basic - but for $499 Canadian (US$473) and free shipping, it seems like a good deal if someone is looking for a machine for very basic photo editing, e-mail and web browsing, watching the occasional DVDs (only when away from home). The laptop will not be hauled around much, will not be used for video editing or gaming[...]"

I bought this machine thinking that, and it does everything I need to do with it, I even sold my desktop. Can even play most games at low-medium settings, but some games such as F.E.A.R. or other graphics heavy 2007 games will be a little too much(there's a limit of how you can push a 4-pipe GPU ). The screen beats the crap out of the Acer 19" I had on my desktop, and if you watch 720p ripped tv shows, the image is nearly perfect.

 

Thanks, Joklem. We ordered the Inspiron 1501 for $499 (CAD), I will update this forum to let everyone know how things worked out.