An overly harsh review score in my opinion. I bought one of these about two weeks ago and it's a solid machine, doesn't feel like a budget laptop at all, looks stylish, has a good keyboard, wireless is superb, it has a great spec, runs like a dream and represents INSANE value for money. This is an excellent budget laptop. Battery life just isn't an issue for me at all as there are several power profiles that are capable of delivering extended usage. (The default profile on mine was 'high performance' and I changed it immediately.)
@McPlopp: I'm glad you're enjoying your product. The 1545's looks are stylish, but glossy wrist-rests are never a good idea. The keyboard IS good, but wireless is by no means superb, since it only goes up to G (not the faster Draft-N) and doesn't have Bluetooth at all. I'm sure it works, but then most laptops do :)
The actual internals are quite impressive for the money, but the battery life IS very poor compared to the competition - just take a glance at our battery benchmarks (where the power profile is kept constant across all notebooks we test). Though admittedly this is not too much of an issue for all users.
As to INSANE value for money, have you seen current pricing on the Akoya? {http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2008/10/30/Medion-Akoya-S5610-15-4in-Notebook-PC/p1}. Aside from this you can get other notebooks offering similar specifications but with features like HDMI, Bluetooth AND better battery life from brand-names like Acer and HP for the same money.
I've recommended this notebook to a friend of mine as he is looking for a cheap 15 incher for the usual computing.
The issues you mention: lack of draft N, and bluetooth are not issues for us because we can specify them in the notebook on dell.ca. As well as a six or nine cell battery.
So I'm wondering, with those negatives not being an issue, would it still be a good buy for him Ardjuna?
I personally hate gloss, but he seems indifferent.
@Ohmz: Going for the Dell direct approach takes away a lot of the negatives in that you can, as you mention, upgrade to nearly everything the base model lacks (except for an HDMI output). However, by the time you've upgraded to things like a webcam, bluetooth and better battery the price has gone up considerably, putting it into a class of better-specified notebooks from the competition. At least, that's the case here in the UK, I don't know what pricing is like in Canada.
Fundamentally, there's nothing much wrong with the 1545, and as long as your friend doesn't mind cleaning the palm-rest after every use, it's an adequate machine for everyday use.
@ Ardjuna - No need to be defensive mate, I'm simply offering some user feedback and it's 100% valid. I maintain that for the casual buyer (probably the target audience for this product?) this is great value for money. HDMi output and bluetooth really isn't important for me at all. (Nor would it be a deal-breaker for anyone interested in a £400 laptop.) To my mind, the wifi is good because it works better than any of the other laptops in the household. It may not be the latest profile of wifi, but again, that really doesn't matter to me. What DOES matter is that it works with my wifi at home and the office seamlessly, keeps a strong signal nearly all the time and it's very easy to manage new connections etc. Value wise, I would fully expect you to know of a trendy corner of the internet where it's possible to get a better deal. (There's ALWAYS a better deal somewhere, unfortunately.) But again, I would argue that the casual buyer (AKA me and many others!) will visit PC World, Currys and Comet. Presently, this is the best value laptop you can buy from those outlets, in my opinion. PS- Liked the review, I'm just challenging the overall score :)
@McPlopp: Wasn't being defensive, just pointing out why I gave the 1545 the score I did . If you go for the direct approach, as I mention in my reply to Ohmz, this does take away many of the negatives, but we reviewed the configuration as it's available from PCWorld and the like.
HDMI output IS important for many people, who want to watch ripped DVDs, shows and other media on their living-room LCD TV rather than their laptop's screen. Sure, most TVs offer D-sub, but quality won't be as good as with a digital connector. As to Bluetooth, there are plenty of devices such as headphones, mice, mobile phones etc that work (sometimes exclusively) with it, and thus again I'd argue it's a handy feature for the average consumer. The lack of a webcam is also going to be a major negative for many.
On the value score, it's really not that difficult to find better specified notebooks (importantly with better batteries to boot) for only a little more than the Dell's £430 asking price from major etailers, even the likes of Currys. Here is a random example from the home page: http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/419076. More RAM, double the hard drive, a webcam and probably better battery life for £34 more...
Having said all that, I do appreciate that it might suit some just fine, and appreciate your feedback; it's always good to get the opinion of someone who owns the product to get another perspective. Glad you liked the review btw :)
I've had mine since 3rd January. All this fuss over the shiny finish! Use an anti static cloth, or carefuly apply silicone furniture polish--problem solved. I'd like HDMI bluetooth and a few other features, but Dell have put the emphasis on quality electronics in the basic product and there is certainly an advance here on the 1525. Many competitors in this class still use Pentium processors. The customers appreciate this. In 80 reviews here a couple mention the limited features, nearly all are lavish in praise of the actual perfomance. Owners, of course, usually 'overrate' their purchases, but to my mind the features issue is bearing heavily on your rating of performance. Mine cost me £399 for 3Gb Ram and 250 hard drive. I could not better that for the money. You mention to McPlopp additional freatures costing 'only £34' more--but today £34 is a lot of money in the Budget computer field!
i feel that this review is to critical because if you were to buy the specification that is reviewd from the dell website it would be much cheaper and thus better value for money i currently have one of these on order and feel that the specification is great value for money £369 plus £29.00 for the coulor upgrade
@Ralph Cook: "but to my mind the features issue is bearing heavily on your rating of performance” - No, in fact it doesn’t have any bearing on it at all, as we have a separate Features score. What does affect it (in this case putting the 1545’s Performance score down from a possible 8 to a 6) is the terrible battery life, since we don’t have a separate score for this.
“You mention to McPlopp additional features costing ‘only £34’ more” - DOUBLE the hard drive size, more memory, better battery AND extra features on the first notebook I looked at on Currys’ homepage. I was demonstrating that even for McPlopp’s “the casual buyer (AKA me and many others!)” it’s not difficult to find notebooks offering far better value for money than the 1545 *as reviewed*. Especially if one actually does a little digging around, it’s easy enough to find notebooks offering similar specifications for less. And surely if you’re buying a computer that should last you the next few years, the price of a night out/less than 10% of the total price is not that great an amount?
@33639856: We reviewed the 1545 as priced and configured at PCWorld (and other e-tailers) rather than direct from Dell. Though your config still comes to £410, you could probably add one point to the value score at that kind of pricing.
It's interesting to know that battery life has a two point influence on your 'performance' score, which is quite a lot. I hope Dell will do something about this-a 6 cell battery is clearly required as standard and would give at least a genuine 2.5 hours. However, although very many reviewers mention this it does not prevent them giving the 1545 an 8 or 9 rating. Fact is, very few 15.6+ widescreen laptops will ever be more than a few feet from a powerpoint. And I have booked the night out you recommend I take--it'll probably cost all of that £34!!
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Had problems with it from the first days of buying
I purchased the dell inspiron and have had so, so many problems with it from the start. I have written a lengthy comment with my exact reasons for rating it a poor 3/10 which I think anyone considering buying this laptop should consider. To be totally honest, I would not recommend this laptop, I have worn the hell out of it and I do love it, but there are too many con's to match the pro's.
I also have had problems with my other dells, similar to this, which is overheating, plugged in not charging (which has no confirmed way of fixing) and crashing when using games.
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Dell Inspiron 1545
17th October 2011, By Lasswenex
I purchased the dell inspiron and have had so, so many problems with it from the start. I have written a lengthy comment with my exact reasons for rating it a poor 3/10 which I think anyone considering buying this laptop should consider. To be totally honest, I would not recommend this laptop, I have worn the hell out of it and I do love it, but there are too many con's to match the pro's.
I also have had problems with my other dells, similar to this, which is overheating, plugged in not charging (which has no confirmed way of fixing) and crashing when using games.
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