Dell Inspiron™ E1505 PC Notebook

I can’t believe that my daughter and son-in-law gave me a brand new Dell E1505 PC Notebook. I think they were tired of hearing me complain about my aging Dell 4100. Rob has the Dell Inspiron E1705. Mine is very similar but smaller and without some of the same specs.

You probably know that at www.dell.com you can build your own computer. After looking at the specifications it seems that they went with the standard E1505. I am going to review my computer and leave a summary of the specs below which I don’t cover.

I wasn’t the target audience for the larger 1705 however I fit perfectly into the targeted market for the E1505. At under $1,000 it did not break the “kid ’s “ piggy bank. It gives me lots of power, lots of storage and lots of speed.

About the E1505:

Memory and hard drive:

This machine’s hard drive is a 40GB Serial ATA, 5400 RPM. Rob’s has 80GB. He’s a gamer and needs that. I don’t. These numbers not only affect the storage capacity but the rotational speed of the drive. This is a fast machine. Unlike my old computer, which I’m giving to a school system, after hibernating I had to throw cold water in its face to wake up. The E1505 wakes up immediately. There are hibernate, standby, turn off and restart options. Compare 40B to my previous 2GB hard drive. I now don’t have to wait for anything to load nor do I have to deal with a crashing computer.

What it looks like:

The E1505 is a beautiful machine. In fact other than the size the 1505 looks just like the 1705. The lid and bottom of the notebook are silver which is the magnesium alloy construction which is supposed to add protection. I am very careful with it but Rob has had his for months now and there are no scratches on it in spite of being moved around and taken on trips.

I read that the lid provides good protection for the screen. I read that I could push in on the back of the screen and not get ripples. I had to try this when I reviewed his and I did the same thing with mine. I do not get any ripples. I experimented previously with my 4100 and pushing on the lid I saw ripples on the screen. I can describe it as almost being able to see my fingerprints through the screen.

It is about 14 inches wide by 10 A? inches deep by 1 A? inches high. The screen display is 15.4 inches. This is measured diagonally. It weighs a little more than 6 pounds. The weight will vary depending on how you build it.

It has a full set of keys. Unlike Rob’s keyboard that measures 4 A? inches from the bottom of the key board to the bottom row of keys, mine measures 4 inches which is the same as my old Dell. Typing on my new Dell is just like (Well not exactly but in terms of having to get used to it.) using my old computer. I noted that Rob’s larger computer took some getting used to because of its size.

Visual and Audio:

There are two options on this notebook. He could have chosen a matte style screen or what is called a TrueLife screen. He chose the latter. I have never seen such a beautiful screen. The difference is like choosing glossy over matte photos. The screen is extremely shiny making the pictures on it amazingly clear and bright. The color contrast is excellent and the colors themselves perfect. It is so shiny I can see myself in it when it is off.

We watched a DVD of their wedding ceremony on my new computer. Seriously it looked like I was watching a $3,000 television set. The clarity is that bright and crisp. I have buttons on the bottom of the computer which I can use to adjust volume and brightness for example.

The WXGA TFT Active Matrix (W stands for wide) resolution on the E1505 is 1200 by 800 gives me larger text and icons than on Rob’s whose TrueLife Screen is the WUXGA.

The sound is amazing and I don’t even have speakers hooked up. I now listen to CDs while on the computer which is something that if I could do on my old computer I wouldn’t want to. Of course I did have some sound but it was never clear. The sound is so clear that it sounds like a super audio system. (Currently playing: Rubber Soul)

The E1505 has an Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950.

The Processor:

My E1505 has what is called an Intel Core Duo T2050. There is a label right on the computer. The processor controls the speed at which the computer runs programs, loads images and downloads files.

Single-core processors will give you enough power to e-mail and work with spreadsheets. Dual-core processors all the user to do more than one thing at a time. So for example although the kids bought me an anti-virus protection system I run spyware each morning. I can do this, load CDs and check my e-mail for example all at the same time with fast speed and no crashing!

Other Information:

My E1505 has 3 USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus) ports.

It has a 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery. This lasts 3 hours.

The operating system is Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

Service:

This machine comes with a one-year warranty. I can tell you from my experience with my 4100 that Dell’s service was wonderful when I needed it. I had a problem with a couple of keys on the key board. When customer service told me they would pick up my computer fix it and bring it back I got really nervous. I figured I would be without a computer for months and months. In three or four days it was back. Not only had they replaced the keyboard but they noticed a crack in the lid and replaced that.

Do I like it or not?

The E1505 is a beautiful, fast machine which can handle everything I will ever need or want.

I love my new computer and can’t think of anything wrong with it. It is a tad bigger than my 4100 but it fits into the 4100’s bag if I put the cord inside the case rather than next to the computer.

This is certainly a 5 star computer and one I would highly recommend. Please feel free to leave me a question or comment if I haven’t answered all your questions.

A summary of all the specs on the computer reviewed:

IntelA? Core Duo T2050 (1.60GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Genuine WindowsA? XP Media Center Edition 2005
No Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Selected
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
IntelA? Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Integrated Audio
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps)
No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
No Security Subscription
Trial pack- Basic and trial products from Core and Yahoo
1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
AdobeA? AcrobatA? Reader 7.0
Windows Vista Capable
Intel Core Duo Processor


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