Dell TV Offers

The Dell Inspiron 1720–the bigger brother of the of the Dell Inspiron 1520–is a desktop replacement that shares many of the same features we liked in its sibling: a choice of colors, a speedy Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 802.11n Wi-Fi, discrete graphics, and 3GB of free online backup. We just wish it were a bit lighter.This 17-inch sports rounded edges and a choice of eight colors: Jet Black, Alpine White, Espresso Brown, Ruby Red, Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Flamingo Pink, and Sunshine Yellow. We loved the look and feel of our soft-touch Ruby Red model but were disappointed once we lifted the lid; the interior is bland by comparison. When outfitted with the beefy nine-cell battery, this notebook weighs nine pounds and measures 15.5 x 11.5 x 1.7 inches. In other words, the Inspiron 1720 wasn’t made for travel, and when you add the AC adapter to the mix, you’re talking about ten pounds.

The WUXGA TrueLife (1920 x 1200-pixel resolution) display is absolutely beautiful. It’s bright, crisp, and offers plenty of real estate for productivity apps, photos, and Web surfing. Our Saturday Night Fever: 30th Anniversary Special Collector’s Edition looked good from all but the most extreme angles. Skin tones had excellent color balance, and blacks were rich, but the display kicked back some heavy reflections.

A spacious keyboard with minimum flex sits at the LCD’s base, as does a button that launches Dell Media Direct, which lets you access music, video, photos, and an address book without booting into Windows Vista Home Premium. The good-sized touchpad sits left of center and required some adjusting on our part, but we liked that the mouse buttons were quiet.

Lining the front bezel are handy multimedia keys and the speakers, which produced loud, room-filling sound when we played our digital music. Like most notebook speakers, there was a discernible lack of bass, so if you’re looking for stellar audio, the Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 may be a better option. Dell also includes a two-megapixel webcam for snapping photos (up to 3200 x 2400-pixel resolution) and video (up to 1600 x 1200-pixel resolution), but the visuals were only incrementally better than the ones produced by notebooks with 1.3-MP webcams.

Our configuration came with Dell’s Travel Remote ($15), which you can tuck away into the ExpressCard slot when not in use. You can configure the Dell Inspiron 1720 with an optional Blu-ray drive ($550) and a TV tuner and remote bundle ($125) to transform the machine into a multimedia powerhouse. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an HDMI port, so if you opt for the Blu-ray drive, you can’t export high-definition content to a TV. This may be a dealbreaker for some.

In addition to 2GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB), the Dell Inspiron 1720 is powered by Intel’s blazing 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7500 processor, which produced an excellent 5,302 score on our PCMark05 test and a 173 on MobileMark 2007. For everyday productivity tasks–checking e-mail, opening Word docs, browsing the Web, and listening to music–the 1720 handled tasks with aplomb. We also saw impressive Wi-Fi data throughput rates courtesy of the 802.11n connection: 16.2 Mbps at 15 feet away from our access point, and 14.4 Mbps at 50 feet.

Featuring a strong 3DMark03 score of 8,847, the Dell Inspiron 1720 is a good match for all but the most hardcore gamers. Nvidia’s GeForce Go 8600M GT graphics card (with 256MB of video memory) enabled F.E.A.R. to run at a reasonably smooth 35 frames per second on autodetect settings (at 1024 x 768-pixel resolution), which dipped to a lowly 16 fps with the settings maxed out.

The nine-cell battery lasted 2 hours and 21 minutes on our DVD rundown test, which is a good for a machine with energy-draining discrete graphics and a 17-inch screen. The system notched 4 hours and 42 minutes of runtime on our productivity test with MobileMark, which is a more true-to-life representation of the type of endurance you’ll see in everyday use.

The Dell Inspiron 1720 comes with the usual Adobe Acrobat Reader and a generous 15-month trial of McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, and Spyware removal. Although our model wasn’t outfitted with mobile broadband, you can opt for a 3G connection from AT&T (HSDPA), Sprint (EV-DO Rev. A), or Verizon (EV-DO Rev. A) for an additional $150. Dell also tosses in two services designed to make your computing life easier: Dell Connect and Dell DataSafe. The former is a remote diagnostic and repair service; the latter is a backup solution that lets users mouse away 3GB of data on Dell’s servers. You can purchase additional storage in 10GB ($10), 20GB ($20), or 30GB ($30) capacities.

Priced at $2,253, the Dell Inspiron 1720 isn’t cheap, but it has enough horsepower–and options–for both work and play, including some 3D gaming. Those looking for a desktop replacement with more graphics muscle would be better served with the Sony VAIO VGN-AR590E or the Toshiba Qosmio G45. But the 1720 is a more than suitable one-man-show for both multitasking and everyday entertainment.

Review by Jeffrey L. Wilson, www.laptopmag.com

Dell inspiron 1520

The Dell Inspiron 1520 under review here is the latest 15.4” in an ever-growing succession of what can be categorized as “consumer mainstream” notebooks offered by Dell’s Home & Home Office division.

Since the release of the 1520, Dell has also made available a very similar machine, the Vostro 1500, which can be purchased from the Small Business site. Unlike the Inspiron 1520, which can be configured with any one of eight different colors, the Vostro 1500 is solid black. The Vostro also provides a Windows XP option, which is unavailable in the Inspiron 1520.

It should also be noted, for the benefit of anyone who is somewhat new to this website, that there is plenty of additional information on the 1520, including an excellent full-featured review by someone who actually purchased the 1520, as well as a side-by-side comparison of the 1520 and the HP dv6500t; this comparison includes a video that is definitely worth watching for anyone considering the Inspiron 1520, the HP dv6500t or any other 15.4” consumer notebook.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0 GHz/4MB L2 Cache)
OS: Microsoft Vista Home Premium
Hard Drive: 160 GB SATA @ 5400RPM
Screen: 15.4″ WSXGA Widescreen (1680 x 1050)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 256MB
RAM: 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM @667 MHz (2 x 1GB)
Optical Drive: 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/Double Layer Support
Battery: 9-cell lithium ion
Wireless: Intel 4965AGN
Weight: 6.4 lbs
Dimensions: 1.47-1.65” (H) x 14.12 “ (W) x 10.59″ (D)
Ports/Slots: 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire); 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0); 8-in-1 Memory Card Reader; VGA Out; S-Video; RJ-45 Ethernet LAN; RJ-11 Modem; ExpressCard 54mm; stereo in, headphone/speaker out and dual digital mics

This Dell Inspiron 1520 weighs about six and a half pounds and is considered a mainstream consumer notebook. Though Dell allows customization of the lid in up to eight different colors, our model has a conservative looking black lid. Because of that our machine lacks some of the consumer flair a “Flamingo Pink” lid would have offered. Nonetheless, my first impressions had to do with a couple of things that distinguish the 1520 from its predecessors:

The overall look is very different, in a good way.
The hardware, particularly in the form of graphics processing, will allow the 1520 to perform about as well as any notebook on the market, with the exception of outlandishly expensive gaming machines that lack any concessions with respect to size, battery life and cost.
These two characteristics are what make the 1520 such an impressive achievement. I actually briefly owned the previous Inspiron generation’s e1705 model, and reviewed the prior-generation e1405 thin-and-light notebook. I must say, the look of the current lineup is immeasurably more appealing. The old silver-and-white style always got me thinking of things like shag carpet and popcorn ceilings: sure, one can make a case for these innovations, just as one can make a case for thick white plastic trim around a notebook, but in the end (which usually comes within a matter of weeks if not months), the style grows tired, the initial promise hollow. The new Inspiron series design is cleaner, simpler and more tasteful. A cousin of the 1520, which shares its look, is the AMD-based Inspiron 1521.

Purchasing Considerations

Though this notebook was sent by Dell for review purposes and not purchased, I wanted to touch on the above topic, simply because there is something of an art to purchasing a Dell consumer notebook. There are many decisions to make, and like all decisions, they carry with them the opportunity for regret or satisfaction. I heartily endorse this web site’s forums for a little glimpse into the thought, action and subsequent level of satisfaction of other buyers.

As of this writing, deliberately moving along the Dell purchasing highway results in:

An Inspiron 1520 with a fairly basic configuration, but one more than adequate for general media and office tasks, for just over $900.
A deluxe performance configuration, virtually identical to this review machine, for just over $1500.
These prices reflect no special discounts or coupons, just today’s standard upgrades and reductions, which are plainly available to anyone who orders a 1520 today. In any case, at the high end particularly, these prices strike me as very competitive, and a savvy shopper who finds coupons, buys their own memory and times the Dell marketing promotions can do better on price.

One thing I found interesting while configuring a couple of 1520s on the Dell site was the price of a RAM upgrade from 2GB to 4GB: $850. Had I selected a higher-priced starting point, meaning a more full-figured set of warranty and support options, the cost of these 2 gigabytes of RAM would have moved away from the direction of a cool grand, but not by much. I saw no mention of this upgrade including a complimentary iPhone or round-trip flight to London, but it is there and available. That said, I would definitely opt for the T7300 CPU and the 8600M GT graphics included in this review model, if at all possible. While these enhancements will probably add three or four hundred dollars to the final price, they are well worth the cost and will almost certainly give the 1520 a longer useful life.

Design

As noted, I like the look of the Inspiron 1520 and see it as a vast improvement over the Inspiron e1505, the 1520’s predecessor. However, one thing I’ll mention is that my own preference is the black lid of this review model because I find, in pictures at least, that the machines with colored lids have too much color for me. Two distinct colors, in this case silver and black, are just about right. I also like the aforementioned Vostro 1500, very similar to this 1520 and available at the Dell Small Business site, because of the all-black look, including a black keyboard, and the possibility of Windows XP. Though many won’t, I see a black keyboard and XP as decided advantages.

Also a welcome change is the placement and position of the keyboard and touchpad. The prior line of Inspirons featured a somewhat odd shaped keyboard that was set very close to the LCD, and a rather large touchpad placed in the middle of a vast sea of silver plastic. While this did allow the palm rests to accommodate even the most monstrous palms, the new Inspiron line, as represented by this review 1520, has a slightly smaller touchpad and a more centered keyboard; this redesign makes for more comfortable typing and touchpad operation, besides being more aesthetically harmonious.

Build

The Inspiron 1520 feels very solid. The only issue, which has been mentioned elsewhere, is the screen latch, which does have some play. Aside from this lack of a nice, snug fit, the latch did not bother me, and I found nothing in the build quality that would make me hesitant to purchase a 1520. Firm but gentle pushing and prodding revealed no flex or weakness.

Input and Output Ports

The Inspiron 1520 has the following ports selection:

(4) USB 2.0 Ports
Integrated 10/100 LAN and 56K Modem
IEEE 1394a
8-in-1 Card Reader
VGA Video Output and S-Video
Stereo In, Headphone/Speaker Out and Dual Digital Mics
ExpressCard 54mm Slot

Color and brightness were both good on the WSXGA glossy LCD. While I like and would myself choose this option, other resolutions are available: 1280×800 WXGA, in both glossy and non-glossy, and 1440×900, glossy only. This represents improved LCD variety and is a major selling point of the 1520; there is something for nearly everyone. Careful scrutiny revealed only one utterly trivial imperfection in the screen: an eighth of an inch or so of uneven backlighting at the bottom of the LCD, which was only visible when I looked very closely while running a screen saver with a dark background. There has been some discussion in this site’s forums about “grainy” LCDs in the 1520, but I detected none of this. However, I am admittedly not a good cohort for those studying LCD perfection; generally (but not always) I’m okay with the screens I use. Everest Home lists the screen as an SEC3350, a Seiko Epson manufactured LCD.

Sound

As always, or almost always, when discussing notebook sound: more than adequate for getting the gist, feel and intent of what’s being played, but definitely lacking in bass. Headphones or external speakers will provide a much more lifelike experience.

Multimedia Features

This 1520 came with a remote, snugly ensconced in the ExpressCard slot, as well as an array of physical media buttons on the front of the notebook. Both the built-in buttons and the remote worked as expected, forwarding and pausing and muting in accordance with my wishes.

Processor and Performance

Thanks to the very strong components, performance was always good, regardless of the stress put on system resources such as RAM and CPU. The new Santa Rosa platform coupled with an Intel T7300 CPU, together with a stronger GPU, outperformed my “old” T2400-based Dell Precision M65 by a wide margin on all benchmarks.

For prospective buyers, it may be worth adding that this review 1520’s configuration is worth considering if one is looking for excellent performance while keeping the price reasonably modest. The T7300 is the cheapest available CPU that comes with 4MB of Level 2 cache, the 8600M GT GPU will provide optimal graphics performance, and anything less than 2GB RAM will significantly hinder performance.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Keys are responsive and have good travel. Overall, I’d say Dell has done an excellent job with the 1520’s keyboard, both in terms of the feel and the new placement that doesn’t err northward the way the last-generation Inspirons did, especially the e1505 and e1705. Individual key placement makes sense, being more or less standard, and the half-height function keys are consistent with, and just as comfortable as, their larger brethren. The touchpad, which is smaller than that of the e1505, is eminently usable and did everything I expected of it with no discomfort or untoward behavior.

Battery Life

Under fairly heavy usage, e.g., a lot of hard drive activity, wireless going and the screen set to maximum brightness, I managed to run on the battery for almost three hours. Very light usage and a dim display, but wireless still running, yielded an additional hour or so. I expected a greater disparity, given that my usage for the two tests was at opposite ends of the spectrum, but I did have wireless enabled for the light-usage test, and both times seemed fairly strong for a machine with this power. With a little tweaking, I’m sure others could squeeze more life out of the 9-cell battery.

Heat and Noise

The 1520 was remarkably quiet (virtually silent, in fact) the whole time I had it, and heat was never a problem. The bottom of the unit became a little warm after protracted heavy activity, but not unusually so.

Service and Support

I have used Dell support in the past and have always been satisfied, in the end, with the experience, but I had no reason to contact support regarding this 1520.

Software

Being a creature of habit, I removed most of the “trialware,” along with some other common programs I loathe, as soon as I received the notebook. I was barely paying attention while doing this, but the whole process for this review notebook seemed to go very quickly. There were no apparent software issues, though I do find myself longing for Windows XP whenever I use a Vista machine. The availability of XP is reason #2 for my seriously considering the Vostro 1500 if I were in the market for a high-powered 15.4” notebook at a reasonable price.

Conclusion

Much of what I found while using the Inspiron 1520 is consistent with (to the point of being almost identical to) what has been written elsewhere. There was really only one thing about this notebook that bothered me, my preference for the all black Vostro 1500 notwithstanding: the play in the screen latch mechanism when the notebook is shut. Is this a big deal? I would say no, not at all.

There are so many positives, including the overall build quality, and so much flexibility in terms of configuration, the 1520 would seem to make a lot of sense for a wide range of notebook users, and a little bit of latch looseness should not be a determining factor. There are many fine notebook deals in the Sunday ads, as well as online, but there is often something about these machines, such as the keyboard, the graphics or the resolution, that would make me reluctant to purchase one of them. The 1520, or the Vostro 1500, for that matter, can be configured just right. If I weren’t already happy with my two laptops and in no hurry to get a replacement, I’d definitely consider the Inspiron 1520 or its nearly identical sibling, the Vostro 1500.

Review written by Kevin Giberson, www.notebookreview.com.au

Dell Inspiron 1420

The Dell Laptop Inspiron 1420 is a new-to-market 14” Intel Santa Rosa platform-based laptop. It is the successor to the previous Dell Inspiron e1405 laptop, and is the smallest in a new line-up of laptops from Dell.

It is available with a wide array of processor options, from the Core 2 Duo T5350 to the Core 2 Duo T7500, removable drive options up to and including a Blu-Ray drive, wireless-N internet, integrated or discrete graphics chipsets, and more.

Ordering

Ordering a computer from Dell can be a daunting experience. The Dell website offers up a seemingly endless array of computers and accessories to suit the needs of all different types of users, from the elementary school student through to the mobile professional. The Inspiron 1420 is focused at the typical home user, but due to its size it will likely be popular with those individuals seeking a more powerful mobile platform than the Dell Latitude D430, or a more gaming capable platform than the Latitude D630.

Once I had decided upon an Inspiron 1420, I had to select first what class of 1420 I was interested in customizing. Dell presents typical “Good”, “Better”, and “Best” configurations on its website. As I consider myself a power user, I thought it best to start from the “Good” configuration as it offers the greatest number of choices to arrive at an optimal price/performance ratio. Through the customization process, you select from a series of options, consisting of lid color, processor, operating system, amount of system memory, graphics card, removable drive, hard disk drive capacity, wireless networking, cellular networking, support options, and pre-installed software. I chose the below configuration as it best suited my needs of a powerful portable computer to be used around the home and on travel for web browsing, e-mail, multimedia, and occasional gaming.

* Lid Color: Jet Black
* Processor: Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0 GHz, 800 MHz, 4MB Cache)
* RAM: 2 GB DDR2-667
* Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 8400M GS, 128 MB GDDR3
* Hard Disk Drive: 160 GB, 5400 RPM, 8 MB Cache (Western Digital Corp.)
* Removable Drive: DVD+-RW/DL (Optiarc, a joint venture of Sony Corp. and NEC Inc.)
* Screen:14.1” Antiglare LCD with 1280×800 pixel resolution (Chi Mei Optronics)
* Wireless Interface: Intel Next Generation Wireless-N 4965 802.11A/B/G, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR adapter by Dell
* Battery: 9-cell 85 WHr battery
* Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
* Additional Software: None

In addition to the above options, I also selected an additional 90W Dell power supply as a spare, a 1-year Accidental Damage / Theft protection plan, and a Belkin 14” notebook sleeve in jet black and cabernet (red). Through the use of a promotion granting free 3-5 day shipping, another granting 2 GB of DDR2-667 RAM and a 160 GB 5400 RPM hard disk drive for free, and a coupon granting $350 off the purchase of select Inspiron systems $1399 and up (before tax and shipping), I was able to purchase all the above for $1170 including tax.

I ordered my system at 4pm on Friday, July 6th 2007. I received my system at 11:33am on Thursday, July 12th 2007. The Belkin sleeve case and LoJack theft protection software shipped separately but they arrived on the same DHL truck with the laptop itself.

On handling the laptop for the first time, I found it to be a bit heavier than I had expected, but not too unwieldy. It is definitely an attractive piece of gear. The base and the lid are, in my configuration, a matching black. The screen bezel, keyboard, and base are all a silver / aluminum color. The Dell logo at the base of the screen bezel is done in a mirrored silver color. This laptop means business.

After removing the laptop from its packing materials, I set out to take a series of pictures of the laptop for the consumption of the online community.
Facing the laptop, you first notice the large chrome piece that allows you to get a good grip on the lid/screen. In the center of the bezel rest the dual 3.5mm headphone jacks, so that you and a friend can listen to your tunes or, alternatively, you can get multi-channel sound out, and the single 3.5mm microphone jack. To the left of these jacks you will find the 8-in-1 card reader (Secure Digital (SD), SDIO, MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick, MemoryStick PRO, xD-Picture Card, Hi Speed-SD and Hi Density-SD) and the wireless radio switch / Wi-Fi catcher. For those curious, a full-size SanDisk MemoryStick Pro inserted in the card reader sticks out 7/16” from the bezel. Above the radio switch and card reader are indicator lights showing power state, hard drive activity, battery charging status, Wi-Fi radio status, and Bluetooth radio status (if installed). All the indicator lights glow a bright blue.

On the left edge of the laptop are, from the rear working forward, a laptop lock slot, the power supply connector, the processor fan exhaust port, an IEEE-1394 (Firewire 400 mbps) mini-port, two USB 2.0 ports, and above those the single 54 mm ExpressCard slot.