Dell Inspiron e1505 Review
Posted on August 7th, 2009 in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Dell Inspiron e1505 is Dells 15.4″ widescreen notebook featuring the impressive new Intel Core Duo CPU. A virtually identical Inspiron 6400 with inspiron 6400 battery is available through their business site. Outside it looks just like the Inspiron 6000 it replaces, but the new hardware inside makes for impressive performance. In traditional Dell style, the E1505 is well rounded, quite customizable and available at a competitive price, but doesn’t offer anything radical.
The E1505 reviewed here was configured as follows:
Build and Design
The Inspiron e1505 matches much of the Dell lineup clad in painted silver with white trim on top and a black underside. I’m not a fan of painted finishes because they seem more susceptible to chips and scratches. The color scheme is simple, but I’m not a huge fan of the white trim “bumpers.”
The notebook is sturdy enough to feel comfortable lifting it by one corner. However, I would like better overall build quality. It is comparable to Sony and others but does not come near the solid (and expensive) IBM ThinkPad line. Just like my Inspiron 6000, there is a gap at the bottom of the LCD,the same battery code: GD761 , KD476 , TD347 . This area also gets quite warm. It must be where the LCD backlight or inverter is. I wonder if the gap is purposeful to allow some heat to escape.
The back of the screen is plastic, but very sturdy and a hard push won’t make ripples appear. The hinges seem sturdy and well damped. The screen latch is plastic. Some notebooks do away with latches entirely and use magnetic latching or nothing at all, which works surprisingly well.
Screen
I chose the highest screen option which is WSXGA+ (1680×1050) Ultrasharp with TrueLife (glossy). The Ultrasharp screen is listed at having significantly higher viewing angle, higher resolution, and slightly higher brightness. The wide viewing angle was my main interest. However, it seems about on par with most other mid- to high-end notebooks. It makes me think the lower screen options would be disappointing.
The screen is very sharp with nice saturated colors and high contrast. It is close, but not quite as bright as others I have reviewed. There is some light leakage near the bottom of the screen.
Battery:
With the smaller option 6 cell dell inspiron E1505 battery and a powerful new processor, I didn’t have very high hopes for battery life. However, the Dell lasted longer than expected. At maximum brightness, it played a DVD for 2 hours and 30 minutes. Under normal light tasks, with WiFi on and almost maximum brightness, the battery lasted almost three hours. Dimming the screen all the way and shutting wireless off squeezed almost 4 hours of total battery life. I could burn the battery in about 90 minutes or less if I really tried. Gaming would likely burn it this fast.
he optional 9-cell battery,the same quality as Dell GD761 ,KD476 , TD347 battery. which is the same physical size as the 6-cell, should give about 50% more run time.
The battery charges fast for the first 80%. At nearly 1% per minute, you could get a significant boost on a one hour layover at the airport.
A bigger battery might be a better choice than two batteries. Lithium-Ion cells wear out even if you don’t use them.
Conclusion:
The Dell Inspiron e1505 is a fairly run-of-the mill notebook for a bargain price, but it offers a few surprises. The 2 GHz Core Duo CPU is rockin’ fast. Even with this performance, dell inspiron e1505 battery life was impressive, and 5+ hours should be possible with the optional 9-cell battery. My only real gripe is with the screen. The slight shimmer, light leakage, and brightness that seems like it’s turned down half a notch make it fall behind other notebooks. Still, the screen is better than most bargain notebooks, and better than anything from a few years ago. It’s also very sharp and high resolution. This, along with the nice keyboard, makes for a positive ergonomic experience.
