DELL 1525

It's clear that some of the styling from Dell's pricier XPS-branded laptops has trickled down to the Dell 1525. Build quality is reassuring. The Dell's specification is the best on test. Gaming is compromised by the Intel GMA X3100 graphics, but it still managed 5.5fps in our Low Crysis benchmark, so older games may be playable.

 

There's a 2-megapixel webcam, HDMI, FireWire, four USB ports, a ExpressCard/54 slot and a memory card reader. Dell also bundles a media remote control, which stows away in the ExpressCard slot when not in use. 

The matte finish keeps reflections at bay, but colours lack vibrancy and contrast is a touch weak. So if you need a high-quality screen, you should probably look to the Fujitsu Siemens, and Dell's extortionate £59 delivery charge further weakens its appeal. 

If you are a heavy user you will definitely want to upgrade the RAM and perhaps even install a 64bit operating system (be careful though, some of your software that ran on your 32bit operating system, may not run on the 64bit system). With a RAM upgrade you will definitely notice a huge difference in the system performance and it will actually run all your software very nicely, even with multiple processes running.
The Inspiron 1525 improves on its predecessor, the popular Inspiron 1520, in almost every way. The wedge-shaped notebook looks virtually identical but boasts a slimmer design: It's 1.5 inches at its thickest edge, 1.1 inches at its thinnest, 14 inches wide, and 10.1 inches deep. The system weighs exactly 6 pounds with battery. We also liked the Inspiron's new touch-sensitive media control panel, which includes four playback buttons and three for volume (up, down, and mute). The Inspiron sports four USB ports (two on each side of the case), a mini-FireWire port, and a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port for connecting the system to an HDMI-equipped monitor or TV. When we connected the notebook to a 46-inch HDTV, it automatically switched display modes and chose a suitable resolution. (The upgrade comes in glossy only.)

The Inspiron's Cinebench 9.5 score of 606 was in line with other similarly equipped notebooks we've tested.
We put the Inspiron's battery to the test by setting Vista's performance level to maximum, cranking up the screen brightness, and then playing a DVD movie until the system quit. Though we normally don't clock boot speed, the Inspiron seemed to start faster than other notebooks we've tested. 

Specifications :
• 15.4-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) TrueLife (glossy) screen
• 1.73 GHz Dual Core T2370 processor
• 1GB DDR2-667 SDRAM (takes up to 4GB – which I upgraded to)
• 160GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD
• 8x Dual-layer DVD±RW drive
• Intel Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller
• Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g Wireless Card
• 4 USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, IEEE 1394a, RJ11, RJ45, 2 headphone, 1 microphone, 1 ExpressCard 54mm slot, 3 mini-card slots, S-Video

The Other DELL..