Dell Inspiron 1525The Dell Inspiron 1525 improves on its predecessor, the popular Inspiron 1520, in almost every way. It shaves off a few ounces and inches, adds worthwhile new features, and puts more power under the hood, all while keeping the price below $1,000. Actually, the new Inspiron starts at just $499, but our review configuration pushed the price to $974. However you trick out this notebook, you’re sure to be pleased by its travel-friendly dimensions, stylish design options, and nifty extras. Gamers, however, will definitely be disappointed with its sluggish integrated graphics.

Display options for the Dell Inspiron 1525 include a matte finish 15.4″ Widescreen XGA (1280 x 800), a 15.4″ Widescreen XGA (1280 x 800) with TrueLife (glossy finish), or a 15.4″ “high resolution” (1440 x 900) glossy widescreen display. On the surface the lack of higher resolutions is a serious flaw in the design of the 1525. In truth, the overwhelming majority of “average” notebook users will think the WXGA resolution looks stunning. The touchpad surface utilizes the new design that is integrated with the palm rest surface. The only separation between the palms rests and the touchpad is the indented area above the touchpad buttons. The touchpad buttons have excellent travel and cushion, though I did feel like they made a bit too much of a “clicking” sound when pressed. The good news with the touchpad is that it’s responsive, has dedicated scroll areas and the textured feel is good. The speaker quality was acceptable without a built-in subwoofer. The sound is slightly tinny as is the case with nearly all laptop speakers.

The Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop PC offers a wide range of component upgrades - including integrated WWAN or a Blu-ray DVD burner optical drive - and offers color choices for typical home users to suit budget and applications. The Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop also ports integrated 2.0 megapixel webcam with 2 built-in stereo microphones for video chatting. 

The Inspiron turned in solid, if unexceptional; benchmark scores, starting with an itunes conversion time of 8 minutes and 12 seconds, and a Windows Media Encoder time of 5 minutes and 39 seconds. It managed a Future mark 3DMark06 score of 546 at its native resolution, but we couldn’t get the PCMark05 test to run, possibly because this was a preproduction system. The Inspiron’s Cinebench 9.5 score of 606 was in line with other similarly equipped notebooks we’ve tested. 

Features:-

# 15.4-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) CCFL TrueLife (glossy) screen

# 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7250 processor

# Dimensions: 1.00″ - 1.48″ (height) x 14.05″ (width) x 10.08″ (depth)

# Weight: 5.9lbs with 6-cell battery

# Windows Vista Home Premium

# 8x Dual-layer DVD±RW drive

# 120GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD

# Video: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

# Wireless: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card

# 2GB DDR2-667 SDRAM (up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM available)

# Media Card: 8-in-1 flash memory reader                               Dell Inspiron 1525q

# Dimensions: 1.00″ - 1.48″ (height) x 14.05″ (width) x 10.08″ (depth)

# Weight: 5.9lbs with 6-cell battery

# Windows Vista Home Premium

# Mobile Broadband: Dell Wireless integrated mobile broadband mini-cards Sprint and Verizon serice

# Colors: Multiple colors and finishes available

# Input and Output Ports: 4 USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, IEEE 1394a, RJ11, RJ45, 2 headphone, 1 microphone, 1 Express Card 54mm slot, 3 mini-card slots, consumer IR, S-Video. 

Dell Inspiron 1525 Reviews:-

# Notebookreview Review: - The Inspiron 1525 performed quite well during testing and this machine will meet or exceed the performance needs of most average (non-gaming) users.

WPrime is a program that forces the processor to do recursive mathematical calculations, the advantage of this program is that it is multi-threaded and can use both processor cores at once, thereby giving more accurate benchmarking measurements than Super Pi. 

# Computershopper Review: - Noisy optical drive; integrated graphics can’t be upgraded; keyboard keys a bit shallow; glossy screen produces excessive glare. 

# Engadget Review: - The Inspiron 1525 from Dell is about as cheap as standard-size laptops go, with a starting price of $500, but Dell has made surprising gains in the looks and size department — the major complaints levied towards the 1520. Dell shaved 25% off the size, 30% off the thickness and half a pound off the weight in building this new model, and while it might not exactly have the looks of the m1330, it’s certainly not the eyesore the 1520 was.

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