Dell Vostro 1500
The Specs:
Processor & RAM
Intel Core 2 Duo T5270, 1.4GHz, 800Mhz,
2M L2 Cache
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM
Drives:
80G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+R write capability, w/o Roxio Creator
Video:
128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD
Audio:
Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
Network:
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Internal Card for Vostro
Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem, for Inspiron
OS:
Genuine Windows XP Home Edition, SP2
Initial Turn On:
Came on without Incident: (+1).
Construction:
- At first glance - it’s a bit heavy - but a nice compromise as it is also rugged. I travel quite a bit, and I need a computer that isn’t going to fall apart. My basic test is simple. I push and press on the case. Most laptops will give up to 1/4 inch near the mousepad in the center. This one didn’t budge. Score (+1)
Speed:
- No computer would be worth mentioning if it couldn’t pass a speed test. It opened OpenOffice word processor quickly, ran BZFlags and OpenArena quite well without lag. I’m not saying it screams - but I’m satisified with it. Score (=0)
OS Choices:
- It comes in several flavors of Windows. To some - this is a good thing. Personally, I like to purchase my computers virus free. There used to be a time when the customer was always right. Not anymore. They are supposed to be a hardware company, not a company that pushes the venue of a particular software vender. I’d rather they supply it without an OS, than to force one down my throat that I don’t want. No Choices - No good. Score (= -2)
Price:
- Can’t knock this. $623 isn’t a bad price for this box. Score: (+2)
Warranty:
- GREAT warranty. I purchase the Pro warranty ($100 extra), but it is well worth it. If you drop it from a 1000 foot tower, it hits a tank, which runs over it, the tracks sending it flying into the ocean, and somehow you recover it…. they will repair or replace it free of charge. If you beat it with a hammer purposely, and they can prove it by the highly visible hammer marks - you’re on your own. I’ve never had a Dell not taken care of under the Pro warranty, no matter what I did stupid to it (and I sent one in that had got run over by a van). Score (+1)
Bling Factor:
- I don’t put a whole lot of merit in this score. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But some people buy computers based on this alone - so whatever flips your trigger. Has great graphics(+1). Sound is present(-1) can’t really say much though - it’s a friggin laptop. How much sound can one expect from a couple of 1 inch speakers? However, it only comes in one fashionable color that goes with everything: Basic black (-1). Total score in this category: (-1)
Overall Experience:
- I was disappointed that I couldn’t purchase it with any form of Linux on it. My way of thinking - Dell doesn’t sell operating systems. They shouldn’t give a rats keister what software I put on it. They should support hardware, not software. If I want to put SCO Xenix, OS 2, Solaris, or Posix on it, they shouldn’t care - as long as their hardware works.
That being said - They supplied it with XP - which crashed within 2 hours of having it! The whole computer locked up, I gave it 1/2 a hour to try to recover on it’s own. I couldn’t do a 3 fingered crash or anything else to get it’s attention. I had to do a complete shutdown and reboot it. Joy oh joy. (-3)
I do understand, though, why they might be loathe to put linux on it - it’s the DELL wireless card. I tried several different distros. None of them were able to recognize this card without some tweaking. I did some research, and found out that had I ordered it with the Intel wireless card, it would have worked out of the box.(-1) Overall Experience Score (-4)
So let’s tally up the scores:
Total Score on this box (-2). They might have almost squeaked by if the XP hadn’t crashed so suddenly. Quite irritating. I will probably rack this up to the OS and not the hardware, as it hasn’t had an issue since I put OpenSuse 11 on it.
