Dell Inspiron 1545 (Dell Inspiron 1545)

Member Name: Dobbi2009

Product:	Dell Inspiron 1545
Date:	19/10/09 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lightweight and well priced

Disadvantages: Dodgy touch pad

*****REVIEW AMMENDMENT******

Last night I discovered the hinge on the left side of my laptop is now broken. I cannot shut the lid now and have to keep the screen up. The laptop was not dropped or stood on, this has happened due to poor build quality. I have had the laptop just over a year (now out of warranty) so if anyone is considering an Inspiron please beware, as this seems to be a common problem. I'm going to call a few laptop repair shops tomorrow to see how much this will cost to fix.

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I had been researching laptops for a while and decided on a Dell Inspiron 1545. I spotted them on the Tesco Direct website at a bargain price of £349 (most other sellers charge £399).

Unfortunately the only colour available at the time was black but I wasnt bothered as I was more concerned with the spec and performance.

Mine came with

Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 ((2GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB Cache)
2GB memory
15.6 widescreen
160 GB hard drive
CD/DVD Re-Writer Combo drive
WIFI
Windows Vista Home Premium.

Setting up the laptop was very straighforward, just a matter of downloading all the updates for Windows and the trial version of McAfee security suite.

Connecting to our wireless network and the internet was a breeze with the WIFI and was sorted within minutes.

The performance of the laptop is good, there is no lag and everything loads quickly. One gripe I have is the over sensitive touch pad (as mentioned by another reviewer) which flicks the pointer around a lot if you accidentally tap it while typing.

If you want the battery to last for a decent time I recommend lowering the screen brightness to almost the lowest level (press alt and press the down arrow) as this preserves the battery life quite significantly.

I did consider a Sony Vaio at the time but I felt I was paying more purely for the Sony brand and the Dell seemed much better value.

Highly recommended laptop and good value for money.

Summary: Value and style at a bargain price

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