Lesson learnt (Dell Vostro 1500)

Member Name: ryanlpoconnell

Product:	Dell Vostro 1500
Date:	25/05/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ability to upgrade numerous components via Dell's website

Disadvantages: Unstable firmware with Vista, This has probably been sorted now

I bought this laptop to replace my ancient desktop computer. In fact three of us at work bought Vostro 1500's but with slightly different upgrade features.

The problem with reviewing Dell products is that you can pick n' mix the specification and upgrade a number of things such as graphics card, memory etc so my spec is appended to the end.

The only issues I had with this laptop have been with the firmware. I bought the Vostro only a couple of weeks after Dell released it. Some of the components such as the graphics card were causing blue screens. It turned out to be a Vista compatibility problem. My colleague who also bought this laptop got so fed up he installed Windows XP and it worked perfectly.

After a number of weeks Dell released some firmware updates and the laptop works a lot better in now. I do get blue screens once in a blue moon, but I suspect that Dell has sorted this now.

In the main I am happy with it. I don't suffer short battery life as I have the oversized module (which does look ugly). The most useful attribute for me is the media panel at the front which works with most media players.

If I buy a Dell in the future I will pick one that has been around for a month or two first.

Final point, if you can afford it get the anti-glare WXGA screen as this looks amazing.

- Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2-cache)

- Memory 3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x1024 + 1x2048 MB)

- Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT

- Hard Drive 160GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive

- Genuine Windows VistaTM Business - English

- LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display

Summary: I would buy another Dell, but will pick a model that has been tried and tested

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Installation:
Battery life:
Features: