Reliable, Solid PC (Dell Inspiron 530s)

Member Name: grovenet

Product:	Dell Inspiron 530s
Date:	10/09/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: slimline design, reliability

Disadvantages: can get hot!

I bought 10 of these from the Dell Outlet, and sold them on to various clients - both home and business users.

The specification back then (early 2008) was a Core 2 Duo CPU running at 2.2Ghz, and they came with 1GB of RAM and a 250GB Hard Disk. I immediately added an extra 1GB of RAM and it made a world of difference.

I ended up keeping on for my self, for running the business from, and it's been fine.

This is a slimline machine, so bear that in mind if you're a gamer and want to improve on the (adequate) onboard graphics. I've looked around for a half-decent, HALF-HEIGHT graphics card and ended up butchering a full height but quite small card. Doing that has freed up some of the RAM that the onboard graphics chip reserves for itself.

I've run XP Pro on it, which obviously worked perfectly - very nippy and no speed issues. I then put Vista Ultimate on it, and even with the basic onboard graphics it was great and all the Vista "Aero" features worked really smoothly.

More recently I've installed Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit and that runs even better than Vista. I've upgraded mine to 4GB and I'm running 2 hard drives.

Out of the box, it came with the power lead, the OS restore disk, a driver disk, and a couple of other software CD's and a manual. The keyboard and mouse are particularly nice - the keyboard being very compacy overall (although with full sized keys if you see what I mean!)

Getting into the case to upgrade the RAM and add-on cards is easy - a couple of screws at the back, slide the lid off and remove the central support / strengthening bar if required.

One thing I'm not so keen on is the noise levels from this PC. The BIOS is fine (I know there were some issues with the fan staying on full speed permanently - this isn't that issue!). Admittedly, my office is quite warm, but this PC does seem to run fairly hot. I put the air-con on full-blast one day and it did make a difference but not much.

I have the PC on my desk, laid flat (not stood up as the usual mini-tower would be). The PC is designed to sit either way up but I wonder if the fan outlet being on the side is causing warm air to become trapped. If the PC is stood upright, that outlet is on the top - so the old 'hot air rises' rule applies!!

Anyway, overall a great PC. The case is white on the main side (or top) panels and silver at the front. A bright blue LED is behind the power button but it looks fine.

Recommended, but not ideal for hardcore gamers (at least not with the spec mine had when new!)

Summary: If it's on the floor under your desk you may not hear it .. but mine's on the desk and it distracts!

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