The Dell Inspiron e1505
The Dell Inspiron e1505 is a fairly run-of-the mill notebook for a bargain price, but it offers a few surprises. The new model weighs 0.4 pound less than its predecessor and contains a raft of upgraded components, including Intel Core Solo or Core Duo processors in speeds up to 2GHz; up to 2GB of swift 533MHz RAM; and a screaming 7,200rpm, 100GB hard drive. In keeping with its multimedia bent, the E1505’s 15.4-inch wide-screen display comes in WXGA or WSXGA native resolutions. If you dabble in photography or video editing, or just love watching movies, the E1505's 15.4-inch transflective screen is bright and wide. You also get the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system, so all your media files can be accessed through MCE's slick interface. There’s also a full suite of ports and connectors, including FireWire, VGA, S-Video, and four USB 2.0 ports, plus both PC Card and ExpressCard slots.
The 2 GHz Core Duo CPU is rockin’ fast. Even with this performance, battery life was impressive, and 5 hours should be possible with the optional 9-cell battery. My only real gripe is with the screen. The slight shimmer, light leakage, and brightness that seems like it’s turned down half a notch make it fall behind other notebooks. Still, the screen is better than most bargain notebooks, and better than anything from a few years ago. It’s also very sharp and high resolution. This, along with the nice keyboard, makes for a positive ergonomic experience.
Specs for Dell Inspiron e1505
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| Screen Size | 15.4-inch |
| Processor Type | Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 at 2.0 GHz per core |
| Processor Speed | 2-GHz |
| Cache Memory | 2 MB L2 cache |
| Bus Speed | 667 Mhz |
| Hard Drive Capacity | 100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive |
| Installed Memory | 512MB DDR2 533MHz RAM in dual channel mode |
| RAM Type | DDR2 SDRAM |
| Resolution | 15.4″ Ultrasharp SXGA+ display with TrueLife |
| Video Card Type | X1300 Radeon 256 MB |
| Bundled Os | Windows XP Media Center Edition |
| Weight | 5.8 pounds (with nine-cell battery) |
| Motherboard Chipset | - |
| Networking Connection | Integrated v.92 modem, Integrated 10/100 Ethernet, Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card Wireless, Dell TrueMobile 350 (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate) internal Bluetooth module (optional). |
| Average Battery Life | 3 hours (6-cell battery ) 6 (9-cell battery) |
| Price | About $999 |
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