So why did I choose the Sempron knowing it would be slow? Basically, I wanted to buy this AMD based laptop for cheap, the price I got before taxes was $559. Boy is the AMD Sempron ever a reality check as I merge into the information technology equivalent of the slow lane. I’ve been spoiled of late reviewing a bunch of Intel Core 2 Duo laptops. They point forward, and project the sound into a room so several people could easily watch a movie.ĪMD Sempron Processor and Performance / Benchmarks They also play loud, for a notebook, without distortion. Of course there is no bass but they seem to play low enough to make voices sound natural. In the world of notebooks, they are quite good even. The speaker performance of the 1501 is fine. So long as you’re viewing head on this isn’t a problem. The vertical viewing angles are quite poor, meaning that if you look at this screen at an angle other than perpendicular (head on) then colors will look odd, usually darker than intended and contrast will be whacky. When on battery you could bump the brightness down (using Fn + Arrow Down) to level three or four out of seven and still have very comfortable viewing. This is the first matte screen from Dell I’ve had in some time, usually I go for glossy, which is better for things like DVD viewing but annoying for working long hours with in office environments due to screen reflection.Īs forementioned, brightness is good. When you’re viewing a white screen it is indeed all white, you can’t detect any unwanted artifacts. One very positive thing I find with this screen is that there’s no "sparkle" or graininess sometimes complained about with other Dell screens. Inspiron 1501 WXGA screen ( view large image) The lamp for backlighting is at the bottom of the screen, you can feel the bottom of the screen being slightly warm as an indicator of this, but light leakage is minimal so by looking you couldn’t really tell where the light is coming from - in other words the screen is evenly lit. Brightness is good, next to my everyday ThinkPad T43 it certainly stands out as being much better. Overall the screen is fairly sharp with nice saturated colors and high contrast. The screen on this Inspiron 1501 is the WXGA (1280×800) matte screen. Unfortunately, many manufacturers use this approach instead of integrated flaps to protect the notebook from dust when the slot isn’t in use.īottom side view of Inspiron 1501 ( view large image)
It looks cheap, feels cheap and awkward not to mention the plastic piece is begging to be lost if you remove it. One knock against the build is that Dell uses a plastic dummy to fill in the slot for the ExpressCard opening when it’s not in use. Top view of Inspiron 1501 ( view large image) As mentioned before, the screen latch is plastic, but I’d rather have a plastic latch than the magnetic opening mechanism that some manufacturers are using - they’re so invariably hard to open. The back of the screen is plastic, but very sturdy and a hard push won’t make ripples appear. But the Inspiron 1501 is not flimsy by any means, the only real flex I could find on the casing was at the top just above the keyboard.ĭell Inspiron 1501 front view ( view large image) It’s not rugged or as well built as many business laptops, such as a ThinkPad or Dell’s own Latitude line - the screen latch is plastic as opposed to metal on a Latitude for instance. The notebook is sturdy enough to feel comfortable lifting it by one corner.
Size comparison of Inspiron 1501 to 12.1" screen Lenovo X60 Tablet PC( view large image)
The Inspiron 1501 is in fact precisely the same look and build as the Inspiron e1505 - except several media buttons are missing from the 1501, more on that later.
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Also, as time goes by the current Inspiron design is becoming stale, Dell needs to update their consumer laptop look, and soon. The color scheme is simple and there’s nothing to rave or rant about honestly, I’m not a huge fan of the white trim "bumpers" though. The Inspiron 1501 matches much of the Dell lineup clad in painted silver with white trim on top and a black underside.