Dell Inspiron 1520 Review

Summary:

Dell Inspiron 1520 is a notebook in the 15.4" segment. At six and a half pounds weight and with the option of choosing from 8 different colors, this laptop is very well placed in terms of mass appeal. The overall look of Inspiron 1520 is good. The design is simple and tasteful. One major point to touch upon before we dive deep into the review is that Inspiron 1520 cannot handle Windows XP. So it’s all Vista out here.

Review:

The build of a Dell Inspiron 1520 is sturdy as you would expect from a machine designed for the common masses.

One of the major advantages of purchasing this laptop is that you have numerous options while choosing the LCD. The screens can be found with various resolutions like 1280 X 800 glossy and non glossy, 1440 X 900 glossy. The screen is good in terms of color and brightness.

The laptop comes loaded with different types of ports. The ports available with an Inspiron 1520 include 8-in-1 card reader, integrated 10/100 LAN and 56K modem, ExpressCard 54mm slot, IEEE 1394a, VGA video output and S-Video, stereo in, headphone out ports along with 4 USB 2.0 ports.

Inspiron 1520 is powered by a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT which is among the best GPUs currently available in the market. The card is powerful thus you won’t find any significant graphic related issues. Sound system attached to the 1520 is just like any other laptop with no more than average features to boast about. For the actual feel of the sound you will have to use a headphone or connect the laptop to an external audio system.

Inspiron 1520 uses the Intel T7300 CPU. The performance of the CPU and the GPU is good. Comparing performance with the price it is safe to say that this laptop is good value for money.

The keyboard in a 1520 is very responsive and feels good to handle. Travel of the keys is good and noiseless. The touchpad however is small. From the perspective of the keyboard and the touchpad this laptop is a good buy.

Battery life associated with Dell Inspiron 1520 is very good. Under the extremely power draining conditions like screen set at maximum brightness and the hard drive working at its optimum limit you can expect near about three hours of battery power. Optimizing your settings can fetch you an hour or so more of the 9-Cell battery.

Dell Inspiron 1520 works like a charm without much heat or noise. The machine produces very less sound, at decibels that you won't recognize at all. It becomes warm after running it for some extended sessions, but then that’s nowhere near the annoying temperature level.

To put the review in a nutshell, Dell Inspiron 1520 is a laptop that offers very good features at a fairly reasonable price. It has got a good build with more than one options of color. The battery life is decent. Along with a good keyboard; heatless and noiseless performance make 1520 a great offering from Dell. This is one laptop that will appeal to a wide array of people.