Dell Inspiron 1545 15.6Inch Jet Black Laptop Up
| Brand: | Dell | ||
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Meet the Inspiron 15 — a 15.6-Inch laptop computer for your everyday needs. With an attractive, stylish design and mobile technology, this laptop features everything you want for everyday computing. The Inspiron 15 offers a modern black palmrest. Not to mention Intel Core 2 Duo processors, a Dell Dock and optional facial recognition software, all at a value within reach. more info
Great laptop
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Time of ownership: 2 days
Pros: Laptop is fast, light for it’s size, doesn’t come preloaded with a ton of junk (some, but it’s easy enough to remove), screen is easy to look at (bright and crisp), keyboard is easy to type on, and computer looks great!
Cons: Attracts fingerprints. Intel graphics chip is kind of slow, if you want to game this might not be the best laptop for that.
Overall I would say it’s a great laptop for the price
The most fingerprint-friendly laptop in history
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The Dell 1545 Gloss Black laptop has one technological advance that you may not have heard of, and that is the gloss black computer case, and the equally advanced matte black top. Several years ago, scientists discovered a way to make a plastic that was impossible to touch without creating glaring fingerprints. Nobody knew what to do with this material until Dell decided to make a computer out of it. When you first open the laptop, the gloss black finish is very handsome. However, once it is touched, it gathers fingerprints and smudges like no other material I’ve ever seen. So that is one caveat for the user: Do not touch the computer anywhere but on the keyboard so that it will stay clean. Not even the mouse pad. This can be challenging, but by holding your palms above the keyboard and getting an extensive routine of surgeries to realign your wrists, you can type on the computer without creating a mass of greasy fingerprints and smudges.
The case top also has the amazing ability to not only capture fingerprints, but to keep them despite vigorous polishing. I am impressed with this new material, which is I believe called “EternalPrint”, which was apparently designed to capture the prints of criminals permanently on a plastic medium. Do not commit any crimes while using the Dell 1545, for God’s sake, because the law will need only to confiscate your laptop to get all the fingerprints they need.
Good Low Price “Everyday” Laptop – Recommended
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
We bought the Dell Inspiron 15 (1545) to replace an aging ACER laptop as an “everyday” laptop for my teen son to use for homework and casual gaming. For the price, the performance, features and display have far exceeded our expectations. While not a gaming or graphics power machine, it has more than enough processor speed, memory, and hard drive space for our needs.
This is a very simple laptop to set up and use. The box only contains the PC (with battery already installed), the power supply, and a packet of software CDs (which I did not use) with minimal documentation. The instructions recommended charging the laptop for 12 hours before using the battery, which was fine as I just left it plugged in while configuring the machine. The initial setup took about 20 minutes, and was very straight forward as it found and connected right away to my WEP protected home WiFi network. The Windows 7 configuration was straight forward and no errors were encountered. Dell also recommends updating the BIOS right away and the instructions are included in the documentation. It was a very easy process and only took another 20 minutes or so to complete.
PROS:
+ Windows 7 is preinstalled – 64 bit OS, works well
+ Very Nice 15.6″ Screen – Very clear and bright
+ Good Webcam and Software – Provides better than expected image and video quality
+ Fast DVD+RW Drive
+ Large Hard Drive
+ Large Amount of RAM
+ Good Touchpad – very responsive and doesn’t have the “random jump” issue seen on other laptops
CONS:
- Only 3 USB Ports, no HDMI, Firewire, etc
- Finish is a Fingerprint Magnet!
- Limited Pre-installed Software – Comes with MS Works and a MS PowerPoint Reader
Overall this is a good value laptop that will meet most general daily office, homework, and web surfing needs.
Recommended!
Beware of Dell products
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I’ve purchased nothing but Dell for years but I’ll never buy another computer from them. I shipped it in for repair. I told the Dell rep and wrote it three different places that the repaired machine had to be sent to my winter address in Florida. But it was nonetheless sent to the wrong address. It took me an hour and a half and fourteen different people to get to the right person. That person emailed Fed Ex and told them to pick up the package and ship it to the right address. But Fed Ex says there is literally only one person at dell who can authorize a package to be sent to another address. So after a week my computer still sits at the wrong address. I don’t have the time to deal with such incompetency.
Good Choice for a Daily Use, Mid-range Laptop
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned several laptops and would be considered an intermediate to advanced computer user. I’ve built my own desktops, tweaked a few laptops and owned various brands of laptops including HP, Fujitsu, Sony and Dell (Inspiron, Latitude and XPS series).
I purchased this laptop directly from Dell based upon Consumer Report’s November 2009 article recommendations where the Dell Inspiron 1545 was rated a ‘Best Buy’ for every day computing. I purchased it for my husband who will use it primarily for watching an occasional movie from Netflix streaming wirelessly on our home network, emailing to share jokes and videos with his friends, and browsing the Internet.
After setting it up, which other than running into a snag with my home network was a breeze, and playing with it for about an hour, these are my impressions.
The PROS:
+ Comes with Windows 7 – no need to upgrade, and the 64-bit combined with the more than adequate memory makes things move nicely. Slightly different than Vista’s look, but should be easy to use.
+ Adequate hard drive (mine came with a 320) for storing photos, videos and music.
+ Great 1.3mp webcam which delivers pretty nice snapshots (not too grainy) as well as excellent video (very little drag of movement).
+ Good speakers! Better than those on my Dell XPS, for which I paid 30% more less than a year ago.
+ 3 usb ports
+ Bright 15.6″ display; nice size. I sometimes find the 13″ on the XPS too small and the Fujitsu had a 17″ which is fine for a desktop replacement but really adds weight to the overall unit.
+ Virtually silent running. No fan noise to speak of and yet…
+ Stays cool to the touch! Not worried about overheating on this one.
The CONS:
- Keyboard is OK, but not as responsive as some others I’ve used.
- The touchpad seems a tad small and the buttons (left/right click) seem too low by comparison to the keyboard. It could be the size of my hands (small…) but I tend to think it’s just the layout.
- The high gloss finish inside and the glossy display (versus matte finish) look cool, but do show fingerprints and reflect light to the point of sometimes being a nuisance.
- There is no ‘media only’ button like on the XPS where you don’t have to turn on the computer to watch a movie, but this is something that higher end laptops would have and may simply be a perk to paying more.
- Heavier than some others, but at under six pounds, it’s still not too bad.
- Matte finish on the outside shows greasy smudges where you’ve touched it. I have the same issue with my XPS, but frankly I’ve never found a finish that doesn’t show something.
- Not a multi-media or gaming powerhouse. It will play dvd’s and games, but if you’re buying a laptop and really into those things, spend a bit more and make sure you upgrade your video and audio to support your interests. The 4GB of memory really helps as much as anything and I didn’t notice any issues with the media I tested.
SET-UP:
The only issue I had with setting up this laptop was with my home network not being accepted because Windows 7 didn’t like the security settings I had in place. I could get the 1545 to recognize my network, but it wouldn’t connect until I changed the settings. I had my wireless settings on WEP and Windows 7 wanted WPA. Once I changed the settings, the laptop connected. I then had to go to 8 different devices on my network and make sure they were happy. Only one item: Myine Electronics IR001 WiFi Internet Radio Adaptor wasn’t happy, but eventually accepted the settings with some concentrated tweaking.
BATTERY LIFE:
Battery life seems to be about 3.5 hours. I think the 4+ hour estimate is high, but that undoubtedly is also based upon what things you are doing on the laptop and mobile power settings.
CONCLUSION:
If you purchase this Dell you are getting a solid workhorse for every day computing for a fair price. I think it’s quality is certainly higher than an Acer with the same specs, and backed by a 1 year warranty from Dell. (Having had a Dell laptop that needed the keyboard replaced recently, I truly think the warranty service provided by Dell – they came to my house the next day – is exceptional and worth the small price hike over some other brands.)
The Dell Inspiron 1545 is perfect for a student, a grandma who likes to email or wants to keep up with the grandkids on Skype, or anyone who has no need for the latest and greatest gaming, multi-media computer. For a laptop with a webcam, 4GB memory, and Windows 7 (64-bit) that’s ready to fly right out of the box… it’s a good choice.
**WIRELESS NOTE: If you are having trouble connecting to a wireless network, be sure you check the included ‘set-up guide’, page 10, to find the wireless key on your keyboard. You can inadvertently press this key and turn off your wireless capabilities. Handy on airplanes… not so handy at home.
Dell Products Suck
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I have had Dell for years, but I will be making the move to Mac. Dells are crap and getting them to fix your computer is a true pain in the neck. I even bought the 3 year warranty from Dell but they just refuse to fix the problem, it brakes all the time and with different things. With a Mac I will just need to go to the store and never mail it away.
Powerful Windows 7 Laptop, but a Few Software Issues
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The performance of this laptop is outstanding compared to most laptops in the price range. It’s unfortunate that Dell decided to preload Mcafee’s security suite on the machine. Uninstalling Mcafee disables your network connection preventing you to get online. Reading up on this machine, it seems many people have this issue with the Mcafee suite. After reinstalling all of the software, this machine is pretty speedy. If you aren’t sure how to reinstall Windows and all of the applications, be prepared to pay for subscriptions to Mcafee. You will be permanently offline if you choose to remove it.
The webcam will keep kids entertained for hours with its facial recognition software. You can put goofy hair, hats, and other decorations on your face real-time. Not really a practical feature, but it is pretty cool.
Aside from software bugs on the machine, this is an awesome computer, and it feels quite sturdy. It seems to be a pretty solid machine, and I think I will enjoy having it.
Pros
Windows 7 runs well.
Wonderful widescreen display
Plenty of ram (4gb)
Speedy processor for a laptop
Built in webcam software with facial recognition is awesome!
Battery life is decent for a machine this size.
Machine runs very quiet.
Keyboard is very quiet, and buttons are easy to press.
Very attractive computer.
Cons
Built-in Mcafee software disables your network connection if you uninstall it.
Dell includes reinstallation discs, not recovery discs.
Most of the pre-loaded apps cannot be reinstalled from their DVDs if you choose to reinstall windows.
Glossy finish on the inside of the laptop is prone to fingerprints/smudges.
Lack of dedicated media buttons (shared with F1-F12 keys)
No HDMI
No Bluetooth
No Blu-ray
Only 3 USB ports
Lack of 10 keypad
Best bang for the buck on any laptop I have bought
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought mine from Dell with a little better price but I buy a lot from Amazon and find the reviews helpful. I have a Dell XPS which is a high end Dell and running my benchmarks it is really preforms quite well considering the cost. Like one lady said the sound is better than the xps, maybe the best I have heard on a laptop. The screen is about a 1/2 inch shorter from top to bottom but about 1/2 inch wider. I thought I would be to skinny like the new 16:9 but its fine. The screen is excellent in sharpness and color very good. The intel graphics card is ample for video and is ok for older games. I am not a gamer high end graphics are not a issue.It does have 32mb of its own ram and the rest is shared. Dell has finally installed a app to back up the system for restore like other oems. The roxio is pretty much worthless and you need something else for the normal burning that windows 7 cant do.Mine came with 15 months of mcafee and I uninstalled it as soon as I got it. It is a resource hog and will slow your computer to a crawl at times. Microsoft finally has a free security essentials app instead of having to pay someone else to protect your computer and I use it as well as Avira anti virus (free)from time to time. I am going on 4 hours battery now and the battery says I have 50 minutes left. It only has 1 led for power and low battery, I dont care for this and prefer a full set of leds to let me know whats going on. Software indicators work but or a cost cutting feature.
My only problem is the space bar feels loose at times and hinges for the monitor are quite stiff and hope they don’t break.
I have had my share of problems with Dell and have sent back 2 different computers. To be honest this is the best computer for the money I have had. Only time will tell if it holds up or not but I am quite happy with it. Charging $40.00 for a different color (on there website)lid is a rip off to me, but each to their own. Mine came with 3gb ram and I added a 2gb chip for 4gb I had and it does make a difference. I would keep an eye on the price as they do change. One of the main reasons I bought this is because I despised vista, but I have had no problems with 7. My wifi and networked worked with no problems.
Update: a nice feature that might confuse some people is that the fn key need not be pushed to use the media keys and the sound volume and brightness. There is a bios setting that can change the priority of the fn key to media first or number keys (like f1 f2 f3) first) It is set by default to media first. I have never seen this before but I like this feature.
Keyboard problem and other info
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned this computer for about a month and paid $540. The people who were able to get it for $300 did very well as it’s not a bad machine. The keyboard problem is a software / driver issue. Notice that it only occures in Internet Explorer. Call Dell tech support. They can fix it.
Seriously Flawed Laptop
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Having recently owned an Inspiron lap top from Dell, I would only assume that they would be get better as the product line developed, and not worse. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The black colored design is appealing, unless you are a fan of fingerprints, which seem to collect everywhere, and sadly, it shows scratches too. Perhaps maybe a coating can be applied to the next Inspirion that prevents this. Surprised at how slow this system booted to Windows, and have already encountered a few freeze ups. Battery life is quite poor, achieving no where near the 4 hours and 34 minutes on a fresh charge. Maybe, if I am lucky can I get 2 1/2 hours from it by doing every day computer work. Keys on the keyboard seem to stick and have an overall cheap feel to them. Screen is nice and bright, but that is really only the saving grace of this particular model. The size and weight of this unit isn’t bad, but overall nothing special, about the average. I am sure there are other Dell models that would work out better than than one. Noticed there were other reviews for this unit but all have been removed? Why is that? Can’t people honestly give their opinion on a product here without it being removed. I don’t recommend this laptop to anyone, so because of that, does that mean my review won’t be justified? I wasn’t aware that reviews have to always be positive. I would hate to think that censorship is alive and well today. Overall Dell is a great computer maker but this version of the Inspirion runs flat.