dell inspiron e1405 laptop review

dell inspiron e1405 laptop review

The Dell Inspiron e1405 (dell inspiron e1405 battery), a recently released portable notebook that includes the relatively new Intel Core Duo CPU, seems designed for those who value a combination of significant processing power and portability but don't want to spend a lot of money to get it Toshiba Laptop Battery ,This model, also named the Inspiron 640m on Dell's Small Business website, replaces the non-business XPS M140 (which, by the way, was named the Inspiron 630m when sold as a business model), and its primary advantage over its predecessor is the dual core option. Like the Inspiron e1705, a large desktop replacement notebook that I recently purchased and reviewed, and the Inspiron e1505, a mid-size entertainment notebook, the e1405 can be configured with a glossy screen and comes with Windows XP Media Center Edition, which includes a host of entertainment and multimedia features that appear to target those who desire a computer that will readily and capably handle the ever-increasing entertainment possibilities of our world. One significant difference between the e1405 and its older and larger siblings is the absence of a dedicated graphics option that would allow for intensive gaming. But you can't have everything, including portability, for a mere seven or eight hundred dollars, which is about what a well-configured e1405 will cost you if you're careful about your purchase and do a little preliminary research.

The Dell e1405 is a brand-new entry in Dell's Inspiron line of entertainment notebooks (it's also marketed as the 640m on the business side of Dell's offerings). PA3166U-1BRS,With a 14" widescreen display, a Core Duo CPU, a 100GB hard drive, and a gig of RAM, the machine's no slouch in the performance department. But when you can get a system like this—including an extended battery—for US$800, corners have to be cut somewhere. Right?

To find out, we put the laptop through its paces for a few weeks in an attempt to answer the burning question: can such an inexpensive piece of kit really stand up to computers twice its cost? Think of this review as dialoguing with our earlier investigations of two other Core Duo machines: the Thinkpad X60 and the new Macbook. How does the e1405 stack up? The answer might surprise you.

Dell has finally received the memo—you know, the one that Apple has been circulating for the last few years, the one that argues for the importance of style to consumer electronics.PA3331U-1BRS, Dell, as much as anyone, typified the "beige box" syndrome that afflicted PC vendors for a decade or more, but the company now tries to atone for past design sins with sexier laptops like the e1405 (dell e1405 battery). Whether you like the design or not is a notoriously personal decision, but I'm willing to go on the record with my own opinion: it looks pretty good.

The new Inspiron lineup will never be as hawt as the MacBook Pro, for instance, with all that shiny metal and that smooth silver underbelly, and it will never be as svelte as the X60. Most components are made of a silver-speckled plastic and the machine weighs in at around six pounds with extended battery, but the overall effect is quite pleasing. Looked at from above, the machine has fine lines and an attractive silver/white/black color scheme. It won't be the slickest machine at your local Starbucks, but you'll look pretty decent without dropping more than a grand—no small feat. And compared to the older generation of Dell machines, the e1405 is like an 18th-century allegorical painting about the Triumph of Design.

Take a closer look at the picture above. See that one-inch bulge protruding from the back of the laptop? That's the extended battery. PA3098U-1BRS,To my eyes, the bulge actually looks pretty decent, more like a beauty mark than a goiter, but opinions may vary on this. If you plan on getting the extended battery, make sure the machine still fits in your laptop case.

 

Actually, I didn't buy this laptop; it is a review model. But as noted, I did recently buy an e1705 (dell inspiron b130 battery), and will therefore be viewing this e1405 within that context, paying particular attention to portability, an area in which the e1705 is decidedly lacking, and performance, where the e1705 really shines. And although I have no plans to buy an e1405, I often recommend notebooks to friends and family. As I use the e1405 (dell inspiron b120 battery) I find myself wondering whether it would be a good option for them. I would definitely recommend this notebook if someone were to say the following:

"I want a notebook that's pretty easy to carry around and can even be used on a plane. I'm on a tight budget and don't want to pay more than eight hundred dollars or so, but I really don't want to sacrifice performance. PA3084U-1BRS,I have no plans to play the latest games, but I want good multimedia capabilities and a pretty high resolution. I'd also like it to be sturdy."

The key here is the price; which is, admittedly, what often enhances the appeal of Dell notebooks. In the case of the above-stated requirements, I consider the e1405 to be an excellent choice now that I've tested it fairly thoroughly with particular emphasis on word processing, audiovisual performance and the Internet.

 

Because a number of purchasers of the e1405 have complained in this sites forums of excessive light leakage, I thought I should address this issue and therefore devoted some time to unearthing the problem in this particular machine, both with the naked eye and the digital camera. Waiting patiently for nightfall to come, I turned off all the lights, got rid of the Windows Taskbar, and looked as closely as I could at the screen, then took scads of digital pictures. At the risk of appearing to be a sensory dullard, PA3399U-1BRS, I must say that at first I could really see no problem when using eyesight alone, though the camera did reveal light leakage at the base of the LCD. Subsequently there were occasions when I noticed some leakage, but only when the background was dark or when I used Dead Pixel Buddy to set the screen to black. Having said all that, I should add that during my actual use of this notebook, I never once noticed a problem. Of course, others may well be more sensitive to light leakage than I am, and certain screen configurations might be more affected.

 

I consistently got just over 3 hours out of the 6-cell battery. This rate of discharge seemed a little disappointing, but during these 3-hour periods I was frequently accessing the hard drive and always running the LCD at maximum brightness, with the wireless card enabled as well. With lighter use, the battery lasted for a little more than 4 hours, though the wireless card was still turned on. I find that power savings features are largely a matter of personal preference and tolerance, PA3395U-1BRS, as well as usage, so some people will undoubtedly be able to squeeze a little more time out of the battery, while others will get less.

 

The main charm of the Inspiron e1405 is that it manages to provide good portability, pleasurable viewing and high performance at a low cost. With this particular model, there were very few flaws, and none of these was sufficient to warn against this notebook. What impressed me most was the display, though I had recently made a decision to go with a lower resolution matte screen when actually purchasing a notebook for myself. I really enjoyed watching a DVD on the e1405 and found the display surprisingly easy to work with during normal usage, too. What strikes me about the e1405 (dell vostro 1000 battery) is that it accomplishes so much in a small package and does so at such a low cost. There's no way I would purchase a non-dual-core machine, now that I've used a couple of dual cores, and though some people might think it's worth waiting for 64-bit dual core, for my own purposes I consider two years to be a reasonable life for a computer, and figure 32-bit is good enough for this period, provided multiple applications can be run with speed and efficiency, which the Yonah accomplishes.PA3250U-1BRS, When looking to purchase a notebook computer, it can be useful to think in two-hundred-dollar increments, I find. While there are notebooks available for five or six hundred dollars, these generally have severe limitations and I wouldn't consider any of them, whereas the e1405, at the next step up on the price ladder, has very few limitations, especially when its portability is factored into the mix.