Dell Inspiron 1525

Dell Inspiron 1525 was an upgrade to the hugely popular Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop. Dell brought about subtle changes in its design and looks more than the configuration front which was much required to the Inspiron 1520. Dell Inspiron 1525 is a 15″ laptop with like any other Dell laptop offers customisation according to what you desire.

Dell Inspiron 1525 specifications :

• 
• Dimensions : 14.0″ x 10.1″ x 1.45″
• Processor : 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7250
• Memory : 2GB 667MHz DDR2
• Hard Disk : 120GB
• Display : 15.4″ TFT with 1280 x 800 resolution
• Chipset : Intel GM965
• Graphics : Mobile Intel Express 965GM Integrated
• Optical drive : DVD±RW Integrated
• Battery : 6-cell Lithium ion battery
• Approx price : $1000

The test rig had the above configuration, so the data will vary depending on the configuration you go for. The base price of the Inspiron 1525 is just $500. A couple of gigs of RAM has almost become standard today, so make sure you get nothing less than that. A better processor always helps in the longer run, but don’t compromise on other things just because of it.

The Dell Inspiron 1525 is smaller, thinner and lighter than the Inspiron 1520. The exterior of the 1525 is still made of plastic unlike the XPS series which have brushed metal as its exterior. Some other improvements include touch sensitive media control buttons and a HDMI port as well. The smaller size has meant that the room around keyboard has reduced.

The keyboard has not gone under the hammer and still stays the same. The key response of the keys is solid and they are responsive. The touch sensitive keys can be found above the keyboard for easy access. Dell has included a 2 megapixel web camera with the laptop, which offers good clarity, although the price is not included in the base model.

The display is glossy and offer rich movie watching experience. If you work under bright lighting conditions then glare can be an issue, but you can opt for the antiglare screen at no extra charge. Add ons such as Bluetooth, WiFi etc are all charged by Dell, which explains the low cost of base model.

The performance isn’t any issue if you go for decent configuration. It offers similar performance when compared to XPS series. The battery lasted close to 3 hours when watching a movie, which is good. It comes with a standard one-year protection but can be extended to 3-years.

Pros :

• Slim,light and small
• Low base price
• HDMI port included
• Touch control media buttons
• Good performance
• Good battery life

Cons :

• Plastic exterior
• Bluetooth/WiFi chargeable add ons
• Base model lacks performance

Final Thoughts

The Dell Inspiron 1525 has only superficial improvements over Insprion 1520, at the cost of reduced customizability. Although, the Inspiron 1525 is better than Inspiron 1520, but it could have been better. Dell laptops are always a good choice, but if you can spend some extra cash then you can go for XPS series which offers better looks.

My Rating : 3.75/5