When it comes to notebook production, Dell pays close attention to its Inspiron series, which is designed primarily for work outside the office, but at home. New versions are released all the time, where there is always some improvement. The 15th series is no exception, in which instead of the old model range with index 25 based on the long-obsolete Santa Rosa platform, a new one with index 45 is used. Unlike the previous one, this version is developed on the basis of the fifth generation Intel Centrino platform, it is also is called Montevina. But this is not all the changes, because the innovations were not limited to the list of accessories, but also the display screen, which has become somewhat larger. The internal "filling" of the laptop was also subjected to significant modernization.
Dell inspiron 1545 is not only the name of a separate computer, but the name of a whole series, which consists of a long list of modifications and types of color scheme of the case. Thereby, the demand for different demand and wallet thickness is satisfied. The presented laptop can be safely called a good working tool with advanced functionality, because this class of computers perfectly satisfies the demand of users who are by no means demanding on its performance. It is equipped with a discrete graphics core, which allows you to get distracted from work while taking a little break and relaxing while playing or watching videos.
Dell adheres to the view that the buyer shouldn't pay for the colorful packaging of the laptop either, and therefore it rests in a simple cardboard box, which is decorated only with the company's logo, located on its sides and a carrying handle. Few equipment, it testifies to the class of the computer
Of the programs installed on the laptop, the following stand out:
Cyberlink PowerDVD - audio and video player;
- Fast Access Facial Recognition Software - allows you to use your face as a password when entering the system;
- Webcam Central Software —Software required to configure the built-in camera;
- Roxio Creator Home - home multimedia studio.
I must say that in addition, all programs and a set of drivers are located in a partition of the hard drive called Recovery. This principle of repeating information is a good feature for Dell computers.
In conclusion of this part of the review, it should be noted that the laptop is running Windows Vista HB.
PERFORMANCE
As noted, this version runs on the fifth generation Intel Centrino platform, codenamed Montevino. The operation of all components of the laptop is controlled by the GN45 /
The Inspiron 1545 is a 2000MHz Pentium Dual-Core CPU T4200.
The core is Penryn, the system bus frequency is 800 MHz, the L2 cache is 1024 KB, it is executed according to the 45 nm technological process. Instructions used in the work: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3 (missing SSE4.1). The processor supports 64-bit architecture.
At such a low cost, the T4200's performance is impressive, because in synthetic tests the CPU practically does not lag behind Intel's more expensive and powerful processors and, in general, noticeably outperforms AMD's products. True, in real tests, these indicators drop noticeably, because everything is decided by the size of the cache memory. Despite this, we can say that Intel still managed to make a very good processor.
Inside there are two DDR2-800 memory sticks, with a volume of 1024MB each, which work in dual-channel mode. The manufacturer of the RAM is Sumsung Electronics. The memory operates at 800MHz. Two slots in total are intended for memory and they are occupied, therefore, in order to increase the volume, it is necessary to replace two or one of them.
VIDEO SUBSYSTEM
The laptop has an integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500MHD.Its adapter supports Direct 10.0 and Shader model 4.0 (if, of course, you download the latest drivers for Windows Vista), it uses the technology of the previous generation DVMT 4.0 and therefore this affects the total "borrowed" amount of memory that is required for the needs of the video system.
This solution has been repeatedly subjected to various tests of this video processor in order to identify all kinds of surprises, which, however, were never found.
Of course, modern games that require large internal resources, such as Call of Duty4, will not work here, because there is not a very powerful, but by the way, an energy-saving graphics processor. But for the sake of truth, it should be said that being the leader of integrated solutions, GMA 4500 MHD, they are inferior to any discrete video cards, as well as some integrated solutions from AMD. Therefore, the purpose of this video chip is work with documents and games that do not require large resources. But at the same time, I would like to draw your attention to the very successful hardware MPEG-2 / DVD, WMV9 (VC-1) and H.264 (AVC) decoding.
Thus, it should be noted with regret that when testing the level of health of a computer with Windows Vista installed on it, the graphics system proved to be not a reliable link.
BODY
If you pay attention to the closed laptop, you will notice that the design has not undergone almost any changes compared to the 1525 and its shape has remained the same wedge-shaped profile. Although the diagonal of the display screen has been increased, the laptop has become more compact in length and width, but only slightly thicker. The upper part of the laptop has a matte soft-touch plastic coating and is painted black as always. But this is not the only color scheme of this model, it is also available in ruby red and midnight blue color scheme of the case. However, whatever this solution may be, the base of the laptop is always painted in black and gray.
This matte finish on the panel is velvety to the touch, which means that the 1545 series uses not only the same design as the 1525, but also materials. This material is very good at protecting the top panel from scratches, but at the same time it gets dirty quickly. The company logo is depicted on the outside of the lid. Of course, it all looks beautiful and stylish. The display unit is attached to the keyboard with two hinges. There are no latches to keep the laptop closed. In order to open the lid correctly, you need to carefully pick up the chrome-plated protrusion, which is located in the center of the end. It must also be said that the hinge travel is tight here, which allows you to position the display screen in any position convenient for you.
But only when we open the lid and remove all protective films from the laptop, we will see the whole essence of the problem. Because it is because of this that many copies are broken on all kinds of computer forums and the advantages and disadvantages of our exhibit are discussed, as well as because of any computers. The thing is that it is gloss. After all, only now it becomes obvious that for one laptop there is an overabundance of shiny smooth plastic. Apart from the keyboard buttons, everything inside the laptop is mirror-black. Of course, when we took the laptop out of the box and opened it for the first time, everything looked impressive. But after some time of working on it, this entire mirror surface turns into one continuous print. Moreover, this material is very easy to scratch and after another month it will be covered with a network of small scratches. But, despite this, I believe that this model will find its fans. Therefore, we will continue our review. There are two built-in speakers just below the display unit. However, the sound quality is too low, which is typical for most notebooks. Above the display is a built-in 1.3MP webcam. and a microphone. The camera does not rotate and therefore, in order to get into the frame, it is necessary to adjust the degree of inclination of the top panel.Of course, the image quality is mediocre, you could not expect otherwise, however, it is perfect for video calls. It is worth saying that the webcam has a function that allows you to identify your face instead of the password used to log in to the system. The software for this camera takes up two supplied discs.
The Inspiron 1545 has no additional buttons other than one that turns the computer on and off. It has one LED that glows bright white when the laptop is turned on, and when the batteries are low, the light indicates this by blinking orange.
KEYBOARD AND TACHPAD
Let's repeat and say that the keyboard has a matte plastic cover and there is a digital blog. The width and travel of the keys are 18 and 2 mm, respectively, they are pressed effortlessly and feel good when they are triggered. The layout of the letters of the Russian and English alphabets is applied in the same color, Russian letters are smaller, English. The left Ctrl key is in its place, but the context menu key and the right Ctrl key have changed places, so it will take some time to get used to it. You will also have to get used to the fact that the control keys are not placed in a separate block.
In addition, when working with the keyboard, another change is revealed. The fact is that in a standard laptop keyboard, the top row of F1 ... F12 buttons has another additional function, which is launched by simultaneously pressing the desired key and the special Fn key. If you want to return to the familiar layout, then you need to use programs like AutoHotkey.
Below the keyboard block, closer to the left edge of the keyboard, is a touchpad with a touchpad manufactured by Alps Electric Corporation. This is somewhat unusual since Dell uses better Synaptics products. The touchpad is also glossy like everything else. True, its surface is by no means smooth, but has roughness, this leads to more precise cursor control. The touchpad is noticeably recessed, as is often the case on laptops, and is not flush with the panel, this prevents the accumulation of dirt in the place of the panel for the hands and touchpad. The size of the touchpad allows you to work comfortably with the cursor, but there are no scrolling fields on it. The "mouse" two buttons are located in the same place, as in all laptops, under the touchpad.
PORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
The number of ports and connectors is small, but quite sufficient for working on a laptop. Their placement is also standard, at the ends of the case.
On the right side there is a USB port, a DVD drive and an ExperessCard / 34 slot. On the front edge is a headphone and microphone jack, a multi-format 5-in-1 card reader (Ms / Ms Pro / Sd / xD).
The remaining ports are grouped on the left: RJ-45 connector, with mains power connected to the local network; VGA port for image output; a pair of USB ports located one above the other; socket for connecting the power adapter. There is also a removable panel that covers the hard drive. About two thirds of the length of the rear panel surface is stretched the battery wall, and the right one has a ventilation grill. Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g and Bluetooth 2.0 modules are responsible for the wired communication system.
The location of all ports is very good. During the work on the laptop, there were no comments on this matter. You can safely plug two flash drives into the dual ports at the same time, and they will not interfere with each other. I was very pleased with the presence of an ExpressCard / 34 slot. But I think. ESata and HDMI connectors would not be superfluous here. The lack of a built-in modem seems to be quite understandable, because this type of connection is rarely used lately.
DISPLAY
This laptop is equipped with a display with a diagonal of 15.6 * and a maximum matrix expansion of 1366 x 768 pixels. The aspect ratio is 16: 9. The screen has a bezel in the form of a glossy plastic frame. Cold colors predominate in the profile color scheme.Exactly, and also because the matrix is not of the highest quality, so the picture probably looks rather faded on the display. And because of the glossy coating, it is very inconvenient to work in brightly lit places due to glare on the display screen.
OPTICAL DRIVE AND HARD DISK
The laptop is equipped with an Optiarc AD-7580S DVD-RW drive. A very standard device for working with CD and DVD, it does not make noise during operation, but vibration is felt. LabelFlash LightScribe technologies are not supported.
The volume of the hard disk of Toshiba Corporation is 250GB. The most common parameters: interface - S-ATA II, buffer-8Mb, the spindle rotates at a speed of 5400 rpm, average access time 12ms.
HEAT RELEASE
The main heat dissipation system of the laptop is a cooler with two high-speed modes of operation. But when the system is operating at low loads, the ventilation system is completely inaudible, however, as soon as the processor temperature rises, reaching a certain upper limit, this cooler increases its speed and begins to howl like a helicopter taking off. In this mode, it continues to work for no more than 15-20 seconds, after which the operation of the system again becomes inaudible. The ventilation grill of the cooling system is located at the rear end, located closer to the right edge. There are also several ventilation holes on the bottom of the case. It should be noted that exactly the same cooling system was used in the previous models of this series.
Let's say that a laptop does not cause much discomfort during work with its warmth, so you can safely hold it on your lap or on a table.
BATTERY
The Inspiron 1545 runs on a 6 cell battery with a 48 Wh capacity.
To charge it, a 110 / 220V power supply unit with a power of 65 W is used.
The plug of the dawn of the device here has an unusual octagon shape.
In a battery life test conducted by the CC using the Battery Eater utility, the battery lasted only 78 minutes. Therefore, in the active use of a laptop in mobile mode, you need to have an outlet on hand.
Our laptop Inspiron 1545 turned out to be a very ordinary model in terms of characteristics .. It has good performance, it is also able to easily cope with office tasks, surfing the Internet. A built-in video card will allow you to comfortably play games only with low system requirements. If this is not enough, then it will be possible to look for a model with a more productive and expensive configuration. The wide range of Inspiron 1545 e. When stuffed, the appearance of this laptop is quite ambiguous. There is a lot of controversy about the pros and cons of this design move. Here are the pros and cons of the Inspiron 1545:
Pros:
- comfortable and solid keyboard;
- plastic matte texture of the cover, which is resistant to scratches;
- laptop performance.
Minuses:
- poor laptop battery life;
- not the best and high quality matrix;
- a clear overkill with glossy coatings and materials;
- low performance video adapter;
- functional row changed on the keyboard.
