As middle-of-the-road as a laptop gets, Dell's Inspiron 1525 is an excellent choice for basic computing, especially if you take the time to configure a system to your needs via Dell's online configurator. The version we tested, which is not available in the UK, has a low-end 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T2390 CPU. The closest version available here has the 1.73 GHz T2370 and will set you back £389 direct from Dell.
The system may strain under a heavy uni workload of writing essays and encoding MP3s, but its battery life is actually better than more powerful configurations available -- on a par with the 14-inch Dell Inspiron 1420. When you add the 1525's touch-sensitive media control buttons and an HDMI output, you get a not wholly unreasonable package at the lower end of the price scale.
If your planned course of study will not include running demanding graphics or scientific applications, the Inspiron 1525 should get you from fresher's week to graduation.
Design
Dell has managed to shave a little bulk off its previous 15-inch Inspiron model, and this version is even thinner than the 14-inch Inspiron 1420, although its bigger footprint is not as well suited for lugging around campus all day.
The keyboard is the same full-size model found on Dell's other Inspiron laptops, and it feels solid and responsive. Above the keyboard sits a row of media control buttons, which you won't find on some
Features
The 15.4-inch wide-screen LCD offers a 1,280x800-pixel
There are plenty of USB jacks for all your accessories and even FireWire, which we're seeing less frequently, but no Bluetooth. Adding an HDMI jack is a welcome high-end touch, even if you never use it.
Performance
The 1525 we tested uses a 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T2390, which sits at the low end of Intel's current CPU lineup. The system is no speed demon, and we ran into occasional sluggishness while multitasking -- Web surfing, working on office documents and playing media files -- but it's still adequate for basic academic work.
The Inspiron 1525 ran for 3 hours and 10 minutes on our video playback battery drain test using the included six-cell battery, which is an improvement over more expensive 1525s, which lasted only 2 hours and 15 minutes on the same test -- perhaps because of more powerful CPUs. There's a pretty obvious trade-off to consider -- slower performance and longer battery life versus faster performance and shorter battery life.
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User reviews9
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Preacher 12 September 2011
Comment: I had this laptop on a contract with Rentsmart while I was a contract engineer . During that time the motherboard and the CD player failed and was replaced as part of the contract. When the contract finished I purchased the laptop from Rentsmart who made an a fair offer.
It is used every day at work and at home and has been reliable to date apart from cd cover plastic trim has broken away, (it does get rammed into a work bag every day).
Only annoyance I find is the optical mouse which can just stop working for no apparent reason. Hardware restarting the mouse by temporily unplugging it cures the problem.
This is the only laptop I have ever had so I can make no comparison. I am just giving my experience of this model.
Joe Michael Graves 30 July 2011
Bad: Everything. Faulty hinges. webcam cable breaks. Battery only holds 10 minutes of charge now. Hard drive has broken twice since I've had it. nothing much good about it
Comment: Avoid this (and all dell) laptops like the plague. They are physically rubbish and they've brought nothing but expensive repair bills.
Connor A Bruce 5 March 2011
Good: Excellent value mid-range laptop
Bad: Battery life is appalling
Comment: I'm coming up to three years now with this laptop and I have to say it is a great product for the price - just £299, which is cheaper than many of the netbooks then, and now.
It looks good, but it isn't going to win any design prizes. Mine has the sleek black finish, and is fairly easy to keep clean. The touchpad is good, responsive and the scroll buttons are a great touch. The hinge is not fantastic, but despite using it every day, I've not had any problems thus far. My only real complaint design wise is the vent at the back which is easy to accidentally block.
The glossy effect screen makes the screen appear better than it is and does a great job, everything looks crisp and clear, again much better than many laptops of the same price, especially netbooks.
HDMI port is a great idea, I use it frequently at work on an external monitor and it makes configuring the monitor much simpler than it used to be, just plug in and use.
It's not the fastest laptop, but for everyday tasks such as surfing, email, word processing, it is more than adequate. Besides, mine was an N-Series, Ubuntu laptop and so it probably runs much better than it would have with Windows Vista anyway.
Mine came with just 1GB of RAM as I went for the cheapest option, but even so less than £300 for a 15in+ laptop with DVD drive, 4 USB ports and a HDMI port is great value. I added 4GB of RAM soon after purchase, from Crucial as it was far cheaper than Dell, and turned it into a decent mid-range laptop for only an extra £60.
It isn't all good though. The battery was appalling, quickly deteriorating and lasting less than 1 year when it should have lasted almost three.
I switched to using it plugged in for just over a year before going for Dell's 9-cell battery at £120 it gave me 4.5 hours battery life at first, a year on down to about 3.5 hours.
As others have mentioned, it does get hot, but you have to be careful about the vent at the back and make sure it doesn't get blocked. For me it only seems to get hot when the bottom vents are blocked; elsewhere on my lap and on a desk it is fine. So you just have to be careful and think about propping it up a little. Also blowing compressed air into the vents and clearing them every now and then helps too.
Overall this is a great laptop and brilliant value, three years on and not only is it still up to the job, but I have no plans to replace it.
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