Dell's new Vostro line of computers developed to meet the needs of small businesses has become very popular among working professionals and consumers alike. The Vostro 1500 is the "twin sister" to the Dell Inspiron 1520, and while this business notebook with a 15.4" display doesn't come in a variety of colors, the Vostro is packed with enough performance and optional extras to keep anyone happy. But is this "black beauty" a thoroughbred, or is it destined for the pastures?
The Dell Vostro 1500 is available with a range of Intel processors (from the 1.86GHz Celeron M M540 up to the T7500 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo). There are two 15.4" screen offerings, a 1280x800 WXGA and 1440x900 WXGA+ display. The notebook can take up to 4GB of RAM but Dell only offers 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista or XP ... so don't expect to be able to use all 4GB. Built-in wireless is standard
Build and Design
The 1500 caries forward what can only be described as "traditional dell design" with simplified lines. In short, the new Vostro notebooks look identical to the current generation of Dell Inspiron notebooks ... but Dell engineers have stripped the available selection of paint jobs. While the design isn't as innovative as what we saw in the new Dell XPS M1330, the simple lines and solid construction look quite nice for a budget notebook. Business professionals and students certainly shouldn't be ashamed of how the 1500 looks when they carry this notebook to work or class. From the matte black plastics to the silver media buttons the Vostro 1500 is a design that lacks the flash but isn't short on style.
The Vostro 1500 lid still uses a latch to hold it closed, but the hinge mechanism also works well and firmly holds the lid in place. There is almost no flex to the screen. After opening the lid and seeing the black plastic interior and rounded surface of the 1500 you'll notice how solid the notebook feels ... at the expense of some added thickness. The entire case is sturdy with relatively thick plastic and magnesium alloy reinforcement in just the right places. There are no creaks or signs of case flex anywhere to be found.
Performance and Benchmarks
The Core 2 Duo processors that come with the Inspiron 1500 provide more than enough performance, even at the 1.4GHz low-end of the T5270. The 1.6GHz T5470 processor in our review unit delivers reasonable speed and the included optional nVidia 8400M GS dedicated graphics card provides enough power for HD video and serious 3D gaming at lower resolutions. While the 3DMark benchmarks below look reasonably impressive, it is important to keep in mind that the standard Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (Intel 965 chipset) will perform much worse. The available nVidia GeForce 8400M GS dedicated graphics card is a "must have" option if you want to play current games at higher resolutions on this notebook.
Screen
The 15.4" glossy screen in our review unit is a bright WXGA 1280 x800 display with excellent contrast and rich colors. Several Inspiron and Vostro owners in our discussion forums claim that the standard WXGA 1280 x 800 display suffers from "graininess" but the optional higher resolution WXGA+ 1440 x 900 screen suffered from no such problems. The display in our review unit did indeed suffer from "graininess" but features fairly bright and even backlighting. Horizontal and vertical viewing angles were good enough for two or three people to watch a DVD on the screen.
Keyboard, Touchpad and Other Input Buttons
The full-sized keyboard on the 1500 is solid with almost no flex. The keys have minimal travel with excellent cushion and response, and there are dedicated keys for home, end, page up, and page down. The touchpad is nice and large with a very usable and responsive surface. Both the vertical and horizontal scroll sections are accurate and responsive. The touchpad buttons have deep, cushioned feedback and produce quiet clicks.The 1500 also features dedicated media buttons beneath the touchpad at the front of the notebook. The media buttons make watching DVDs or listening to music files as easy as using a DVD or CD player. Like most media buttons on notebooks from other manufacturers these media buttons have blue LED backlights. However, unlike most other media buttons we've seen the blue LED lights automatically turn off a few seconds after you press them. While this might sound like a useless feature it's nice not to have bright blue LEDs lit up all the time.