Dell Inspiron E1505 reviewed

If you've been looking to go Core Duo on the cheap then wait no longer. PCMAG just busted out their Editor's Choice award on the 15.4-inch widescreen Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop. Good reason too, since their $999 test model shipped pre-loaded with XP Media Center Edition 2005 (TV tuner costs extra), sporting a 1.67GHz Intel Core Duo, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, 80GB (5400rpm) disk, 802.11b/g, dual-layer DVD burner, and ATI Mobility Radion X1300 graphics -- not top of the line by any means, but oodles better than a lot of those integrated graphics craptops, and more likely to run Vista with some pep. PCMAG calls the E1505 "perfect" for people on a budget who "appreciate technology" which well, pretty much covers just about everyone we know. Knocks? Sure, the battery only managed about 3 hours and you have to enter a goofy Dell E-Value code "E1505PC" when ordering if you expect your kit to ring-up with that sub-grand price tag. Righteous pricing indeed for this full featured and powerful kit.

[Razib Ahmed @ May 2nd 2006 10:35AM]

"Good reason too, since their $999 test model shipped pre-loaded with XP Media Center Edition 2005"
Yes, everything is very nice except the battery life. Well, the price is too attractive for anyone to ignore this problem.

[TeleCustom @ May 2nd 2006 10:42AM]

If it's anything like other Dell laptops, you'll pay the cost of the computer in repairs in the next couple years.

[bob spencer @ May 2nd 2006 11:08AM]

They sell that exact model for $699 now, great deal! my girlfriend got one to replace her aging g4. This is a mac person for 15 years (professor) and she prefers the Dell.

[JD @ May 2nd 2006 11:13AM]

This is the laptop I use at work. For $999, I gotta say it's pretty sweet. Widescreen goodness, fullsize keyboard, dedicated media controls. Definitely a step up from the craptacular C600 series. Even looks nice for a Dell -- finally something glossy.

It's the first laptop I've used happily without an external keyboard! Everything is finally where it belongs.

[Jason @ May 2nd 2006 11:14AM]

Wow, great price! Someone found it for $699? Hell I may have to forget my desire to finally get a Mac laptop (Intel Macbook) and bite the bullet for a Dell for that kind of savings. Anyone RTFA? How much does it weigh and how is the LCD on this baby? I hate cheap LCD's.

[cincinnatikidd @ Feb 26th 2007 10:39AM]

The LCD is very satisfactory. DVDs play crisp and jump free. I got my machine for $650 by using the Dell EPromotion code. Actually, they upgraded the hard drive from 60 to 80gb no extra charge. Battery life is not really an issue for me as I usually have a plug in available in my car. I don't like the price of replacement and add on parts though. My son just bought a Dell laptop and loaded it down with Vista, memory and just about every upgrade you could get and he paid about %2600. Yes his screen is 17" but the weight alone on his machine is greater and they had to buy a special backpack to fit it in for about $120. I'm a value / cheap person and didn't see any reason to spend 5x the money for the few upgrades. I've had my machine about 2 months now and hope to be using it for many years to come. BTW, I only got the DVD Rom/CD Burnere. DVD burner would be nice, but I have on one my desktop and wanted to keep my price down. Also, Dell has been fantastic with their shipping. Usually get stuff within a few days from order. I don't know how they do it, but I work on PCs and order Dell machines for my customers and for the 5 times I have ordered in the past year, there has been no issues. As for technical support, I haven't had to deal with them yet. I have heard good and bad. If you have other questions, feel free to email me.
Doug Yates

[Ian Jardine @ May 2nd 2006 11:27AM]

Does DELL offer a bigger battery?

[Robert @ May 2nd 2006 11:30AM]

For an extra (everything is extra these days) $99 you can get a 85Wh battery and add another 1.5hrs of battery life. I have a friend who bought this model, he loves it.

[Ben C @ May 2nd 2006 11:31AM]

I owned an Inspiron 9200 which is basically the same machine, just older. It's heavy as a brick and the LCD conveniently drew a nice blue line down the center. It's almost like theres a whole column of dead pixels now. It was only a year old. Since then I've switched to a MacBookPro and it's wonderful. Much more portable, faster, and is everything I want in a notebook (except built in SD card reader). Sure I paid a lot more, but I expect it to last more than one year before the LCD starts acting up. You do get what you pay for with Dell and Apple.

[Craig @ Apr 24th 2008 11:39AM]

My LCD in my Inspiron E1505 Notebook has multiplying vertical colored lines all over. Does anybody have a solution? Dell is not much help.

[slash @ May 2nd 2006 11:34AM]

I have an Inspiron 9300
The only thing i hate about it, is the paint is starting to come on where i rest my hands to type. (after about 4 months of normal use) it looks really ugly now :(

[JROQ @ May 2nd 2006 11:46AM]

Well, it was 699... the price went up within the last 35 minutes.

[b @ May 2nd 2006 12:15PM]

oddly enough, the area where i rest my palm on my macbookpro is also starting to 'wear' off

[Tony Wasserman @ May 2nd 2006 12:37PM]

I bought the Core Duo T2500 (2 GHz) and the high rez widescreen (1650x1080) version, mostly to run Ubuntu Linux. Two problems: 1) it's big and bulky; 2) it has an Intel 3945 wireless card, which is unsupported on the current (Breezy Badger, kernel 2.6.12) version of Ubuntu. Intel has written a driver that is supposed to work with 2.6.13 and later or the Linux kernel. Ubuntu's Dapper Drake release (6.06) ships on June 1st with Linux kernel 2.6.15, so that should solve the wireless problem. But it's still big and bulky. If you are looking for a Core Duo notebook and weight is more important than price, look at the Sony Vaio SZ series of laptops.

[Michael Chastain @ May 2nd 2006 12:38PM]

Yes, we all know we could order a Mac. The cheapest MacBook that would meet my needs is $2,148 (+1GB +modem). Yesterday I ordered an E1505 that nearly matches the configuration of the base Mac for far less. My Dell has an x1400/256MB video card, 1.66GHz processor, and 80GB HD. The Apple would have had an x1600/128MB video card, 1.83GHz processor, and 100GB HD. Memory, optical drive, wireless, bluetooth, and screen size are basically the same. The biggest difference? I paid just $900.

The Mac might be more reliable, although their is no way of knowing on such a new product. I do know that for $267 I could have added Dell's 4 year premium warranty with on-site service and accidental damage protection and still saved $1,000 over the Mac.

[Tesla @ May 2nd 2006 12:42PM]

I have to say I've been quite happy with mine for the past few weeks.

Intel Core Duo processor T2400 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R
15.4 inch 1680x1050 UltraSharp Wide Screen SXGA+
256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1400 HyperMemory (128MB dedicated and 128MB from system memory)
60GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive (definitely worth it for the speed)
Intel� PRO 3945 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Battery (the extra cells are definitely worth it)


At the time I picked it up with a $750 coupon but the $411 coupon they have going now makes it almost just as good a price. The one thing I wish they had a few weeks ago was the Integrated SB Audigy card. The 1505 is awesome for DVD viewing, web surfing and packs a hefty enough punch to decently play games like Halflife2, Battlefield2 and World of Warcraft with the graphics at Medium to High settings. It sure beats paying $2000 - $3000 for one of those high end MacBooks (which always seem to have old video cards) or XPS systems.

[Neil @ Nov 22nd 2006 9:38PM]

I'm thinking about getting one soon. Would you recommend getting the 2 GB Ram or do you think the 1 GB is enough. It's a price difference of several hundred dollars, but I want my computer to last for a while too without having to buy tons of upgrades. I hear if you upgrade to Vista later it's better to have the 2 GB too. Thoughts?

[DS @ May 2nd 2006 12:54PM]

maybe im missing something but on dells website the sub 1k models are all core solo with 512 ram xp home, no optical burner etc etc etc. you need to spend 1100 to get the base model with the duo. You also need to spend an additional 800 to get it up to snuff (1 gig ram, xp pro, non integrated video, decent HDD etc). I mean this is *IN REALITY* a 1900$ system if you want it to measure up to the mac, and even then it falls short spec wise. Maybe I just don't have the magical coupon code you guys are talking about.....

[Elliot @ May 2nd 2006 1:30PM]

Holy lord that looks bulky and plasticky. Just wish they'd put so stickers on it...Oh wait, there they are.

[JD @ May 2nd 2006 2:02PM]

DS, Dell coupons would make your "In REALITY" lappy drop from $1999 to $1250. A much better deal.

For example use code 85HL9T?V1X833J to save $750 off any $1,999.00+ Dell Inspiron notebook.

[Michael Chastain @ May 2nd 2006 2:04PM]

@DS

There was a sale yesterday, as Dell frequently runs. Matching I'm not sure what is going on today but if you read the linked PC Mag review they give a code to get the dual core, non-integrated video, DVD/RW E1505 for $999. The deal yesterday w/ integrated video started at $699 (even lower w/ coupons & rebates). You can read about the deal yesterday at http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/608296/

Dell is (in)famous for coupons and specials and they come along with surprising regularity.

[Homer J @ May 2nd 2006 2:25PM]

Bought one of these back in April. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY is what I can say. I tried and returned a Sony and HP before settling on a dell 1505.

As far a performance, dual-core is all you will see in my machines going forward. Decked out the rig for just a little over 2Gs with Dell's $750 rebate.

[roberto @ May 2nd 2006 2:27PM]

i picked one up the other day, 2.0 ghz, ati x1300, 100 gig 5400rpm drive, 1 gig ram,dvd burner for 1000 with tax and shipping. it was a returned new(not refurbed). very good deal. check the outlet

[GDuran @ May 2nd 2006 2:35PM]

I really don't know if it is luck or what, but I have a I600m for two years now and its flawless. I have a I6000 since christmas and can't be happy. I also have two Dell desktops and they have never broken, so I don't know if it is luck or what but I have a great history with Dell. I am pissed that that a few months after I bought my I6000 this awesome laptop comes along!

[Rusty @ May 2nd 2006 2:47PM]

I don't know if I've been lucky or that everyone just loves to bash Dell...I sold my 5100 (p4 2.66ghz) that I used everyday for a E1505. My 5100 was in a Platt tool bag with a bunch of other tools/supplies etc...weight was 51 pounds. I pulled it around on a two wheel cart, bounced off steps for two years NO PROBLEMS. I'm sure I will have as good luck with my E1505.
Loaded it up, except for the higher cap battery. Everyone just drools over the superbright screen, definately worth the upgrade.

[Tyler Gibson @ May 2nd 2006 4:47PM]

These have been for sale, in various configurations, through slickdeals.net over the past few months for ~650-700 bucks, and can be fully loaded out for under a grand.

[zzzzzzzzzz @ May 2nd 2006 5:27PM]

Can pcmag's reviews be trusted?
I noticed their review was light on details.

And they compared the machine to single-core laptops in their "performance" test.

hmmm.

[jbstingray @ May 3rd 2006 2:22AM]

God, everyone is an Apple basher. #12, you forgot that the Dell has a 1.67Ghz Core Duo, when the MacBook Pro comes with 1.83Ghz - difference there. No iSight, no iLife, no remote, and it is a lot bulkier. Plus the MacBook Pro is a Pro laptop, this Dell by no means is a Pro laptop.

#13, last time I checked, the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 wasn't that old....

I am as big of an Apple fanboy as the next guy, I just wanted to make sure that Apple's offering laptop-wise is well represented. This is sort of an Apple to Orange type thing (or Apple to Rotten Tomato as some might consider it, seeing as Dell is hated by as many people who hate Apple...)

[Fonzo @ May 3rd 2006 4:18AM]

My friend purchased this laptop about two weeks ago, and I am currently attempting to reinstall everything. From initial boot, the laptop just did not act right. WMC errors, applications errors, etc. It BSOD'd a few times, and eventually got worse until the point of needing to be restored.

The restoration is going horrible. Dell was kind enough to ship the laptop without the correct drivers, so I had to spend some time searching for those.

It has been a headache since the machine came out of the packaging. I think it was due to a poor install on Dell's part (bundling too much garbage into one package), but maybe my friend is just unlucky and got a lemon. Either way, this system is OK at best.

[Shaun Carter @ May 3rd 2006 7:30AM]

This just goes to show I need to upgrade my laptop. I'm running an old Inspiron 5160. I think my next one will be dual-core, and also going to wait for Vista.

[Gabe @ May 3rd 2006 3:27PM]

#25, why would you spend so much time and effort on a laptop that's only two weeks old? send it back and save the frustration.

I have an E1505 and I can't say enough about it. The tru-brite screen is definitely worth the money. T2400 1.83GHz, fully loaded (including 4 year gold warranty package) for around $1450, after dell coupons and EPP savings.

I upgraded from an Inspiron 5100, which was infamous for overheating problems because of the desktop processor. Had to send it in to replace the fan heatsink at least 3 times, but Dell always owned up to their mistakes and footed the bill, even after my 2 year warranty had expired.

[Nick @ May 3rd 2006 4:22PM]

I got mine 3 weeks ago with the $750 coupon... My only gripe is there are no Verizon EVDO Express cards (No PCMCIA slots) are available yet. Waiting impatiently...

[Fonzo @ May 3rd 2006 11:28PM]

#27: Well I am doing it myself for two reasons.

1. Boredom. Fixing the computer, while frustrating, is fun.
2. Time. If I send it back to Dell and have them do it, it will take a week or two (or more) to get the system back. If I do it myself, it will only take a day or two.

Also, if I do it myself I can keep all of their garbage (AOL, MusicMatch, Corel, etc.) off of the computer.

[DAWN MARIE @ Jul 10th 2007 12:26PM]

HAVE YOU HAD ANYPROBLEMS WITH YOUR TOUCH PAD, THIS IS MY SECOND E1505,SINCE JANUARY, SAME PROBLEM...CURSOR BEHAVES ERRATICALLY WHEN AC ADAPTER PLUGGED INTO 220V OUTLET...TOUCH PAD USED TO CONTROL CURSOR../I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WHILE ON BATTERY AND/OR WHILE USING MOUSE TO CONTROL CURSOR.

[dell inspiron @ May 5th 2006 9:19AM]

nice... great... dell is the best!

[Anthony Smith @ May 10th 2006 8:47PM]

This is a great laptop. I love it. Yes, I got a great deal ($649) that's not available now, but you can still get the E1505 with a 1.67ghz core duo, 1gb RAM, dual layer DVD burner, XP Media edition, Intel wireless a/b/g for $799 and free shipping. Just enter E value code: 6M019-D80412M. Add a $35 off $500 coupon, and sign up for the Dell credit card (another 2% off) and it's yours for under $750. An entry level price for a non-entry level laptop!

[Naveen Reddy @ Jul 5th 2006 3:18PM]

Does DELL E1505 have a Media Card Reader. I dont seem to find it in the options that the DELL site has.

[Pascal @ Jul 26th 2006 1:07AM]

I've recently bought this laptop and use it mostly with Kubuntu Dapper Drake. I must say it rocks!!! Even with only 1.66 Ghz per core, everything is so smooth and Dapper Drake does a great job recognizing all peripherals.

[brown @ Sep 30th 2006 12:34PM]

i just bought one for 818$ total w/ tax and shipping and ive got an extra nine cell battery, and the core duo processor w/ 1.72 ghz. My lcd is the 15.4 xga w/ trulife. specs:Inspiron E1505 Intel� Core� Duo Proc T2250 (1.73GHz/533MHz/2 X 1MB L2 Cache)
[222-3776]

LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife�
[320-4651]

Memory 512MB Shared Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHZ, 1 DIMM
[311-5775]

Video Card Intel� Graphics Media Accelerator 950
[320-4653]

Hard Drive 60GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive

[byrdman @ Jan 10th 2007 8:56PM]

This machine is amazing- It SUCKS! They sent me a new one because the first one so bad. I spend 3 hours on the phone with tech support today trying to get the second one up and running- no luck.
Are all Dells this bad or just bad luck on my part?

[mnad @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:51AM]

I have a builtin Bluetooth in my Inspiron 6400E1505, but when I formatted it the Bluetooth disappeared. I see the Bluetooth light on but the icon is gone. how can I intall it again.
Thank you

[Russell @ Sep 15th 2007 11:39PM]

I bought the Dell Inspiron E1505 about two years ago. Like so many of the others who bought this laptop, my 85Wh battery died just after the one year mark. The problem starts when the battery light begins flashing. The battery has a usuage button on it which indicated that the battery was fully charged, however, every time I put the battery in the laptop, the light starts to flash again. I found dozens of blogs and techie sites where Dell users have voiced the same issues with this computer. All Dell will offer as a solution is to buy a new battery. It costs about $169. to buy a new one from Dell. I've written messages to Dell Customer Service and even to Michael Dell himself about this problem and got nowhere. The overall performance of this laptop was marginal at best, despite what anyone else thinks of it. My older Inspiron 1100 is a much better laptop and has never had any issues with it's battery. I was enticed to buy the more expensive battery when I got the E1505 because it was said to last longer. Obviously, that is not true. Dell Customer Service will not take ownership of the problem that I am many others have had with this laptop. I've bought five computers from Dell in the past seven years or so. The E1505 was the latest addition. My older Dell computers all work much better than the E1505. Personally, it is a useless piece of junk to me, if I cannot use it as a portable computer. Instead, it remains landlocked to a wall outlet if I want to use it. I'm certainly not going to pay Dell $169. every year for a new battery. I either want my money back or a replacement for the computer, both of which I know I will never receive. I used to be a big Dell supporter, but not any longer. Dell sucks! My next system will come from HP. I won't buy anymore Dell products and I'd suggest anyone else to reconsider buying a Dell computer unless you also want a headache, unless you enjoy being ignored by Dell when you have a problem with their products.

[chaztor @ Sep 15th 2008 11:41AM]

I agree with several other posters re; Dell and their battery life. IT IS UNACCEPTABLY BAD!
My wife's personal E1505 9-cell battery completely failed before being 2yrs old. Does not even last 2 seconds.
I am an IT Manager all the recent laptops I have purchased (~5 Latitude D620,820s and the one E1505) have all failed battery wise within a year to two. It used to be they would slowly loose run time as the battery aged. Now they fail like they have fallen off a cliff.
As a life long Dell user (I have personally purchased close to >$30k in Dell equipment over the years) I will shop Lenovo, HP etc..for laptops in the future.

[dina @ Oct 12th 2008 2:48PM]

i have also bought my dell about two years ago and my battery died it doesnt lasts more that 14 min !!!!!! why is that happening what should i do???

[John @ Jan 3rd 2009 10:55AM]

I had just about the exact experience Russell has had. I purchased the laptop a little better than 2 yrs ago and since the original purchase the battery died with six months and I was also foolish enough to spend the extra money on a new battery. I figured the larger battery would last longer and in the beginning that was true, but in the end it was a complete loss. When ya add the cost of battery & the 2 power cords I have replaced so far I have way too much money in my tabletop pc to want to take another chance on dell! What irritates me the most is I paid approx $1100.00 for my 1505! I think I purchased mine about 2 maybe 3 months before they lowered prices.

[Newbie @ Oct 11th 2007 8:30PM]

I am thinking of buying a Dell Inspiron E1505, with 2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 160 HD, 15.4" broad screen. pls tell me should I go for it?

The main use of the laptop will be using office 2007, photoshop, multimedia and using the internet!
please help me out thanks

[kiko @ Dec 2nd 2007 1:10PM]

yeah you can go for it. But be sure that a dedicated 256 MB graphics card is part of your target for better graphics performance.

[Brian @ Jan 31st 2008 7:47PM]

I have had my insprion e1505 for 1 year and 1 month and it crashed! And since it is beyond the 1 year warranty, dell won't do anything about it! So I would advise to stay away from Dell.

[vinny @ Mar 1st 2008 3:37PM]

I bought one of these systems, but I got it with the Nvidia GeForce Go 7300, for Linux compatibility. It works wonderfully! I dual boot XP Media Center Edition and Ubuntu 7.04.

Sorry to hear about your battery troubles Russel. The only problem my computer has is a dead pixel that occurred 6 months or so after the purchase.

[Rocktronik @ May 8th 2008 5:29AM]

i also own an 1505, i bought it almost 2 years ago from a friend, pretty cheap , only for $650 , just the laptop and its AC adapter

My spec is Intel T2300 @ 1.66 1gbRAM 120gb HDD@5400 and ATI X1300 256mb

i have run and installed a mini webserver (XAMPP), edit videos using adobe premiere, play crysis, PES 2008 and many more!

i have no complaints whatsoever, unless maybe the heat problem: cpu 56C hdd 49C and a cranky dvd drive. but i can live with that. :)

my only problem is my battery wear level now showing 78% on NHC.
Without AC power the laptop only lasted for 30min
That was caused by my own fault, i always plug the adapter, so it ruins the battery.

Now if only i can find the dell battery for $10-$20. :)