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Reviews: All-Purpose Notebooks
Dell Inspiron 1525
CPU: 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7250 • Display Size (inches): 15.4 • Wide Screen: Yes • Total HD Size (GB): 120 • Min. Weight (lbs.): 6 • Price When Reviewed: $963
Dell Inspiron 1525 (Front)
Dell Inspiron 1525 (Front)
Dell Inspiron 1525
Dell Inspiron 1525
81.1 Very Good
Last updated
April 11, 2008
Test Center Reviewed by
Carla Thornton
Pros
  • Fast for a budget laptop
  • Lots customization options
Cons
  • Dedicated graphics not an option
  • Productivity apps not bundled
Review
Test Report
Pricing
Pricing: Very Inexpensive: $963 (2/7/2008)
Performance: Good: 79
Features: Good: 75
Design: Good: 76
Pricing
Very Inexpensive: $963  
Performance
Good: 79  
WorldBench 6 Tests - Very Good: 78
WorldBench 6 Component Results (seconds)
Adobe Photoshop CS2 573 
Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 DirectX 561 
Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 Rendering 810 
Firefox 2 329 
Microsoft Office 2003 with SP-1 384 
Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9.0 275 
Multitasking 449 
Nero 7 Ultra Edition 894 
Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5 245 
Winzip Computing WinZip 10.0 279 
Battery Test
Number of Included Batteries
Battery Life (Video Playback in hh:mm) 04:04 
Graphics Tests (frames per second)
Doom 3, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit 9.03 
Far Cry, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit 14.64 
Features
Good: 75  
CPU & Memory
CPU 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7250 
System Memory 2048 
Type of Memory DDR2-667 SDRAM 
Video & Display
Display Size (inches) 15.4 
Horizontal Resolution 1280 
Vertical Resolution 800 
Video Chip Set Intel 965 Express 
Video Memory Using main memory 
External Monitor Interface Integrated. 
Wide Screen Yes 
Storage
Total HD Size (GB) 120 
Optical Drive Speed
Optical Drive Type DVD±R DL/DVD±RW 
Removable Optical Drive No 
Floppy Drive No 
Number of Media Slots
Other Removable Media Drive Memory Stick, SD Card, xD-Picture Card 
Ports & Expansion
Serial Ports No 
Parallel Ports No 
USB Ports
FireWire Ports
Microphone Ports Yes 
Headphone Jacks Yes 
S-Video Ports Yes 
Composite Video Ports No 
Docking Station Port No 
Infrared Port No 
Shared Mouse/Keyboard Port No 
Mini PCI Port Yes 
PC Card Slots
Express Card Slots
Connectivity
Network Port 10/100Base-T ethernet 
Wireless LAN Type 802.11a/g 
Bluetooth No 
Modem Type V.92 
Other
Standard Number of Batteries
Type of Batteries Lithium ion 
Built-In Speakers Stereo 
Dimensions 14.0 by 10.1 by 1.6 
Min. Weight (lbs.)
Average Weight (pounds, with accessories) 6.8 
Accessories Notebook, AC adapter 
Pointing Device Touchpad 
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit) 
Included Software Roxio Creator, MyDVD 9.0 DE 
Warranty & Support
Labor Warranty (years) One 
Parts Warranty (years) One 
Weekday Support Hours 24 
Saturday Support Hours 24 
Sunday Support Hours 24 
Toll-Free Support Yes 
Reliability & Service
Summary of results for all of brand's products in this category Dell's showing in this category isn't bad overall, though the company should try to improve its record on replacing failed components. Tech reps take too long to answer calls, readers report but once you get one, Dell support is good at resolving problems 
Reliability of brand's products in this category
Reports of products with core component problems Average 
Reports of products with failed components Average 
Reports of products with any significant problems Average 
Reports of products arriving with problems Average 
Overall satisfaction with reliability of brand's products in category Average 
Service & Support Quality
Time spent holding for phone support Worse than Average 
Overall quality of vendor's phone support Average 
Reports of problems unresolved after contacting service Better than Average 
Overall quality of service Average 
Design
Good: 76  

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