Early this month I bought a new laptop from the Dell Australia Outlet – a Vostro 1510. The Vostro range is designed for small businesses, in contrast to the XPS, Inspiron and new Studio notebooks for personal users and the Latitude line targeted towards medium and large organisations.
Dell Outlet computers are new but have been ordered previously by another customer, returned for whatever reason and are sold at a discount to the standard made-to-order Dells. My Vostro 1510 cost AUD 1,314.50 and came with the following features:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T8300
4GB ( 2 X 2048MB ) 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
160GB SATA Hard Drive
Genuine Windows(R) XP Professional (English)
Slot load 8X max DVD + /-RW Drive with DVD + R double layer write capability
Integrated Fast Ethernet 10/100/1000
256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 8400M GS
Integrated Stereo Sound
Microsoft(R) Office 2007 Small Business OEM Version (English)
Intel(R) 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini-Card
15.4 ” Widescreen WXGA (1280×800) TFT Display
LCD Black Cover with Integrated 1.3 Mega Pixel Web Cam with Digital Microphone
System Hardware Warranty -1 Year Next Business Day (8×5) Onsite Response
My 15.4 inch Vostro 1510 and 12.1 inch Latitude D410 side by side
These specifications compare favourably with my old Latitude D410 (also a pre-configured Dell Outlet machine) I paid AUD 1,626.90 for in February 2006:
Latitude(TM) D410 Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 740 (1.73GHz) 12.1″ XGA
1024MB (2 X 512MB) DDR2 SDRAM
40Gb Ultra Ata (5400Rpm) Hard Drive
Genuine Windows(R) XP Professional SP2 Edition (English)
8X DVD-ROM + 24X CD-RW Combo Drive (24X-24X-24X)
Integrated AC97 Audio
Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet
TPM 1.1 (Trusted Platform Module) Security Solution Readiness
Integrated Intel 915GM Graphics Chipset With Up to 128MB Shared System Memory
Dell Wireless(TM) 1370 (802.11 b/g) MiniPCI Card
Integrated Modem Daughter Card (ANZ)
1 Year Next Business Day Parts + Onsite Labour (M-F, 9am – 5pm)
After owning the D410, the 1510 features I appreciate the most include the larger hard drive, faster processor, more RAM, built-in DVD burner, stand-alone video card, better speakers, greater wireless reception, web cam, bluetooth, built-in memory card reader, larger monitor and fingerprint scanner. Conversely, the Latitude D410 is lighter, smaller, better built, has a longer battery life and and a pointing stick.
Overall I am very happy with the Vostro 1510 although if I could improve it I would increase the hard drive capacity from 160GB to 250GB+ and the screen resolution from 1280×800 to either 1440×900 or 1920×1200.
The D410 is very good if you want a portable laptop: it fits in normal bags and the battery life is good: better than two hours if you are only web surfing. The build quality is good, the plastic is strong.
The screen is a bit small so if I was going to use it for long I’d put it in the docking station and plug in a big monitor.
Performance-wise it is ok. I can play World of Warcraft on it but the frame rate is a bit sluggish, it’s not good for fighting.
Mine is over a year old, it is on it’s second dell latitude d410 battery (the extended life one, good for five hours surfing or one hour warcraft). I would imagine that there are newer and better models out now.