Asus G1S vs. Dell Inspiron 1520

I had a chance to compare both systems with similar price and configurations (2.2GHz, 4GB RAM, 8600M GT, 7200RPM HD, Vista Home Premium) and came up with the following observations:

-The G1S appeared to come with more bloatware than the Inspiron (Norton, Asus Data Security, etc).

-Antivirus: The Inspiron came with 3 years of McCaffee for the same price as the G1S, while the G1S only had a 3 month trial of Norton.

-Service/Support + Accidental Damage: Dell has a 7% discount applied when purchasing 3 years of Service and Support which includes theft recovery, accidental damage, and McAfee. The G1S only came with 1 year of Service/Support.

-The G1S came with the DDR3 version of the 8600M GT while the Inspiron comes with the DDR2 version of the same card. I didn't notice any real world difference when gaming between the two cards.

-Both systems came with Vista 32-bit and 4GB RAM. The Inspiron recognized 3.5 GB of RAM while the G1S only recognized 3 GB of RAM.

-The speakers on the Inspiron are MUCH better than the G1S speakers. The speakers on the G1S are located on the front/bottom of the computer and it sounds very muffled.

-The screens on both are very good however the G1S has light bleed on the bottom of the screen which is sometimes noticeable.

-The G1S is lighter and feels more solid than the Inspiron however the Inspiron has a nice configuration and still feels like a quality build.

-The touchpad buttons on the G1S are really hard to press down and I found my thumb getting sore after gaming for a while. I would definitely recommend a Bluetooth mouse while using the G1S. The touchpad buttons on the Inspiron felt firm but smooth.

-All the USB ports on the G1S are on the back while on the Inspiron 2 ports are on the back and 2 ports are on the front.

Overall I found the Inspiron to be a better system however the G1S would be the best choice if you really want the DDR3 8600M GT.

 

The comparison is appreciated, I'm currently deciding between the 2 for my next laptop purchase. A lot of forum readers on the gaming section would disagree with your conclusion about the graphics card since the Asus card is a good 20-30% faster at higher resolutions compared to the Dell (fps benchmark).

Another thing to mention, the Dell is configurable online but the Asus does not have the same luxury if you're not in North America or Europe.

 

Excellent comparison, though there are a few things I want to comment about.

The only two programs to uninstall is Norton and LiveUpdate, the rest are optional. They do have uses at times. It is annoying how ASUS could probrably merge 3-4 of them into one(Wireless, BT, HControl and ATK).

Who pays for AV? And if they do, there are much superior alternatives. There are also alot of free alternatives, usually better then the consumer paid ones

The G1s comes with a 2 year warranty and a 1 year accidental warranty(as of September). Lo-Jack is a joke, I don't know why people have such high hopes for it.

Interesting

Indeed, the speakers are pretty tinny.

The G1s feels heavy and solid, the 1520 is feels heavy and hollow in certain parts, but both are majority plastic.

Needs a burn in

Can be quite annoying for mobile use but for putting it on a desk, it's pretty useful, not alot of wires.


Overall, nice quick summary, though there is evident bias on the 'superiority' of the 1520.

 

I was trying to be objective. Since I ended up keeping the Asus I was trying not to be too hard.

Overall it's like apples and oranges: their both nice computers and they both have their positives/negatives. Being a large company I can understand Dell being able to throw in more of the Service/Support incentives.

I expected the Asus to be a portable uber gaming laptop that would trump the Inspiron. In reality they are both similarly priced and the only real advantage of the G1S is the DDR3 8600M GT. I didn't notice a real-world gaming difference, however I will post the scores for the G1S when I run a 3DMark06 later today in addition to the scores for the Inspiron.

I'm really disappointed with the G1S speakers, which sound terrible in my opinion. My 3 year old Dell Inspiron 8600 sounds 100% better than the G1S.

...Does anyone know why the Inspiron would show 3.5 GB RAM while the G1S only shows 3 GB (both with 4 GB RAM and 32-bit Vista)?

 

It's only this generation where the Inspiron was comparible to the G1. In the last generation, the E1505 had a Geforce Go 7400 for the best video card, whereas the G1p had a 7700go. The difference's fairly evident. As well, it's the first time the Dell Inspiron actually looked decent. Still, I like my G1S (so biased ) because after all, it's MINE, and, Asus is unique

 

I forgot to add: I didn't like and couldn't understand the reason for the flashing LED lights on the side of the G1S computer screen. The first thing I did was find out how to turn them off.

It's was great for keeping my wife up before I went to bed...


The other issue I had with the Asus was the $245 cost for upgrading from a 2.2 Ghz to a 2.4 GHz processor, whereas the Sager NP5790 was only $140 for the same upgrade (through Xotic PC). Ordering the G1S with XP instead of Vista is $164, whereas with the Sager NP 5790 it's $132.

 

I cancelled an Inspiron 1520 order because Dell told me that it wouldn't ship until about ... oh, today. I first ordered it on August 8.

By contrast, I ordered the G1S from NCIX on a Thursday and received it the following Monday, about a month ago.

So, there's one big advantage of the G1S over the 1520: it actually exists.

Having said that, your comments are pretty fair. I liked the G1S because it had the same or better specs than the 1520 I ordered for a slightly lower price (though without the Dell warranty options). But yeah, the speakers would be a big disappointment if I actually cared that much and didn't use headphones, and the USB port placement is just dumb. First thing I did was a clean install of Vista, so bloatware never bothered me, and I don't like McAfee or Norton anyway.

The G1S is a little flashy looking (no pun intended) for my taste, what with the green accents and the glowing eye, but it works really well, and is an excellent desktop-replacement notebook. I'm sure the Dell is a very nice notebook, but I have no regrets.

 

I just ran a 3DMark06 on the Asus G1S and came up with a score of 3804 3DMarks. The G1S has a Vista Gaming graphics score of 5.5.

I previously ran 3DMark06 on the 1520 and came up with a score of 2687 3D Marks. The 1520 had a Vista Gaming graphics score of 4.6.

So it looks like the G1S will give you the most graphics horsepower in a 15.4" laptop. The only other competition is a Macbook, as I believe it the only other laptop that uses the DDR3 8600M GT.

Real-world I haven't noticed much of a difference playing games on the G1S...

The only weird thing is how the 1520 recognized 3.5 GB RAM whereas the G1S will only recognize 3 GB. The 1520 had 5+ for the Vista Memory score, whereas the G1S only has a 4.8.

 

If the RAM bothers you so much, then you need to get a 64bit OS. The difference between 2 and 3gb is not going to be noticed by 90% of people, and the difference from 3 to 3.5 is even less.

Just about everyone on these forums have been comparing the DDR2 and DDR3 versions of the 8600m GT for quite awhile now and it is unanimous that the DDR3 version is superior in terms of benchmarks as well as in-game performance and overclocking ability for those who care.

I have heard of the "minor light leakage" problem with the G1S but I haven't noticed it, and the 1680x1050 stock resolution is definitely nicer than the stock 1280x800 in the 1520. I have also read about many, many people complaining about the quality of their 1520 screen since they are made by 3 different companies and it seems that the only people not complaining of graininess are the ones with the LG screen (I think).

Bloatware is easily taken care of, I recommend a fresh install of the OS once you receive your notebook.

As someone else already said, the AV pre-packaged with either system is easily replaced by a free program.

I have no problems with the touchpad or its buttons, my left-click button is easy to press down.

Yes, I recommend the G1S if only because of the DDR3 version of the 8600. Also, price shouldn't be a concern as a 1520 configured with a 160gb hard drive, 2gb RAM, 2.2ghz C2D, lightscribe dvdr/rw, 8600m GT, 1680x1050 screen, wireless N + bluetooth, etc. will be in the same price range of the G1S.

I do have to agree that the G1S speakers are laughable though.

 

G1S is better all the way. The only downfall is the look, really.

The reason why changing cpu/OS costs more is because, The G1S, unlike the Sager, isn't a barebone. So you actually have to the old cpu/os too...

Wih Dell you don't have, but they already charge 3x the real price so... ($750 for 2GB->4GB RAM?)

 

The RAM is not bothering me so much that I need a 64-bit OS that won't work with all my programs/hardware.

Accordinng to MS, a 32-bit OS is supposed to support up to 4 GB RAM, and a 64-bit is supposed to support 16 terabytes.

I just thought it was odd that with two similarly configured systems, one would display 3 GB and the other 3.5 GB. I'm not sure why the G1S would display less.

 

I really like having an HDMI port and an e-SATA port on the G1s. I don't believe the Dell has either. Of course others may not value these at all. For me, the extra sharp display on an external monitor using the HDMI port is an important feature for when I use my G1s at work.

Ira

 

I think it just has to do something with the system's BIOs'... I think it just depends on each individual laptop.... And from what I know 32 bit can only support 3 gigs!