Dell Inspiron 1526

Anyone on this board own a Dell Inspiron 1526 laptop? I'm trying to decide what kind of laptop to buy to replace a 2 year old Inspiron 1300 that got damaged when I dropped it in January 2008. All I did with my 1300 was surf the web and send and receive email. That's about all I would do with a new laptop model. If there are any owners on this board who have an Inspiron 1526 are you experiencing problems with your computer's touchpad as well as erratic cursor movement? I have read many posts in a thread on the Dell Community Forum board by owners of Inspiron 1520's, 1525's and some Vostro 1500 models who are having those problems with those model laptops.

Dell offers 2 AMD processors for the Inspiron 1526, a Sempron processor is standard and for an extra $50.00 you can upgrade to an Athlon Dual Core. Which processor should I choose for my basic computing needs? Is the Athlon Sempron processor similar to the Celeron M? The minimum hard drive that you can choose on a 1526 is an 80GB which is twice the size of the hard drive in my 2 year old Inspiron 1300. The next hard drive upgrade from an 80GB HD is a 120GB. Would the 80GB HD be large enough for me or should I select the 120GB HD?

Final question, which Windows Vista OS should I choose? Windows Vista Home Basic comes standard on the Inspiron 1526 or for $30.00 more I can upgrade to Windows Vista Premium. Could I get by with Windows Vista Home Basic for my basic computing needs or should I choose Windows Vista Premium? One thing I have already decided on based upon information I have read online is I'll need at least 2GB of memory since the computer's OS is Vista because Vista is a "memory hog".

 

There's nobody on this board who has anything to say about Dell's Inspiron 1526 or can answer any of my questions? Did I post in the wrong forum? If I did somebody advise.

 

Why buy an AMD processor when you can get Intel? Intel's are known to run cooler than AMD's

 

The 1526 wasn't that big of a seller, so not many people here have it. I'm guessing the problems that people have with the 1525 probably wont be an issue with the 1526 because it's not going to have the same hardware inside.

If you're looking for a cheap no-thrills AMD based laptop - go for the Vostro 1000

 

I'm looking for a new laptop to replace my 2 year old Dell Inspiron 1300 which I dropped in January 2008 and broke the monitor. Dell said they would fix it for $368.00 USD plus my state's sales tax of 7%, the repair work would be warrantied for only 90 days, if the monitor went out on day 91, Dell said I'd have to send it back along with another $368.00 plus tax, I told them no.

My old Inspiron 1300 was ideal for me for web surfing and email had a Celeron M processor. The only reason the Inspiron 1526 caught my attention which is currently being sold through Dell's Small Business division was I could configure a 1526 for hundreds of dollars less than a 1525 having similar features.

The 1525 is sold by Dell through their Home Office unit. Another reason I have steered clear of the 1525 is because of all the negative posts I have read over on the Dell Community forums board by owners of brand new 1525's, all are having problems with the touchpads and experiencing erratic cursor movements on those new computers.

Dell seems to think the A.C. adapters shipped out with those computers were defective and have offered to replace them with another one, many who have requested new A.C. adapters from Dell and have received them, A.C. adapters having different model numbers are still complaining to Dell that their problems still exist so whatever's wrong with those touchpads and cursor movements could be caused by something else.

It doesn't have to be a new laptop with an AMD processor, it doesn't have to be another Dell. I'm open to recommendations on other brands I might consider. I have already read on another board to stay away from Compaq, HP, and Acer, poor build quality and terrible tech support.

 

I just thought that I would chime in here about the touchpad issues with the 1525. My parent's + aunts and uncles bought my cousin an Inspiron 1525 (he's autistic) and I set it up for him. I noticed the touchpad issues, and I uninstalled the Alps drivers, and installed Synaptics drivers from the Synaptics website. Worked fine with scrolling.

Greg

 

The synaptic driver will work on an alps touchpad? I'm going to have to try that on my 1420

 

Now, any options other than scrolling will not work. You can still adjust speed, but not sensitivity or anything like that.

It didn't work on my E6400 though.

Greg

 

well first with erratic touchpad movements. . .all laptops have that. umm mine is 160 gig HD. i personlayy like my 1526, the AMD does run hot but is also more efficent than the Intel i have noticed. i like the laptop and have had it for several months, it was not e big seller for one reason and one reason only, no stores put it on display. i bought mine from best buy that did not have it in display and they had 10 in stock!!!! i purchased mine because i needed a new laptop and also currently own a Compaq presario c306 and this is def way better, i hope i helped

 

if you are fine with 10.2 inch screen or less , netbooks would suite you perfectly and they are pretty cheap too ..

 

I just bought a Dell Inspirion 1526 for my son's b'day. He is a computer engineer and liked the specs of this machine after reading http://techreport.com/articles.x/9377/13 which found the AMD Turion 64 had an edge on the Pent M 760