Dell Inspiron e1505 with Core 2 Duo Review (pics, specs)

by Andrew Baxter

The Dell Inspiron e1505 is a 15.4" widescreen notebook now available with the impressive Intel Core 2 Duo processor. The Inspiron 6400 is available through the Dell Business siteand is the same as the e1505.The e1505is awell rounded mainstream notebook, highlycustomizable and available at a competitive price. Now that it comes with the Core 2 Duo at similar prices to the original Core Duo you'll be getting even more value for your dollar.

Dell Inspiron e1505 (viewlarge image)

The e1505 reviewed hereis configured as follows:

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 at 2.0 GHz per core.
• 15.4" Ultrasharp WSXGA+ display with TrueLife
• 1GBDDR2 667MHz RAM in dual channel mode
• ATI X1400 256MB graphics card
• 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 8X DVD +/- dual layer recorder
• 9-cell lithium-ion battery
• Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
• Dell Wireless 1500 (802.11n)

Build and Design

The Inspiron e1505matches much of the Dell lineup clad in painted silver with white trim on top and a black underside.The color scheme is simple and there's nothing to rave or rant about honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the white trim "bumpers" though.

The notebook is sturdy enough to feel comfortable lifting it by one corner. It's not rugged or as well built as many business laptops, such as a ThinkPad or Dell's own Latitude line -- the screen latch is plastic as opposed to metal on a Latitude for instance. But the e1505 is not flimsy by any means, the only real flex I could find on the casing was at the top just above the keyboard.

Left side view of e1505 open (view large image)

The back of the screen is plastic, but very sturdy and a hard push won't make ripples appear. The hinges seem sturdy and well damped. As mentioned before, the screen latch is plastic, but I'd rather have a plastic latch than the magnetic opening mechanism that some manufacturers are using -- they're so invariably hard to open.

Screen

The screenon this e1505 is theWSXGA+ (1680x1050) Ultrasharp with TrueLife (glossy). The Ultrasharp screen is listed at having significantly higher viewing angle, higher resolution, and slightly higher brightness. Overall the screen is very sharp with nice saturated colors and high contrast. Brightness is excellent, next to my everyday ThinkPad T43 it certainly stands out as being much better. There is some light leakage near the bottom of the screen, but nothing major. The backlight in use must be quite strong because I can actually feel quite a bit of heat coming from the bottom of the screen. You could bump the brightness down (using Fn + Arrow Down) to level four ofseven and still have very comfortable viewing.

Speakers

The speaker performance of the e1505 is fine. In the world of notebooks, they are quite good even. Of course there is no bass but they seem to play low enough to make voices sound natural. They also play loud, for a notebook, without distortion. They point forward, and project the sound into a room so several people could easily watch a movie.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and Performance / Benchmarks

The Core 2 Duo is fast, no doubt about it. It appears to beabout 10% faster than the proceeding Core Duo. That's probably not enough benefit to rush out and get a new processor if you already have Core Duo, but if you're using a Pentium M machine the extra performance and 64-bit capabilitiesof the Core 2 Duo might tempt you to upgrade sooner or later.

The Core 2 Duo processor in the e1505 is the T7200 that runs at 2.00GHz. For the sake of comparison I'll use a ThinkPad T43 using a Pentium M 760 that also runs at 2.00GHz. Below are the laptops relevant stats that arebeing compared:

Dell Inspiron e1505 relevant stats

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7200
• 2.0GHz
• Dual Core
• 32-bit or 64-bit support
• Front Side Bus: 667 MHz
• L2 Cache 4MB
• ATI X1400 256MB graphics card
• 120GB 5400 RPM HD

IBM ThinkPad T43 relevant stats

• Intel Pentium M 760
• 2.0GHz
• Single Core
• 32-bit support
• Front Side Bus: 533 MHz
• L2 Cache 2MB
• ATI X300 128MB graphics card
• 80GB 5400 RPM HD

PCMark05 CPU Test Suite Detailed Results

Test	Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz	ThinkPad T43 Pentium M 2.0GHz
File Compression	8.93 MB/s	8.47 MB/s
File Decompression	132.11 MB/s	111.28 MB/s
File Encryption	54.94 MB/s	48.43 MB/s
File Decryption	55.19 MB/s	48.12 MB/s
Image Decompression	28.31 MPixels/s	23.06 MPixels/s
Audio Compression	2,546.99 MPixels/s	2,034.17 KB/s
Multithreaded Test 1 / File Compression	8.9 MB/s	4.36 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 1 / File Encryption	53.71 MB/s	24.16 MB/s
Multithreaded Test2 / File Decompression	65.7 MB/s	28.67 MB/s
Multithreaded Test2 / File Decryption	27.29 MB/s	12.02 MB/s
Multithreaded Test2 / Audio Decompression	1023.78 KB/s	425.93 KB/s
Multithreaded Test2 / Image Decompression	14.16 MPixels/s	5.91 MPixels/s

Not surprisingly, notice that when we start dealing with Multithreaded benchmark tests (highlighted in aqua) the Core 2 Duo trounces the Pentium M. In the single core CPU testswe see about 10% performance boost from the Core 2 Duo. In Multithreaded tests it's a 100%+ performance increase in every case.

3DMark05 Overall CPU Results

Test	Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, ATI X1400 256MB	ThinkPad T43 Pentium M 2.0GHz, ATI X300 128MB
Return to Proxycon Graphic Test	9.2 frames per second	4.3 frames per second
Firefly Forest Graphic Test	6.3 frames per second	2.5frames per second
Canyon Flight Graphic Test	8.3 frames per second	4.4frames per second
CPU Test 1	3.1 frames per second	1.7 frames per second
CPU Test 2	4.8 frames per second	2.7 frames per second
3D Mark Score	1,958	907
CPU Score	5,753	3,155

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To factor out the fact the e1505 has a better graphics card, we should deemphasize the graphics tests and look more closely at the CPU related scores. In the CPU Test 1, CPU Test 2 and overall CPU Score we can see performance increase is about 75% in regards to the processor performance for 3DMark05.

Screenshot of final 3DMark Score for e1505 (view large image)

SiSoft Sandra 2007 CPU Results

SiSoftware Sandra is an information and diagnostic utility, and can be used to benchmark your PC. Weused two different benchmarks fromSandra 2007-- the Processor Arithmetic and Processor Multi-Media tests. Only parts of the benchmarks that were comparable and use SSE2 instructions were used(the Core 2 Duo cansupport SSE4 while the Pentium M does not).

Test	Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz	ThinkPad T43 Pentium M 2.0GHz
Processor Arithmetic Dhrystone ALU	18,150 MIPS	6,366 MIPS
Processor Multimedia Float x4 iSSE2	58,852 it/s	20,561it/s

The Core 2 Duo floating point operation dominance is quite clear in these numbers.

Screenshot of processor arithmetic resultsfor e1505 Core 2 Duo(view large image)

Cinebench CPU Results

Cinebench is a good rendering benchmark tool based on the powerful 3D software, CINEMA 4D. Its rendering tasks can stress up to sixteen multiprocessors on the same computer. It is a free benchmarking tool, and can be found here: http://www.cinebench.com. The basic CPU test provided the following results:

Test	Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz	ThinkPad T43 Pentium M 2.0GHz
Single Core renderingmode	325 CB-CPU points	222 CB-CPU points
Dual Core rendering mode	592 CB-CPU points	not available

In single core mode the Core 2 Duo wins quite handily, in dual core mode utilizing both processor cores to render an image, the Core 2 Duo almost twice laps the Pentium M.

Screenshot of Cinebench benchmark results for e1505 (view large image)

Super Pi Results

And we won't forget our perennial favorite benchmark, calculating Pi to a few million digits of accuracy. Our usual calculation to 2 million digits shows the Core 2 Duo to be 42 seconds faster in calculating Pi to 2 million digits of accuracy than the competing Pentium M 2.0 GHz processor.

PiCalculation Test	Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz	ThinkPad T43 Pentium M 2.0GHz
32K digits	0s	0s
64K digits	1s	1s
256K digits	05s	08s
512K digits	11s	18s
1M digits	25s	45s
2M digits	1m 02s	1m 44s
4M digits	2m 23s	3m 55s

Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo Super Pi Results

ThinkPad T43 Pentium M Super Pi Results

Noise:

The Dell e1505 is commendably quiet -- most of the time. Even while watching a DVD, the fan remained off.The hard drive makes a subdued, but noticeable hum.

Only under heavier tasks does the fan come on. It has three speeds. The lowest is very quiet, and more of a pleasing low pitched hum than an annoying whine.Running benchmarks (which can cause sustained full processor usage, something most programs rarely do) will often cause the fan to quickly bypass first and kick into second and then third gear. It seems that when the fan starts, the CPU continues to warm for a few moments while the cooling begins to take effect, triggering a higher fan speed that is not really necessary. After a while it will slow back down and stay there. If the fan is already running at a lower speed when the benchmark starts, it usually won't speed up. After 10 minutes of simultaneous 3DMark05 and Super Pi, the fan did go from the lowest to the middle speed.

Heat:

After about two hours of DVD watching, both sides of the palm rest became warm, but never gothot. The keyboard and area under the screen generated more heat. The underside of the notebook was also slightly warm at the front and warmer, but not hot at the rear. As with all notebooks, heat is more of an issue when used on an insulating/air-restricting lap. Overall the e1505 can be commended for keeping its cool.

In terms of processor heat, the Core 2 Duo actually stayed much cooler than the Pentium M in my T43. The e1505 T7200 processor idle temperature was about 35 C, after running Super Pi it went up to42 C, and the hottest I saw it get was 46 C (temperatures were taken using Notebook Hardware Control). The Pentium M in my T43 hit 56 C after running Super Pi to 2 million digits. Cooling and heat dissipation in the e1505 is easier since it's athicker notebook though, a lot of the heat buildup is as much a factor of the overall hardware design and cooling system as the processor itself. Thin and light laptops with a Core 2 Duo will obviously run warmer as they're notoriously harder to keep cool.

Battery:

With the9-cell battery and a powerful new processor the Dell e1505 lasted longer than expected. At maximum brightness, it played a DVD for3 hours and 12minutes. With normal light tasks such as wi-fi on and the screen dimmed to half, I was able to eek out just over 4 hours of battery life. The 9-cell is a greater capacity than the standard 6-cell, but this type of battery life ina 15.4" screen notebook is excellent, so I highly recommend the 9-cell if you can afford it. The 9-cell battery is flushed with the back of the notebook and does not stick out.

Keyboard and Touchpad:

Dell Inspiron keyboard and touchpad view (view large image)

The keyboard has good tactile feel and is firm -- there's no mushiness to it. The touch is light which allows for fast typing -- but contrarily provides easy chance to mistype if you're not accurate. There is almost no flex, except at the very rear where the whole notebook casing flexes in when pushed hard.

The touchpad is slightly recessed so it's hard to accidentally touch. There is a vertical and horizontal scroll area. The two mouse buttons respond well. I miss having a pointing stick like I do on a ThinkPad, but such an input device is the realm of business notebooks and not consumer.

Ports:

The E1505 contains the standard array of newer, non-legacy ports. The four USB 2.0 ports are split between the rear and right side of the notebook, which is much better than all in one place. There is no old parallel printer port or serial ports. Sadly, the e1505 lacks the DVI port of its big brother the e1705, although the external VGA connection is capable of driving a big 24" LCD with 1920x1200 resolution.

Dell Inspiron e1505 left side viewwith optical drive(view large image)

Right side view of e1505: ExpressCard slot, SD card reader, microphone jack, headphone jack, 2 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire port (view large image)

Dell Inspiron e1505 back side view: Power jack, modem jack, ethernet jack, 2 USB 2.0 ports, S-Video port, VGAmonitor out(view large image)

Dell Inspiron e1505 front side view: Multimedia buttons, speakers(view large image)

Wireless:

The Dell wireless e1505 under review came with the new Dell 1500 802.11n card. 802.11n is a new wirelessrange that is an improvement on current 802.11 technologies (such as 802.11b and 802.11g). The faster speeds and increased range of 802.11n are enabled by a sophisticated antenna system that manages the transmission and receipt of multiple simultaneous data streams (Multi-Input, Multi-Output or MIMO).Dell is using the Broadcom Intensi-fi implementation of 802.11n as their guaranteed compliance implementation. Wireless routers, such as the Netgear WNR834B RangeMax routerthat Dell provided me with for testing, are already available that support the Intensi-Fi 802.11n implementation.

Netgear draft-802.11n wireless router with Intensi-fi compliance (view large image)

I don't have much use for exchanging files fast over a home network, I just don't transfer large files wirelessly between PCs or other devicesthat often. For those that work with multiple computers networked wirelessly, 802.11n is the way to go for improving throughput and sharing files though.

What I do have use for is the longer range offering of 802.11n! I just so happen to live on the top floor of an apartment building and have access to the roof on which I'll sometimes sit and lounge to watch the world go by. With my 802.11g router I'm not able to detect my wireless from the part of the roof I'll siton. With the 802.11n I can -- whata treat to surf outside on Wi-Fi! Well, if the sun isn't too direct and brightthus washing out the screen that is. I'destimate I can get good rangeand download speeds on the 802.11nup to about 150 feet away, while on the 802.11gI'm limited to about 100 feet. This will make a big difference for those in a house that really want strong Wi-Ficoverage throughout. 802.11n is definitely the way to go to make sure all the kids can get a wireless signal in their bedroom. Make sure you get the right 802.11n router to work with your 802.11n card though.

If you opt for an 802.11n Dell 1500 card it will still work with 802.11 a/b/g wireless routers as well so your flexibility and future proofing is maximized.

Operating System and Software:

Dell includes "Media Direct" software that can be accessed without booting into Windows. Media Direct allows you to play DVDs, access and play music files from the disk or simply to view images on your hard drive. The advantage is very fast startup time if you don't need full-fledged Windows. This is a nice to have.

On the desktop and system tray there is a fair amount ofbloatware -- junk that many people won't use. Dell did install Google Desktop, whichcan beuseful. It finds files on your computer far faster than a Windows search does, and includes other useful features. One day, Google will rule the world. Overall though, I'd prefer to do without 90% of the preinstalled stuff. Oh well,itindirectly keeps costs down for Dell to include this software so we can't have our cheap laptop and eat cake too I guess.

Conclusion:

The Dell Inspiron e1505 with Core 2 Duo and X1400 graphics card is agreat performer for the price. If you can utilizethis notebooksdual corecapabilities forapplications suchas Photoshopand otherrendering software,or if you do lots of multitaskng and gaming, then the Core 2 Duo offers a big advantage over the 2-generation old Pentium M. If your onlyconcern is how fast Internet Explorer opens when clicked, thenyou'll notice little if any performance advantage because the Pentium M could already do that just fine. At the end of the day, the greatest thing is that Dellisoffering the faster Core 2 Duo e1505but charging about thesame pricewe saw on yesterday's notebook configurations -- and who can argue with paying the same but getting more?

Pros:

• Top-Notch computing performance with the Core 2 Duo, great for multi-taskers
• Very respectable battery life
• Quiet under normal use
• Mostly cool running
• Good keyboard
• 802.11n wireless offering

Cons:

• Not much of a looker in terms of design
• No non-glossy option for high resolution or expanded viewing angle
• Some annoying pre-installed software (AOL, NetZero, MusicMatch etc.)
• No DVI port

Pricing and Availability:

The Dell Inspiron e1505 is available from Dell.com and price varies depending on configuration. You can also buy the Inspiron 6400 from the Dell business site which is virtually the same as the e1505.

 

Very nice, and especially on such short notice. Great to have another performance comparison - it's amazing to see what the Core 2 Duo can do.

 

Very nice review Abaxter, as always...

Don´t want to be a pain in the ass but ATi x1600??????? (check the 3d mark05 area lol)

But anyway, very nice machine, will recomend for my girlfriend to buy as sson as it is released.

 

Yep i was going to mention the same thing Iskander did, you listed the dell e1505 with a x1600 while the specs say it comes with and x1400, just saying [ ]

 

I'll never get away with a tech spec typo on this site, that's for sure

Thanks for catching that guys, it is of course the X1400 and not the X1600 inside of the e1505.

 

Excellent review!

 

any word on availability?

 

Great review!!!!

 

Logically, wouldn't it make more sense to compare the Core duo and the Core duo 2? The M is a few generations back now, so performance over it isn't that impressive.

 

I'll quote myself from another thread:

 

Might also note that the Core 2 Duo OVER twice laps the Pentium M in the Cinebench test, not almost. It's more than twice as gooder

Edit: Actually, never mind me. My brain ain't working yet this morning. Kept my original text so y'all know I'm just crazy.

 

I do agree with that, but I also think it would be benificial to see Core Duo benchmarks with it. A mix of three which caters to both the hardcore fast adopters and also the penium-m people who've been waiting would be good.

 

Maybe I missed something, when will this option become available and at what cost? It currently is not on Dell's website.

 

Go to Dell Business.

 

Possibly, but if you have a Core Duo then you purchased a notebook this year and you won't be buying Core 2 Duo. At least, I think it'd be a bit of a waste of money to upgrade because the performance advantage is there, but not very significant. I'll probably add in some Core Duo Super Pi times when I update this review though.

 

Well, the answer is it was supposed to be yesterday that Core 2 Duo showed up in the e1505. It's there for the e1405 now. It should be anytime for the e1505 starting at $849 for the 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo, it's there for the Inspiron 6400 now:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=i6400sd304&s=bsd

UPDATE: You can order the Core 2 Duo e1505 today by calling Dell at 1-800-388-8542 and it will show up on the website tomorrow morning (8/31) at 6:00 a.m. CST -- there was some type of snafu in getting the new configurations up on the site so they're a day behind there.

 

Hi all.

The caption above the Super Pi results for the IBM T43 puts:
"ThinkPad T43 Core 2 Duo Super Pi Results"
In the beginning of the review the specifications for the T43 say:
"Intel Pentium M 760"
I guess it's a typo, perhaps copy+paste, you know.

Thanks.

Houzy.

 

Yeah, I had to go to business and configure the Inspiron 6400. It does say that choosing the Core 2 Duo will delay shipping but does not give an estimated ship date.

 

Yes, another typo, but I fixed it now and thank you for reporting it!

 

The core 2 duo upgrade is another 100$!!! on the 6400.

 

Thank you for this review. The comparison between the Dell E1505 and the ThinkPad T43 is very interesting. It would be nice to see more reviews with a direct comparison of two systems. I would be particularly interested in a comparison of a Core Duo notebook and a Core 2 Duo notebook with otherwise similar specifications. Andrew pointed out that someone with a Core Duo notebook may not want to upgrade because (s)he just bought a new computer, but it would still be nice to know what could be gained with the latest processor.

 

Indeed, I think that is the comparison we're all looking for. It would be nice to see charts of Pentium-M, Core Duo and Core 2 Duo together, since you can currently buy any of the three CPUs.

 

Comparing Core Duo to Core 2 Duo would also help new buyers decide if Core 2 Duo is worth the slight price premium.

For most users, I don't think it will be. Core 2 Duo is not going to surf the web or send e-mail appreciably faster, but, it would still be nice to see the areas where Core 2 Duo provides an edge.

 

well just yesterday i bought a dell inspiron 6400 with all the same features as the one abaxter reviewed, except with Core Duo instead of the Core 2 Duo. So i ordered it yesterday and i find out that today they come out with the Core 2 Duo one, and when i customized it with all the same features, it turns its exactly the same price...

i cant go back and change things, and nor do i want to or am going to, but im just wondering...WAS I STUPID FOR BEING SO IMPATIENT??

 

If it's not shipped, call Dell and see if you can cancel if you re-order a new one? Talk to a person. Dell is feeling the heat lately, they might be more willing to work with you these days.

I know they let you return it within 30 days, but, I think they smack you with a restock fee.

 

Thanks abaxter for the review.

I am ready to purchase and went to Dell.com for the following configuration:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T7200 (4MB Cache/2.00GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
Hard Drive 80GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Wireless Networking Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Internal Wireless and Bluetooth
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support

TOTAL: $1,322.00

The price is good enough for me. However, the memory speed is only at 533MHz. I called Dell and a representative told me this is not a typo and they don't offer 667MHz for E1505. He suggest me go for XPS, which has a much higher price tag and doesn’t have a 15.4” option.

So I am holding up. Don’t know if I can indeed get one soon enough, and I really hate to wait.

What do you guys think?

 

i think that you can wait if u want, but that if u continue to wait, then there will always be something better tomorrow (that literally applies to me :/ ), next month, year, etc...so the choice is all yours.

i dont wanna do that cause since im 15, and my dad bought this for me for my birthday, he will say no and that i should learn a lesson from all this, which is not to be impatient and blah blah blah...
so i think i should be fine for at least 3 years, which is how long i want it to last, but thx anyways.

 

About 5 days ago I built a 6400 on Dell Canada's website:

T7400
2GB ram
80GB HD @7200 rpm
wsxga screen
x1400

Price- 1654 Canadian.

Today I priced the same computer, and since they dont have a free upgrade to 2GB ram anymore, it cost 1850+.

****!

 

and thats y i dont want to cancel my order and re-order a new one, cause it will be so much more expensive

 

I agree. But obviously Dell has the 667MHz version (they gave one to abaxter for review).
About this waiting game, I think that's why these review and tech sites are so important. If you keep track well enough, you will know what to expect in the near future, and then you just make the best choice you can.
I am making lots of noise to Dell reps. these days and hopefully they will list an option soon enough.

 

I'd be interested in the core duo vs core 2 comparison as well. Also, your input on the Dell audio functionality with and without the Creative software, and perhaps some external 5.1 surround sound decoding goodness. Thanks

 

From what I understand, there's very little performance difference between 667 and 533 when using core (2) duos. I ordered mine with 2 gigs, but most people really don't need that either unless you play memory intensive games like BF2 or do professional work on it. Also, I hear a lot of people just get the cheapest ram configuration and then upgrade it themselves. I don't think it voids your warranty, but I'm not sure.

Personally, given the option between $200 for a memory upgrade and $200 for the Go 7900 GS, I'd take the better video card. It'll offer a substantial performance boost (if you play any games).

 

So how much would it be to just upgrade from the DUO to the 2 DUO? Anyone got a guess? This is on an already built DUO system...

 

Why is it that laptops (inspiron 6400) have only one Firewire Port compared to 4 usb ports. Isn't Firewire port is twice fast as USB port.

 

Just ordered this laptop and you can get it with Core 2 Duo for less than $900 with 120 GB HD, 1GB Ram, DVD Burner, and Radeon x1300 128 if you use the following link which I found off of techbargins.com (it is a link from yesterday that came out cheaper than the links showing up today).

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?CS=19&kc=6V658&oc=DNPSED1