Dell Vostro 1540 Review

Post by Sharat | December 5, 2011 | Dell Computers, Dell News, Dell Reviews, Reviews | Comment

The budget laptop from Dell Australia, the Vostro 1540 is a good value laptop at just $699 – but is it a cheerful option? Whilst the current craze for tablets may be dominating much of the consumer technology business, if there is one segment that remains immune and is standing steadfast with their laptops it’s the business user, since there is no replacement for a full keyboard and a fully fledged operating system when you are trying to get some work done.

There is a lot to say for laptops in the budget range as well, since you may well end up paying much less than you would for a tablet made by one of the major companies. Budget laptops imply a more basic machine, but Dell has managed its fundamentals quite well.

The Vostro 1540 has a responsive and wide touchpad, and whilst the keyboard does suffer from a surface which a tad bit bouncy, it remains both comfortable and snappy, nor are there any layout problems.
The chassis is 3.3 cm thick
The laptop is relatively lightwith a 15 inch screen and weighs in at 2.4 kg, a little less than similar laptops made by rivals. However its design makes it feel rather hollow as opposed to strong, the rest for the wrist tends to compress with only the lightest of prods, coupled with its weak base and poor screen, results in the screen bending when the rear is squeezed.

Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of having to work under a harsh light overhead, will deeply appreciate the Vostro 1540’s anti-glare matte screen. The laptop is fairly aesthetically pleasing and is made from glossy black plastic, with a sliver of chrome effect border material, which lends the design some welcome sheen. The lid has horizontal raised lines that run parallel to one another and a textured feel.

The laptop has a selection of sockets and ports that are thoughtfully scattered around the side of the machine. There are a couple of USB2 ports located on the right hand side of the machine, whilst an SD/MMC/MS card reader is located on the front of the machine alongside another single USB 2 port and HDMI and VGA outputs. Sitting on the left hand edge of the machine are a couple of audio jacks and a Gigabit Ethernet input.

The laptop is powered by an Intel 2.4 GHz dual core Core i3-370M, and whilst that processor may not be either current or high end, it provides enough force to power through most office applications.

The laptop comes with a DVD writer that is 8x, and 8.2.11n single band Wi-Fi. The laptop has 320 GB of hard drive storage, but if you are someone who used accelerated GPU applications, you will not be satisfied by the Intel integrated graphics chip, which whilst being good for either Angry Birds or playback of HD, is not good for very much else.

Battery life is fairly average, at roughly 4 hours and 46 minutes, which is acceptable, but rival products tend to perform much better in this category, nor will you be able to go through a full day’s work without a socket.

There is no question that the Dell Vostro 1540 is at the lower end of their laptops. However if budget is your main criteria, then it is certainly perfectly usable, and worth taking a look at, so long as you make sure to purchase protective casing as well.