Soldato
I'll be reinstalling Vista on mine when I get it, so thanks for this! Very helpful
Jon
Dell Vostro 1500
- Thread starter Ripper
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Jon
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Does this come as standard or do you have to add it. I really wanted one of these but i don't remember seeing one in the specs or options
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I've been reading on some other forums that the 1500 has a common problem where there is annoying hissing when listening through headphones, the Dell official forums seem to back this up - apparently it sounds like something isn't grounded properly. Have any of you guys noticed this? This would be a deal-smasher for me
Does this come as standard or do you have to add it. I really wanted one of these but i don't remember seeing one in the specs or options
Comes standard.
Hissing thing, not tried just headphones yet. Just speakers and headset, both work fine.
Been using headphones for CSS, don't notice any hissing
Caporegime
Did you go for a 32-bit or a 64-bit install of Vista? I'd like to go 64-bit because of the more secure kernel but was wondering if there were a lack of drivers.
Caporegime
How come none of you are getting any additional warranty (i.e. you are choosing the base 12 months)? Is it your intention to flog the laptop after 12 months? I would have thought warranties would be more important on laptops as they aren't particularly user serviceable.
Soldato
had an order for a 1700 very nice prices on these vostro's just got fed up with the lead time, was supposed to be delivered by the 24th, but on the 20th got put back to the 20th september 
ended up canning the order and getting an acer aspire 5920g locally.
Mate has the 1500, he's quite pleased with it, but there is deffo a grounding issue. If you put the headphones in when nothing is playing there is a hissing noise which is pretty loud.
He also claims it has the grainy screen but i cannot really see anything wrong with it.
Nice machine and build quality is pretty good.
ended up canning the order and getting an acer aspire 5920g locally.
Mate has the 1500, he's quite pleased with it, but there is deffo a grounding issue. If you put the headphones in when nothing is playing there is a hissing noise which is pretty loud.
He also claims it has the grainy screen but i cannot really see anything wrong with it.
Nice machine and build quality is pretty good.
Soldato
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You only get the 32-bit version as far as I'm aware. When I re-installed there was no option for a 64-bit installation.
Soldato
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I went for a 12 month on my previous Dell laptop and went for another 12 month again with this Vostro.
Mine will be living on a desk for 90% of the time anyway.
What you can do is call Dell towards the end of the 12 months and pay to extend the warranty. Works out cheaper than paying for it when you purchase the laptop apparently.
Caporegime
Oh, I see. You've stuck with the Vista Business that came with it and just reinstalled? I thought you were putting your own version of Ultimate on.
Ah, my tracking details are now visible. ETA is tomorrow (Tuesday). Last seen in Hinckley, wherever that is.
Ah, my tracking details are now visible. ETA is tomorrow (Tuesday). Last seen in Hinckley, wherever that is.
Last edited:
Soldato
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Right, my first major issue with this laptop.
If I set the screen brightness anything lower than max setting, a buzzing/high pitch whine can clearly be heard. Its damn annoying as I find it too bright on max setting. Have to put it around 2-3 notches below.
I'm going away tomorrow for 2 days but when I get back I'll have no option but to send it back for a replacement.
Gutted as the screen is perfect (no grainyness issues as reported by some people) and my headphone jack is fine. Got the laptop hooked up to my stereo amp, listening to MP3's all evening and zero problems.
If I set the screen brightness anything lower than max setting, a buzzing/high pitch whine can clearly be heard. Its damn annoying as I find it too bright on max setting. Have to put it around 2-3 notches below.
I'm going away tomorrow for 2 days but when I get back I'll have no option but to send it back for a replacement.
Gutted as the screen is perfect (no grainyness issues as reported by some people) and my headphone jack is fine. Got the laptop hooked up to my stereo amp, listening to MP3's all evening and zero problems.
Soldato
Can you not just adjust the gamma/brightness in the control panel to fix that GJS?
Soldato
GJS its a well know problem with the dells,
also along with the cpu noise through the headphone socket.
I get the noise on my acer, when watching a dvd on the tv and using the headphone socket into the tv, its quite bad.
Havent heard the screen whine though.
Some issues are due to the T7300 series cpus ie headphone noise. Which the dells are supposed to suffer quite bad.
Screen whine is dependant on what panel you get i believe. Check out the notebookreview forums. You will find a fair few people suffer from that as well
Is your screen grainy? thats one thing i was worried about and the lead times.
also along with the cpu noise through the headphone socket.
I get the noise on my acer, when watching a dvd on the tv and using the headphone socket into the tv, its quite bad.
Havent heard the screen whine though.
Some issues are due to the T7300 series cpus ie headphone noise. Which the dells are supposed to suffer quite bad.
Screen whine is dependant on what panel you get i believe. Check out the notebookreview forums. You will find a fair few people suffer from that as well
Is your screen grainy? thats one thing i was worried about and the lead times.
Soldato
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Might try that when I get back but the problem will still be there.
Soldato
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GJS its a well know problem with the dells,
also along with the cpu noise through the headphone socket.
I get the noise on my acer, when watching a dvd on the tv and using the headphone socket into the tv, its quite bad.
Havent heard the screen whine though.
Some issues are due to the T7300 series cpus ie headphone noise. Which the dells are supposed to suffer quite bad.
Screen whine is dependant on what panel you get i believe. Check out the notebookreview forums. You will find a fair few people suffer from that as well
Is your screen grainy? thats one thing i was worried about and the lead times.
The panel on my Vostro is from Philips and there is no graining at all. It's the AUO displays that seem to be having the problem.
Soldato
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Just tried that actually and it seems to work. Display is less brighter and no noise from the panel.
Only problem now is if I use the battery, the BIOS settings overide the Vista power modes and the screen brightness is automatically set to low with the buzzing still there.
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may i ask how noisy these are please
im after a high spec silentish lappy.
Do you think there would be somehow i could order one with dell with a more custom spec ?
i want a truebrite screen, the 1.8ghz c2d, 4gb of ram, but i dont need a geforce card, onboard will do, i have a rig for gaming, only use lappy for photoshop, dreamweaver, etc...
im after a high spec silentish lappy.
Do you think there would be somehow i could order one with dell with a more custom spec ?
i want a truebrite screen, the 1.8ghz c2d, 4gb of ram, but i dont need a geforce card, onboard will do, i have a rig for gaming, only use lappy for photoshop, dreamweaver, etc...
Maybe the Inspiron range is a better choice for you? You could spec that as high as you please, and I believe that whole range is blighted with Intel graphics.
Caporegime
How can you tell which mfr's panel you have got? Going to have a look at mine in a mo, it's at home waiting for me.