Dell Vostro 1510 build quality?

Waz

Waz

Waz

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Hi

Does anyone have any experience with the Vostro 1510 with regards it's build quality? Looking through reviews online, opinions seem to vary wildly about whether it's a solid bit of kit or not.

I understand it's a budget laptop and so don't expect it to be built like a tank, just after something relatively cheap that won't fall apart after a couple of weeks.
 
I've just got one yesterday and although I have not had the chance to have a proper play with it yet, my first impressions are that its pretty nice.

If I was being fussy, I would say the buttons below the touchpad feel a bit naff, they work fine they just feel cheap, a lot of travel on them.

The touchpad feels a little weird too, maybe just different to my old laptop.
Keyboard has a slightly cheap feel, too much give in it perhaps?

Battery life seems not bad, farted about for a couple of hours last night and there was still a fair bit of life left in it.

Lid has a high gloss sheen which gets fingerprints if you even look at it, nice looking though.

Mine is,

Intel® Core 2 Duo Processor 1.8 GHz
2048MB Ram
8400m graphics card
160GB SATA Hard Drive

A little over £300 delivered, I think its good value all things considered.

Hope this helps a little.
 
Thanks for the reply.

It sounds like it's good enough for what I want to use it for. I can put up with it feeling cheap since you seem to get a pretty decent spec for not a lot of money. I do wonder if some of the reviewers have expectations that are a bit too high when it comes to the cheaper end of the market.
 
Had mine a few weeks now - was one of the ones that shipped with the dodgy keyboard, so only been able to give it a good go recently.

Build quality's not too bad - the wierd thing about it is that it has no catch for the lid, so when it's closed, it's just the stiffness of the hinge that keeps it shut. Not a big problem but could cause issues later in life.

The keyboard's fine, not much travel as has been said, but typing's no problem. The touchpad keys are too clicky though. The casing itself is lovely, solid and not cheap feeling/looking at all - you'd think it was a much more expensive machine. The slot loader on the DVD is a nice touch as well.

For the price you pay for one of these, you get a lot of gear - unless you want a seriously powerful machine, these are fantastically specced at a very reasonable price.
 
I have just bought a 1510, and the build quality is pretty good on the whole, I would tend to agree with hyster that the keyboard is not the best quality, but it's not bad by any standard. All in all, they seem much sturdier than the 1500 series that they have replaced. I managed to get mine for £337 all in, I don't think you will find many better laptops for around that price.
 
So I guess the feeling is that they're good for the price, but don't expect much for the money you're paying.

Anyone had any problems with a Vostro yet? Broken keys, buttons cracks in the casing? Dead pixels?

I'm interested as I get a lot of people asking how good they are for the price ;)
 
Bought a 1700 recently , chuffed with mine , once i had reinstalled vista.
Feels kinda cheap , when compared to some of the other high spec jobbies about , but its solid as a rock so far ( touch wood )
No dead pixels and the 17" 1440x900 lcd looks great, quiet as can be , and even when under heavy load its still fairly quiet.
Plays games great with the 8600gt , i like the keyboard feels good to type and play on.
The onboard sound is fairly crap , sound quality is good but you have interference with it being intergrated on the mobo from the h/drive ( only hear it with head phones and low volumes )
But for the price they are a bargin in my opinion.
 
I ended up ordering one late Wednesday night, I'm glad I did as it would cost an extra £50 for the same spec now. Which is slightly odd as the current offers appear to be the same as when I ordered?
It has already shipped which surprised me as I was under the impression that Dell weren't always the quickest to deliver. So if all goes well I'll receive it Monday.
 
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