I've been wanting a new laptop for awhile. I got my Dell Inspiron E1505 almost 4 years ago. I'm outgrowing the hard drive and my games (Sims 3, etc) don't run as well as I wished they did. I've been looking at Dell's laptops lately and whenever I customize a laptop with the specs I want it's been coming out to $1,500 at least. So I've been waiting for a good sale before I got one, because I only wanted to pay between $500-800. When I got my E1505 4 years ago I paid, $1,200 and I really didn't want to pay that much again.

Friday I had an email from Dell. They were having a sale just for the Dell credit account holders. So I went to see what they had. I customized a laptop and even upgraded a few of the specs and the total still only came out to $789! Wow! When I purchased it, I even got free shipping. Also if you pay for your purchase within 6 months you won't have to pay interest on it.

I got a Dell Inspiron 1545

With:

-Intel Core 2 Duo 2.20 GHz Processor
-4GB RAM
-256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 video card
-500GB Hard Drive
-15.6 inch wide screen display
-Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
-8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
-Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
-9-cell Primary Battery

I customized it online and upgraded some of the features. I was really wanting a 512MB video card, but all they were offering was the 256MB which isn't bad, that's what I have in my current laptop and with the faster processor speed and extra RAM my games and photo programs should run smoothly. I really like the Intel Core Duo processors. I also have that in this laptop right now. It's a high end processor and runs smoothly and lets you operate multiple programs without slowing down your machine. Dell has a comparison chart online for it's processors and I thought it was funny Core Duo 2 is rated: Genius. Haha!

F & I were talking about laptops when I was in the Philippines. I said he could have my old one if I got a new one. He calls my current laptop a powerhouse, lol. He likes a lot of old games, so he said he would like having my older laptop. So it will become his when he comes to the USA. I'm excited to get the new one, though right now it says the estimated ship date is March 29th! So long to wait! The only thing I won't like is transferring all my photos, music, etc to the new laptop when it arrives!

I got my Dell E1505 laptop about 2 years ago and after awhile the plastic started to separate on right side where the screen opens, leaving a huge crack. Then last weekend, I was on the sofa downstairs on the laptop and Cinnamon started fighting with Spice so I went to reach for her to separate them and.... my laptop fell on the floor. Bad ratties! Ever since then the problem has been getting and now it's getting difficult to open & close the laptop. It's starting to press on the LCD screen when I close the lid sometimes- which is not good at all... if I damage that- I might as well buy a new one!

So I had to order a new front & back casing from: http://www.parts-people.com/

Then I did some research online and found out it's a flaw with model E1505- look at all these people with the same issue: (I posted too.) The picture someone posted is exactly the issue I have, though it's looking even worse now.

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_general&thread.id=272885

It's the hinge. And I when I opened it up the other night both hinges were not aligning properly which is causing the plastic casing to separate and crack. My laptop isn't under warranty anymore so I have install the parts myself.... so I get to dissect my laptop this weekend...

This looks super fun: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/sm/display.htm#wp1022272

It just makes no sense for me to buy a a new laptop that will cost several hundred dollars, when I can repair this one for about $50. It's only 2 years old. Plus it's just a nice laptop with a 2.00GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 256MB ATI Radeon video card & 2GB RAM! hehe. I love that Dell's systems are really nice and run well. The only thing is, they make the casing and plastic pretty junky, so things like this happen. I guess that's why they are more affordable than other PC's with the same specs.

I did have to replace my keyboard a year ago because the M button stopped working so I have been inside my laptop before. And I just ordered the 2GB of RAM. It arrived today so I installed that! Yay! Just a little nervous about taking the LCD screen out and disconnecting the wires- so I hope it goes well this weekend! My parts are supposed to arrive Saturday according to the Fed Ex Tracking. Wish me luck!

EDIT 6-7-08: ALL DONE! It only took about an hour! My brother helped me with it. It was actually really simple to take off the old parts & replace with the new parts. And The LCD screen came out easy and went back in very easy. So now my laptop looks brand new again with the new lid on it and the hinges are so smooth when I open & close it. Yay! I'm happy! The laptop turned on just fine. No screen issues!

When I was in the Philippines the left button of my touch pad on my laptop died, so I ordered the part online. I've been putting off dissecting my laptop for more than a month now and it's a 3 day weekend so it was time... I was getting tired of using a mouse.

I love my Dell Inspiron E1505... but I've had issues with it. The M button went on my keyboard last year, so had to replace the keyboard. The hinges on the laptop lid went and needed to be replaced and now the touch pad needed to be replaced. I get my Dell parts from Parts-People.com

In order to replace the touch pad the entire front cover palm rest had to be removed. Which meant I had to take out my cd/dvd drive, remove my keyboard and take off the LCD Display... fun.... I just love dissecting my laptop, lol. I'm always so grateful Dell has the service manual published online.

It took about 40 minutes to remove and replace everything. And there was 3 years of dust, dirt and grime once the palm rest was removed... wow... yuck! I cleaned that out before replacing everything. So now I have my touch pad back. My co-worker joked with me and said if I keep replacing parts I'm just going to have a whole new laptop eventually, haha!

My laptop is nearly 3 years old now.... I bought it back in May of 2006. I love it, because I got to customize it online when I purchased it. I like alot of simulation type games, mainly the The Sims 2, The Sims, Sim City 4, Roller Coaster Tycoon Series, etc. I also create alot of web graphics with Macromedia Fireworks. So I really wanted a system that could handle those types of programs.

My laptop has a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo Processor, 2GB of RAM, 100GB hard drive, 256MB ATI Radeon video card. Plus it has a really nice 15.4 wide screen display. I paid the extra money for the 2.0GHz processor because that's the most important part of a computer. I wanted a laptop that could perform like a desktop.

My #1 rule for buying a computer is to make sure you have at least a 2.0GHz processor or better, #2 would be your RAM (at least 1GB or more.), #3 video card (at least 256MB or more.), #4 hard drive size, etc. It really depends on what you want to use your system for. If you want your computer to run fast & smooth, the processor speed is what you should look for first in a system.

My only issue with Dell, is the casing for their laptops... very cheap plastic. The computer system itself though, runs great... so I don't mind that I've had to make some repairs to my laptop over the past few years. As long as your LCD screen or motherboard isn't damaged it's definitely cheaper to do the repairs yourself. (Which... if those go... you're better off just buying a whole new computer anyway!)