Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Slim cabinet, nothing else.

Thumbs Down:

Just a VGA port for video, other options available at this price range which give better performance.

Inside the Trunk:

Cabinet, Mouse and Keyboard.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The processor of the computer is Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 / 2.93 GHz, the L2 cache is 3 MB in size, Chipset used is Intel G33 Express which has data bus speed of 1066 MHz, installed RAM is 6 GB and maximum you can install is 8 GB. RAM is DDR2 SD which has a frequency of 667 MHz. Hard disk is 750 GB SATA interface and has 5400 RPM. The computer has a DVD burner. Graphics are Intel GMA 3100 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0 of 256 MB.

There is a 7.1 channel high definition audio sound card on the mother board, Expansion Slots Total (Free) are 4 Memory – DIMM 240-pin, 1 (1) x PCI Express x16, 1 (0) x Processor – LGA775 Socket, 2 (2) x PCI, 1 (1) x PCI Express x1. The computer comes bundled with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition and Microsoft Works

The interfaces on the computer are – 6 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A (2 in front), 1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX – RJ-45, 1 x Audio – Line-out – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Headphones – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ), 1 x Audio – Line-out (rear) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 1 x Audio – Line-in – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 2 x Microphone – Input – Mini-phone 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ), 1 x Audio – Line-out (side surround) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-out (center/subwoofer) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm

The 19 in 1 card reader supports the following cards – RS-MMC, microSD, microSDHC, MultiMediaCard, SmartMedia Card, Memory Stick Duo, MultiMediaCardplus, Memory Stick PRO Duo, CompactFlash Card type I & II, miniSD, miniSDHC, Microdrive, MultiMediaCard, SmartMedia Card, Memory Stick Duo, MultiMediaCardplus, MultiMediaCardmobile.

Razzle Dazzle:

Dell Inspiron i545s-3055NBK is ultra slim which makes it very attractive. Other than that there is nothing in the looks department of this computer worth talking about.

Inside Dope:

The Dell Inspiron i545s-3055NBK is slim but it comes at the cost of performance. This budget desktop is not for your advanced user or high end gamers.

The computer is powered by 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 which is pretty fast but not on par with other fast systems that are available on the market. The RAM in the computer is 6 GB DDR2 RAM of 800 MHz, we would have liked a DDR3 rated RAM. A better quality RAM would have given better performance.

There is no discrete graphic card in the computer and all you get is 256MB (shared) Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics chip. Any high end game or graphic demanding application will bring this system to its heels. This computer was made with the budget user in mind who needs a computer only for basic purposes and not for gaming or any high end applications. An absence of a discreet card also means you cannot watch movies in all their glory.

But there is plenty of memory space for you store all your files with the 750 GB, 7200 RPM disk. We don’t know if you really need such a big space or not because there is no Blu-Ray drive on the computer and dual-layer DVD burner is all you get.

The system comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit preinstalled.

We will compare this system with Gateway SX2800-01 which is a bit cheap than this computer, Gateway product is priced at $514.99 and this machine will set you back by $579.99. This machine is a bit costly but the trade off is that you get a slightly better hard ware inside.  Gateway SX2800-01 has a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 where as Dell has 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E7500. There is a slight difference in the speed and it will show during the performances. Dell has 6 GB DDR2 RAM and Gateway has 4 GB. The big difference has to be in the graphics card department, both have built in graphics but Dell has 256MB (shared) Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics chip and Gateway has 32MB Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics chip. The video quality on Gateway’s computer will be really aw full with such low memory. This Dell’s computer costs $70 more but gives better performance too.

When it comes to expansion cards, you can put a graphic card in the 16x PCI Express card slot and we think that if you are getting this computer, you should really do it for better game and video experience. Other than this there is no free 1x PCI Express slot. The motherboard only has a single slot and it is occupied by the wireless networking card. There is no room for additional RAM as well; you will have to remove the chips to put in more, because all the four slots for memory are occupied.

There is no HDMI port on the back of the computer which means that this computer cannot be recommended for home theatre either. Other ports on the back of the computer include VGA port for connecting your monitors, 7 channel audio port, four USB ports and Ethernet jack.

Nitty Gritty:

This computer is only meant for your basic user and nothing else. You cannot run resource demanding applications on the computer. Buy it only if you need a PC for low-end applications.

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