• Dell Inspiron 1525 Blossom Pattern
• Intel® Pentium® Dual Core T2390 (1.87GHz/533Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
• Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Premium Edition (32bit OS)
• Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280×800)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
• 1.5GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
• 150GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
• CD/DVD writer (DVD+/-RW) + Roxio Creator 10 Premier
• Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
• 6 cell battery
• High Definition Audio 2.0
• Integrated 10/100 Network Card
• Integrated Modem
• Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1

One of the things that drew me to the 1525 is the design. Back then only HP and Dell had the graphic lids but Dell was the only one that carried a lappy in purple. The Inspiron became available in PI on August and I got mine on August 6 (just a few days after they hit the shelves). The specs are pretty basic as Dell does not customize orders here, we’d have to settle with what make have been imported (though the RAM can be upgraded easily).

Plus:

• Boots pretty fast.
• I loooove Dell Media Direct! Open a media player without booting up the laptop.
• The laptop has a remote that works with Media Direct. Afraid of losing the remote? Don’t fret as the designers have thought of this, there’s a slot where you can lock the remote so that it becomes a part of the lappy.
• Media Player (touch) function buttons.
• Built in memory card reader.
• 2 headphone jacks! (2 people can listen at the same time and not have to use one bud per person)
• Display is definitely bigger than other laptops within the same price range.
• The keyboard is elegantly designed and works perfectly with the silver interior. Does not look plastic at all unlike the other laptops who have a toy look to it.
• 2 hours battery life at balanced plan (max brightness on battery and while plugged).
• The indicator lights are blue!!!!
• Since Dell does not customize here, I have one of the rare 1525 covers (if the sales person was not simply using a sales pitch, each store only had one unit with a graphic cover).
• Purple and Flowers!!! What can be girlier than that?

Deltas:

• No lock on the cover. This part of the design is one major flaw. I was (and still am) very worried about the hinge becoming loose but so far, it’s still the same as it was 7 months ago.
• The DVD drive (sometimes though not often enough for it to be annoying) opens randomly.
• Poor webcam resolution
• Built-in speaker is very basic. You definitely need to use an external speaker to enhance it.
• Fan does get a bit too loud when under load.
• Laptop heats up considerably faster now (so the loud fan turns on more too)…
• But… the most disappointing thing for me is the AC adapter problem (a known issue for Dell laptops). My lappy is just 7 months old but it does not charge properly unless move/push/re-plug ac adapter several times. Quite irritating!!! (… and we know that when the adapter or battery starts acting up, it’s not going to be long before they totally go kaput…)

Due to the new work I signed up for and the other freelance stuff I still am currently doing, I’ve sadly neglected the wonderful world of updating my non-existent readers about what’s been happening in my life.

So let’s talk updates… Monday was a great day for me because I got myself a new toy. Actually, my mom got me a new toy. Check out the picture below:

• Dell Inspiron 1525 Blossom Pattern
• Intel® Pentium® Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz/533Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
• Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Premium Edition
• Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280×800)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
• 1.5GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
• 150GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
• CD/DVD writer (DVD+/-RW) +Roxio Creator 10 Premier-Ultimate Burn/Authoring
• Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
• 6 cell battery
• High Definition Audio 2.0
• Integrated 10/100 Network Card
• Integrated Modem
• Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1

Just sharing the picture now. Stories are for later.

Back to work for me until 6ish.

It’s finally the weekend and I have a little bit of time to burn. Yey! Since I promised stories, I have stories. Mom’s retiring this year and she’s trying to see what her options are. I told her about working from home. The only glitch that existed was she barely knew how to run a PC. Being the boss for more than 30 years, she checked her email by asking someone to print them them.

But the amazing thing about my mom is that she’s determined to learn new things and now that she has a lot of time, her age and total lack of know how cannot possibly stop her for long. Unfortunately, my brother is one of those kids who badly need MMORPG rehabilitation. She asked me to buy her a laptop. She needed something very basic. So I went to the mall and we were down to buying either a Toshiba or a Compaq, both were black and one had a really yucky keyboard.

While window shopping, Miks said that the purple laptop will look amazing with my purple phone. I asked Nice to ask how much the Dell laptop was thinking it will be way over our budget. Surprise! Surprise! It was right within the same price of the Compaq that we were buying. Dad then informed me that Mom wants me to keep the new laptop and she can use my old laptop. I didn’t argue and simply offered to pay part of the cost of the new upgrade.

i am a lot of times just too lucky…