Is this a good pc to buy?

[#1]

you did that edit while I was looking for the "Smilie"

[#2]

[#3]

Hello peoples,
Thanks for your advice...I took it and plumped for a dell inspiron 1525 .....however, it gets really hot! They've put the HD, I believe, in the area where you rest your hands to type and by the mouse pad and the plastic they've used is not particularly good and so you can really feel the heat while you're typing.
Have any dell users come across this and if so have you considered returning it?
p.s. the picture quality is just utter pants, i had a donkeys years old sony and the picture quality on that was far better than this new one...

[#4]

Have you got the "soft to touch" screen on your Dell?  or is it a glass screen?  I have a Dell inspiron 2200, and it has a "soft" screen, and unless you get "full square on" to view it, the colours look as though through a misted window. If you tilt the screen further back, away from you, so that you are looking it "square on" then you might find the colours better.
See my post about "laptop lifter"  in this section of the forum..... it may help keep you cool !

[#5]

Hey Shutter,
Thanks...I don't now what you mean by soft but yeah tilting it forward so that it's square on helps eliminate the myriad reflections- the screen is so shiny. However, the actual sharpness of the picture is very poor considering it's worse than a 7yearold Sony vaio.
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[#6]

The only way I can describe it.... when you put your finger on the screen, it "dents" slightly, whereas a glass screen will only show the greasy finger mark!..... the actual surface of my screen is pliable, as if covered with "clingfilm" and the plasma underneath it distorts under light pressure, and returns to normal immediately pressure is released. 

[#7]

yep, mine's the same...

[#8]

O.K. then..... I have just had a trial, and I find that with the laptop on a level surface (table top) if you have the screen tipped back to 60 degrees from the horizontal, then the colours look good.  If it is tipped further away, the colours are less sharp  and likewise if you tip it more to the vertical, they are less sharp. (obviously, if you go for my "laptop lifter", then you will have to tip it back further, but it is trial and error, and you will find  your own "best viewpoint". because I use a mouse, I tend to sit well back, which "lowers" the "eye-level" and improves the viewing angle to the screen.

[#9]

I have 3 laptops (Dell) with similar 'soft' screens as described above.  The good point is there is little glare. I also have a Packard Bell system, with a very shiny screen, that has a brighter, clearer picture, but reflects a lot of glare.
Also, are you using the system on battery power, or plugged in to the mains? By default, my Dells are set up to reduce image brightness by 50% when on battery power, as an energy saving measure.  Plug in the mains adapter and the difference can be dazzling. See the power options menu to change settings.

[#10]

Yes, I agree..... I use mine on mains most of the time, so when it goes on battery, there is a marked reduction in brightness of the screen.
My wife has an Evesham laptop with a "hard glass" screen and pics seem to be sharper on her screen, however, I am used to this one, so don`t worry about it..... just make sure the screen is tilted back far enough !

[#11]

Quote from: evie

Thanks for your advice...I took it and plumped for a dell inspiron 1525 .....however, it gets really hot! They've put the HD, I believe, in the area where you rest your hands to type and by the mouse pad and the plastic they've used is not particularly good and so you can really feel the heat while you're typing. ... p.s. the picture quality is just utter pants, i had a donkeys years old sony and the picture quality on that was far better than this new one...

Hard Drives shouldn't get hot!
Have you tried an external monitor - or don't they allow those any more?

[#12]

@evie
I've just been having a long soak in the bath and something has occurred to me (!) In my experience, Dell screens aren't usually shiny; they are matt. This may have changed. At the risk of sounding terribly patronising, is there a protective, removable, plastic film stuck on your screen? 

[#13]

@ johpal
My screen is "sort of matt"  finish, and there was never a protective film when it arrived, so I expect evie`s is the same....

[#14]

i got laptop coolers to sit underneath my laptops.  on ebay they run at about £7.  i always get the three-fan versions as the two-fan versions are not as efficient.  they plug into a spare usb socket.  temperature reduction of up to 10C has been known.
if that laptop is getting too warm, return it while it is still under warranty.
see if you can find some free system monitoring apps which will tell you the temperature of the cpu and hard drives.  ensure that the fan is spinning.

[#15]

Speedfan will do what you want and it allows you to graph the temperatures http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php