Dell Inspiron 545

by Joel Santo Domingo





PC Magazine - Usually electronics is the first department you see when you push your cart into a Costco store, and with good reason. Costco is a popular place to purchase TVs and computers (and watches and jewelry) while you're stocking up on life's essentials. Dell has a version of its Inspiron 545 (i545-USE004CS) ($899.99 list) bundled with a large 23-inch widescreen monitor, and it is worthy of your attention. It's powerful enough to be a primary PC in the house for everyone from the kids to the grandparents to use, and offers quad-core power and scads of memory for under a grand. All this earns it our Editors' Choice for a budget desktop.

Design
The Dell Inspiron 545 is a standard-looking, yet sleek mini tower, with the current Dell Inspiron design themes: my test unit one had a "Piano Black" finish on the front panel (you can get the system in seven other colors to match your décor if you order the system on Dell's Web site). Since it's a mini-tower, the Inspiron 545 can hold a powerful Intel Quad Core Q9400 processor and 8GB of memory. It also has room inside for future upgrades, including a PCIe x16 slot for a graphics card (more on that later). There's also a PCI card slot free and a PCIe x1 card slot for upgrades like a TV tuner or a Wi-Fi networking card. I'd rather see that Wi-Fi card bundled in instead of the included 56k modem, since I believe that broadband is a better connection to the Internet for today's consumers. The system comes with the usual DVD burner, and there's space for another optical drive.

Features
The system comes bundled with a Dell S2309 23-inch 16:9 widescreen monitor capable of 1,920 by 1,080 resolution. This means that any HD content you view will be at true 1080p resolution, from Web videos to Blu-ray movies. Plus, 23-inches is a good screen size, and you'll be able to appreciate the HD quality picture at normal desk viewing distances (2 to 9 feet away). Unfortunately the 545 I reviewed doesn't have a Blu-ray or HDTV tuner, though both can be added in later, via a third-party vendor (or as build-to-order upgrades if you order direct from Dell). The system's 300W power supply could easily support these HD-related upgrades. You could even install a moderately powerful graphics card later with HD capabilities (ATI's Radeon HD 3450 and 3650 are available as BTO upgrades if you get the system direct from Dell).

One of the big plusses of this system is that even tough it comes from a "big box" retailer like Costco, it hardly has any bloatware (you know, those programs that the PC makers put on your system, but you never asked for?) on it. Sure, there's a desktop shortcut to eBay, and the MacAfee Internet Security package only includes 30-days of updates (I'd rather see at least 12-15 months), but the rest of the system is bloatware-free. Dell even avoids the dreaded 60-day Microsoft Office trialware that seems to be on every new Windows Vista system out there. Dell includes a fully functional copy of Microsoft Works to handle your light office tasks. Dell's behavior is refreshing after reviewing systems from other manufacturers that are laden with bloatware. Bravo to Dell for steering clear of the status quo.

Thanks to the Costco connection, this version of the Dell Inspiron 545 has a 2-year warranty. Inspirons ordered direct from Dell come with a 1-year warranty standard (you can of course increase it to 3 years with an extended warranty for added cost). Dell administers the warranty, so you'll be calling Dell technical support if you have any technical troubles.
Dell Inspiron 545

Performance
As far as performance goes, let's put it this way: You won't need to buy a new system for a few years. The 545's Q9400 processor and 8GB of memory help it get best in class scores at our Windows Media Encoder (42 seconds) and PhotoShop CS4 (1:30) tests. This means that the 545 handle doing complex tasks like editing photos and transcoding video with ease. In comparison, dual core systems like the Apple iMac and Mac mini can take a minute or more at the WME test and an Atom powered system like the Polywell Poly ITX-9400B can take almost 5 minutes for the same test.

About the only area where the 545 is lacking is at our 3D games tests: It can't run them at all due to the system's Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics. That said, the system can handle less demanding 3D tasks fine, like Aero effects in Vista. There's a free PCIe x16 slot in case you want to drop in a more powerful 3D card to play games on.

Where the Dell Inspiron 545 excels is in bang for the buck: It leaves out the crapware that weighs systems down like the HP Pavilion p6127c-b and 6140f. It's faster than an Apple Mac mini and more expandable to boot. The Inspiron edges out the current Editors' Choice system in the value space, the Lenovo IdeaCentre K220 because it is faster and bundles a bright, HD-capable 23-inch monitor for a price only a couple of hundred dollars more than the K220. When you consider that such a monitor is over $250, you come out ahead with the Dell.