Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop Computer (Intel Celeron 440, 320GB HDD, 1GB RAM)
Manufacturer: Dell, Inc. Part number: DDCWDA1_4
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CNET Editor rating:
Not yet rated
- Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 6 reviews
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- Product brief
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Dell's first desktops to carry the Inspiron name look good, inside and out. With a huge range of available components and two equally attractive cases, mainstream consumers ought to be able to find a config that meets their budget, tastes, and computing needs.
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CNET editors' review
Reviewed by
Matthew Elliott
Review date: 06/26/07
Release date: 06/26/07
Dell has dropped its venerable Dimension desktop brand. Now, both its mainstream consumer desktops and laptops will carry the Inspiron name. Along with the name change, Dell's new Inspiron 530 and 530s PCs usher in Intel's latest G33 chipset (aka Bearlake), which features a speedy 1,333MHz frontside bus. The other two models in the lineup, the Inspiron 531 and 531s, feature AMD processors on Nvidia's MCP 61 chipset. The 530s and 531s units feature a slim chassis akin to the Dimension C521's. Each of the four models boasts a wide array of configuration options; prices start at a rock-bottom $349 and can quickly top $1,500 when you start adding upgrades. For complete details, read our full review of the Dell Inspiron 531, which won an Editors' Choice.
The big range in price is due in large part to the wide array of CPU options. The Intel-based models offer both low-end Celeron and dual-core Core 2 Duo processors, while the AMD-based models offer both low-end Sempron and dual-core Athlon 64 X2 processors. Memory ranges from 512MB to 4GB. All four major flavors of Vista are offered as well, and though you have to hunt around on Dell's site to find it, the Inspiron 530 is available with either Windows XP Home or Pro.
Both the midtower and the slim chassis offer two hard drive bays (which you can populate with two 500GB drives for a 1TB of storage) and the option for a PCI Express graphics card (the half-height variety for the 530s and 531s units). Also available in all models but particularly useful in the slim models, which are likely candidates to be shoehorned into home theater racks, is an optional 802.11b/g (but sadly, not 802.11n) Wi-Fi card, which will save you from having to run an Ethernet cable through your living room. Another living-room friendly technology, Bluetooth, is an option, and a Blu-ray drive is offered on a higher-end model. One note about the optical drive: the Intel G33 motherboard features only serial ATA connections, meaning you're out of luck if you want to add in an old parallel ATA optical drive you may have lying around.
Aesthetically, the new Inspiron line extends the silver-and-white color scheme that you can find on late-model Dimensions. The last generation of Dimensions were sleek-looking, but the area around the optical drives was black, which was in stark contrast to the rest of the case. Now, the Inspiron cases feature drive-bay covers, lending a more unified design to the PCs.
The Inspiron line carries Dell's standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty, but the company's DataSafe backup has moved online. Dell offers you 3GB of online storage and won't charge you for the first year.
(Originally posted on CNET Reviews)Product brief
Intro: The Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop Computer (Intel Celeron 440, 320GB HDD, 1GB RAM) is a Celeron-based, basic desktop PC.Compared to other basic PCs on the market, it is very inexpensive at around $350.This desktop comes with 1 GB RAM, and a 320GB hard disk.
Noteworthy Features: Also, this machine's Celeron based processor is burly enough to handle demanding applications, such as digital video.
Weaker Features: Shared video memory has a negative impact on system performance which should be fine for users with more modest graphics needs.Users with more demanding needs should look to a graphics solution that brings its own muscle.
Suitability: A basic PC, suited for basic computing tasks, such as word processing, e-mail, and web browsing.You could preserve embarassing home movie memories for future generations by saving them onto DVD with this computer's DVD burner.This computer also has a CD writer, allowing you to compile your own audio CDs or video CDs.
Value: Given its very inexpensive price, this PC has great features for the money.
Suggestions: (1) Check to make sure that an AGP or PCIe slot is available if you plan to upgrade to a stand-alone graphics card.(2) If you plan to be playing the latest 3-D games, you may want to invest in a more powerful video card from NVidia or ATI, which are popular with the gaming community (requires an open AGP or PCIe slot).
User reviews
- Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 6 reviews
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Always stick with Dell
by chugawoo on October 2, 2007
Pros: Super fast, quiet, sleek design, exandable
Cons: Vista, Wireless connections. Dell support 24/7
Summary: I just picked this up to replace my 7 yr old Dimension desktop. I was so resistent because I loved my dimenision, and had so much invested in it. Well, ...
Summary: I just picked this up to replace my 7 yr old Dimension desktop. I was so resistent because I loved my dimenision, and had so much invested in it. Well, an online special last week made my decision. I got a Pentium 2.33ghz, with 1333fsb. dual drives, a 128mb nvidia card, 8 USB 2.0, 13 in 1 media reader and 2 gb ram for about $700 total.Can't beat that. It is very quiet however, it does make a loud noise at startup for about 2 sec. Dell says its normal. Everything works super fast, I mean like lightning. Then again, I was working on a 7 yr old comp forever. I burned a DVD with the dual drives yesterday in about 4 min. WOW!! . Be advised I did not buy a monitor or printer beacuse mine are fairly new. So your config $$ will be higher if added. Vista is very nice to look at and it has a lot of tweaks that will eat up hours of fun. Nevertheless, you will find it a bit frustrrating at times while transitioning from XP. Dell's so called customer support is HORRIFIC. They waste the first 10-15 min with nonsense questions. They are very nice, but also very annoying. Moreover, they are not specialists, sorry Dell. My internal wireless card kept losing its connection while the other computers in my home worked just fine. It kept saying "identifiying public networK", and then only allowed for local connection after several min. It took 3 hrs with Dell on the phone and after giving them all my personal info except my first born, they said the wireless card drivers needed an update or something. So basically, you crappy overseas support team and bad drivers kick my rating from a 10 to 8. I still Love Dell computers, but I somehow feel that this one one last another 7yrs. And if I have to talk to their support team again, I might vomit.
P.S. I welocome any feedback on my wireless issues, as I am stilling having intermittent trouble with the wireless card connection.4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Two systems failed in less than a month. Never again.
by F4F16DRVR on January 4, 2008
Pros: None noted since the motherboards failed on both systems
Cons: Motherboards don't seem to be reliable.
Summary: The Inspiron 530 with the Intell E2140 chip failed twice in less than a month. The customer service is also questionable. I spent more than 2 hours on the phone ...
Summary: The Inspiron 530 with the Intell E2140 chip failed twice in less than a month. The customer service is also questionable. I spent more than 2 hours on the phone talking to the Dell Technicians who were convinced the initial problem was the key board even though the key board worked fine with another computer. After the calling back and reporting that the new keyboard they sent me didn't work with the first computer, they decided I could get a new system or a refurbished motherboard. Why would anyone opt for a refurbished product after paying for a new one less than days prior? Although I was required to pay for an in-home service technician, I had to replace the hard drive when I swapped the first computer out. Not hard to do and took less than 5 minutes, but it's the principle. Like the first system, the 2nd worked for about 2 days. When I called to report the failure, I was disconnected twice. At the end of 38 minutes of pure frustration, they agreed to give me a refund, only the purchase price won't be credited to my credit card until 30 after they receive the defective system. They also asked if I wanted to purchase another Dell...just doing their job, I guess. If you buy a Dell, don't throw away the packing materials. I chose to rate this product "abysmal" since it never worked and adversely affected my productivity.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Get Over Yourself
by kucloth on August 18, 2008
Pros: Powerful, Tons of Options
Cons: Honestly Don't Know
Summary: This machine is amazing. I bought one for my parents and one for my girlfriend. There are a ton of upgradeable options during purchase, and if you are unsatisfied with ...
Summary: This machine is amazing. I bought one for my parents and one for my girlfriend. There are a ton of upgradeable options during purchase, and if you are unsatisfied with performance, it is your own fault. If you are going to be running high end programs and the hog known as Vista--Get more RAM! Today's programs are not shy about using whatever resources are available. Also, be smart about your internet traffic. If you're doing stupid things, you are going to get infected.
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Value for money
by ldetex on August 11, 2008
Pros: Costs less than a build
Cons: Another new case color
Summary: A Dell flier listed this unit with a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Quad CPU, 3 gig of DDR2 memory, a 500 gig HDD, DVD writer, mouse and K/B ...
Summary: A Dell flier listed this unit with a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Quad CPU, 3 gig of DDR2 memory, a 500 gig HDD, DVD writer, mouse and K/B for $499 with free shipping. This price is at least $100 less than you can build one if you use an OEM copy of Vista. The case and drive covers are a bit cheap, but it will hold two hard drives vertically and has a video card slot, two PCI slots and 4 memory slots. You could install and third hard drive, with a size converter, in a CD bay. The power supply is a bit small and has only 4 sata power connectors; but after a startup whoosh the system is very quiet and there is a 6 pin video card connector. Good news for Vista phobes, the driver disk supplied supports XP (if that is your operating system of choice) and has all the XP drivers installed. Providing everything holds up, and this is true of any vendor in these chinese component days, it should work fine.
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Avoid this product
by hampcb on April 21, 2008
Pros: Can't think of any
Cons: My system arrived defective & Dell couldn't fix
Summary: Dell Problem Inspiron D530 4/1/08
The system arrived defective. Right away I had a problem with the screen going blank and the system rebooting by itself. When the ...Summary: Dell Problem Inspiron D530 4/1/08
The system arrived defective. Right away I had a problem with the screen going blank and the system rebooting by itself. When the screen would go blank I had to reboot the system by holding down the power button, I couldn't see any of the controls to exit normally. When the system rebooted randomly by itself sometimes programs would return in "safe" mode.
I spent time with Dell and tried to load the latest BIOS and video drivers but the problem came up again and again.
I called again and this time the Dell agent took control of my computer and tried to fix the problem, but the problems were not fixed but are now worse. From time to time now the system goes unresponsive, open a program and you just get an "hourglass" that will never go away, or other programs that are open when you try to go back to them you get an "hourglass" indefinitely, the programs are locked. The only remedy is to reboot, losing data.
I have spent many hours trying get this system to work and cannot afford to let this situation continue , Dell does not seem to be able to fix this system given the opportunity, I feel I have a ?lemon? system. I cannot continue with this defective system indefinitely, it is affecting my business and ability to make a living. -
seriously flawed
by joe_5cent on March 26, 2008
Pros: the case is nice looking
Cons: doesn't work
Summary: I went thru two in one week. Out of the box it was necessary to upload drivers just to see the memory cards. Oh, that was after reseating the cable ...
Summary: I went thru two in one week. Out of the box it was necessary to upload drivers just to see the memory cards. Oh, that was after reseating the cable to the front plane with the memory cards.
Adding memory crashed the PC with a blue screen. This includes placing the original RAM in the two open slots. The first 530 blue screend and I took it back. I actually took time to figure out the problem with this unit. I probably have wasted 8-12 work hours on this thing loading software and talking to tech support.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Dell, Inc.
- Part number: DDCWDA1_4
General
- Type Personal computer
- Product Form Factor Tower
- Width 6.7 in
- Depth 17.1 in
- Height 14.3 in
- Weight 28 lbs
- System type Personal computer
Processor
- Type Intel Celeron 440 / 2.00 GHz
- 64-bit processor Yes
- Installed Qty 1
- Max processors supported 1
Cache Memory
- Type L2 cache
- Installed Size 512 KB
- Cache Per Processor 512 KB
Mainboard
- Chipset type Intel G33 Express
- Data bus speed 800 MHz
RAM
- Installed Size 1 GB / 4 GB (max)
- Technology DDR2 SDRAM
- Memory speed 667 MHz
- Memory specification compliance PC2-5300
- RAM form factor DIMM 240-pin
- RAM features Two DDR channels
- RAM configuration features 2 x 512 MB
Environmental Parameters
- Min operating temperature 50 ?F
- Max operating temperature 95 ?F
- Operating humidity range 20 - 80%
Storage Controller
- Type 1 x Serial ATA - Integrated
- Controller interface type Serial ATA-300
- Storage controller interface channel qty 4
- RAID level RAID 1
Storage
- Floppy drive type None
- Hard Drive 1 x 320 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-300 - 7200
- Hard Drive (2nd) None
Optical Storage
- Type DVD?RW - Serial ATA
- CD / DVD read speed 16X
Optical Storage (2nd)
- Type None
Storage Removable
- Type None
Monitor
- Monitor Type None.
Multimedia Functionality
- TV tuner type None
Graphics Controller
- Type Integrated
- Graphics Processor / Vendor Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0
- Max Allocated RAM Size 224 MB
Audio Output
- Type Sound card - Integrated
- Sound output mode 7.1 channel surround
- Audio output compliant standards High Definition Audio
- Speaker(s) None
Input Device
- Type Keyboard, Mouse
Keyboard
- Keyboard interface USB
Mouse
- Mouse technology Optical
- Mouse interface USB
Audio Input
- Type None
Telecom
- Modem None
Networking
- Networking Network adapter - Integrated
- Data Link Protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet
Printer
- Type None
Expansion / Connectivity
- Expansion Bays Total (Free) 2 ( 1 ) x Front accessible - 5.25" x 1/2H, 2 ( 1 ) x Internal - 3.5" x 1/3H, 1 ( 1 ) x Front accessible - 3.5" x 1/3H
- Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1 ( 1 ) x PCI Express x16, 1 ( 1 ) x PCI Express x1, 4 ( 2 ) x Memory - DIMM 240-pin, 1 ( 0 ) x Processor - LGA775 Socket, 2 ( 2 ) x PCI
- Interfaces 1 x Audio - Line-out - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio - Line-out/headphones - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ), 1 x Audio - Line-in - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio - Line-out (center/subwoofer) - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio - Line-out (rear) - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 8 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A ( 4 in front ), 1 x Audio - Line-out (side surround) - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 1 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45, 2 x Microphone - Input - Mini-phone 3.5 mm ( 1 in front )
Power
- Power device type Power supply
- Voltage Required AC 120/230 V
- Power provided 300 Watt
Operating System / Software
- OS Provided Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 1
- Software Microsoft Works 9.0, McAfee SecurityCenter (Trial), Drivers & Utilities
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Technical support - Phone consulting - 1 year, Limited warranty - Parts and labor - 1 year - On-site
Greenpeace 'Guide to Greener Electronics'
- Greenpeace 'Guide to Greener Electronics' manufacturer rating (Mar 2008) 7.3
Manufacturer info
- Dell, Inc.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Dell, Inc. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.dell.com/
- Address:
One Dell Way, Round Rock, TX 78682 - Phone: (800) 274-3355
- Email: LB_Order_Questions@dell.com
