Thanks for the help, more than likely buy that after Christmas. Is it easy to install a new CPU on a laptop? I know how to on a computer but not sure on a laptop.

Should take just about any mobile Core 2 CPU - other than the Extreme Edition and older Socket M (i.e., you need Socket P).

You CANNOT use any Core i CPU.

That CPU  will indeed work.

I have the same laptop, with the same laptop. Could I possibly install an AMD processor, even though this laptop comes with an intel processor standard?

No way, no how.

Lame. Ah, well. Intel is fine, it's just expensive.

I picked up a P8700 for 60 quid or so from ebay.

Easy upgrade... Make sure you replace the CPU thermal pad with Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound and clean the heat sink.

You can pick up Arctic Silver 5 cleaning packs of Amazon for roughly 5-10 quid if you look hard enough.

Hope this helps

i read on wikipedia (i know its not always right but sometimes it is) and it says that there is certain  AMD CPU's that work with the 1545, namely the AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core QL-64 , AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core RM-74 or AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Ultra ZM-82, can anyone confirm that these work or is wikipedia just pulling stuff out of its arse ?

AMD CPUs will not work with the 1545.  The socket type is completely incompatible.

You can't "Alter" the BIOS - and no matter what you install, this is still a budget, low-end model.  So - stick to the Core 2 -- there's about as much point putting a quad core CPU in a 1545 as there would be putting a V8 engine in a Honda Fit.

thankls for clearing that up, also some places have stated that a core 2 quad will not work because of BIOS incompaability, well if you alter the BIOS will a core 2 Quad chip function, or is it bes t to stay with the high end core 2 duo

hey Rossy.

i have had my 1545 for 4 years now and it sill delivers because several upgrades i made to the cpu and the hdd (replaced it to an SSD one).

there is a very details post that shows how to do it and discusses how to pick your cpu upgrade  here - http://www.benshardwareblog.com/laptop-hardware/upgrading-a-dell-inspiron-1545-cpu

i hope it will help! :) 

Just for anyone who stumbles across this and wants to upgrade a 1545, you can go as high as a Core 2 Duo T9900 (3.06 GHz). A 3.06 GHz x9100 will also work, but most x9100's have a higher TDP rating (C0 stepping) and will run hot and possibly overtax the motherboard, the rare E0 stepping is OK. Core 2 Quad and any Core i-series chips will not work, and there's no BIOS hack that can get around those limitations.

I've upgraded my 1545 from a T4400 to a T9800 (2.93 GHz), and also replaced the slow stock HDD with an SSD. As long as you don't expect to use it for gaming, an upgraded 1545 still has a lot of life left in it. An interesting bonus is that the upgrade to the better quality chip improved the battery life a lot, even before the SSD went in.

My sister gave me her 1545 a few years back. I replaced the HD to a SSD crucial 240 gig. that is the best upgrade you could ever do for a computer. Startup time is so fast now. I also put in a p8700 @2.53 to replace the Pentium dual core it came with . it came with 2 sticks of 2gig so replaced one with a 4gig of crucial for a total of 6 gigs. When I upgraded the HD to a SSD I lost some space as the stock was a 320gig but the speed improvement is so worth it. When I open folders now it really feels like it must have read my mind as im not even done clicking yet and the folder is open and displaying everything in it. I wouldn't believe the difference unless i seen it. I think the SSD made more of a difference then the ram and the cpu combined. Lastly I got rid of the Vista it came with and Installed ubuntu 14 64 bit. Took a few weeks to get used to that but its been a great O/S in fact I like it the way I used to like XP when it first came out. Really the only thing that it is not as good at as a brand new computer is the video card, It is the weak point as you can not upgrade that in this/most laptops. stuck with the 2008 gm45