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Dell Inspiron 1545 ? HDMI output
I recently ordered a dell inspiron 1545 laptop (April 2009). This model was one of the top models with Blu ray and HD screen/sound, its actually still in production and i have yet to receive it. I have recently come across what may be a deal breaker and a reason for me to cancel my order! i presumed since several of the inspiron 1525 (previous model) had HDMI output, plus i have seen models of the 1545 with HDMI output, and since mine is one of the more expensive options with HD WLED 16:9 screen with blu ray, i presumed it had HDMI output. I cant find much in my invoice etc about this having hdmi output. I have searched the net and am now even more unsure. In view of this this may be a reason for me to return this laptop (however apart form this this is a very very good spec laptop!). The thing is i currently own a sony vaio vgn-ar51j with blu ray, full HD 17' screen and HDMI + Optical out, i wanted a more mobile laptop, but if this does not have HDMI output (and thus not future compatible) it seems like a downgrade! So please could anyone let me know whether this newer model has HDMI output?
And if not whether standard 15-pin VGA/RGB output supports full 1080p/i output (i think it does but cannot carry sound therefore further cables are required for example to connect laptop to 5.1 home theatre system), and also if no HDMI (and i keep the laptop cus i like it so much?) what VGA/RGB cables are best for HD quality, and what sound cables are best (obviously there is no optical out support) but will a standard 3.5mm jack output suffice connected to a 5.1 HT system. Thank you for your help!
NutterzUK
18 Posts
1
May 5th, 2009 11:00
Hi there, I believe if you upgrade to the better graphics card available on the Dell website:
HD4330 ATI Radeon this may have the HDMI output. This is something I am currently trying to work out too though. I believe this is how to get HDMI on the 1545.
Sorry I couldn't be much more help, but may be something worth looking into!
Steve
Eskimo277
41 Posts
0
May 5th, 2009 12:00
Something else to keep in mind for the HDMI lurkers out there is that just because your PC comes with an HDMI connector, doesn't mean you will be in hog-heaven. I too purchased a high-end studio 17 notebook with Blue-Ray and HDMI, and I have yet to receive a fix that will allow the sound to work in my home-theater situation. There are some software issues that affect whether the sound will in fact be transmitted or not, and what is counter-intuitive is that the video driver is responsible (in part) for the audio path. In my case, I have the PC connecting to my Yamaha receiver with an HDMI cable, (The YAMAHA has 2 HDMI inputs and is supposed to allow you to choose which one you want to hear / pass viedo through to its HDMI output, presumably connected to a HDTV as in my case. Turns out I can see the picture, but no sound is heard from the receiver.
msd17
3 Posts
0
May 5th, 2009 12:00
Since the post i have received the laptop and i can say even if you have the ATI Radeon HD4330 card instead of the standard graphics card there is still no HDMI. It seems dell have gone all the way to make sure this laptop is not HDMI, because if you go to the ATI website the standard specefications of this graphics card is to support HDMI.
Apart from this the laptop is great, the HDMI lost brings it down very slightly (i doubt i would have used it that often, but it would have been nice for the option.
What i can say is if you are buying a laptop from dell, check the prices regular. I have seen my laptop as i have customised it go from 670 (what i paid) to 970.
dmkey
6 Posts
0
June 18th, 2009 19:00
I've had a similar issue with my studio, which I've hooked to my Onkyo receiver. When I was get a picture, which I've sinced stopped having, I was having similar trouble with audio. I found that if I disable the PC speaker, I could get audio through the HDMI pipe into my receiver. It sounds silly, but you might try that.
marine0352
1 Message
1
October 17th, 2009 12:00
I bought in Inspiron 1525 a year or so ago with a pretty standard config, onboard graphics, etc. It had an HDMI port that I use frequently to stream off of Hulu and Netflix onto my HDTV. I just got an Inspiron 1545 last week with a pretty good build, improved LCD, beefed up processor, and 4GB memory for about $100 more than I paid for the 1525. Guess what's missing? The HDMI port. More money, less features. Seems to be a hallmark of Dell these days.
While I'm on the rant, my company buys a lot of Dells. We are the 7th largest private company in the US. I am in their IT department. Therefore, they give us the so-called Dell Employee Pricing Program. I priced out this Inspiron 1545 using both the Dell EPP and normal consumer web site. It was cheaper to buy through the normal web site, than it was for to use the Dell EPP. It's no wonder my company is dropping Dell as their PC source.
Don't even get me started on how they no longer offer real notebooks installed with Linux, lack of upgrade certificate for Windows 7, or their super-shiny new Inspiron casing that are great if you need to identify who was using your PC by the amount of fingerprints left on it...