Dell Inspiron 530 - Expert Reviews

Review summary: Show your colors with one of our customizable Inspiron notebooks. Go Anywhere Wireless options for advanced mobility. Experience Life in Hi-Def with multiple entertainment features....

Review summary: Since Dell has stopped selling its AMD-based Inspirons, that leaves the Intel-powered Inspiron 530 and 530s leading its budget desktop charge. The Inspiron 530 is a modest $539 configuration that offers some surprising features for the price. Hewlett ...

Pros: Discrete graphics card has its own memory, so it won't steal from the system RAM ; built-in Bluetooth

Cons: The Inspiron 530 was outperformed on a few tests by a system that costs $100 less

Verdict: PC vendors have very few tricks remaining to differentiate their systems from the competition, which makes the built-in Bluetooth in the Dell Inspiron 530 unique. There's little else that makes this system stand out, but if you need Bluetooth in your ...

Review summary: Impressive performance aided by dedicated graphics makes this model the best value in our test group of low-cost desktops.

Review summary: The Dell Inspiron 530 was powerful enough to earn superior scores (for a value PC) in both its productivity and graphics performance tests, yet it's quite inexpensive at $689 (as of 2/7/08).

Pros: Strong performance in all benchmarks Discrete graphics card

Cons: FireWire ports not standard Requires tools for upgrades

Verdict: If you want a value desktop with an excellent price-to-performance ratio and some room to grow, Dell's Inspiron 530 is arguably the best deal among the budget PCs we've tested recently

Review summary: All-round performance isn't a strong point for this system

Pros: Good selection of software included ; Bargain price

Cons: 2.1 speakers ; Slow processor

Verdict: However, if you can live with that, and would appreciate the extra storage space, then the Inspiron 530 looks like a real bargain