Dell Inspiron 530 Budget Desktop Personal Computer

4/30/08 – Dell's Inspiron 530 budget system now uses an Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 processor as its base. This is a good step in performance over the Pentium Dual-Core processors used in most budget systems. The problem is that Dell continues to skimp on features and only includes 1GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory with the system. This gives it very limited performance with the Vista operating system and puts it behind most other systems that come equipped with 2GB of RAM.

Storage is fairly average for the Inspiron 530 budget systems. While many companies are moving to large 500GB drives, Dell continues to use a 320GB drive. This is still plenty for most users, but those with heavy amounts of digital media files might quickly fill it up. A dual layer DVD burner handles all recording and playback of CD and DVD media.

One area that Dell has always had an advantage was their bundling of monitors with their systems. The Inspiron 530 generally ships with a Dell SE198WFP 19-inch LCD monitor that provides a 1440x900 resolution. It is a decent panel but does fall short of their much praised UltraSharp lineup. Still, it is nice to see Dell include their monitors with their budget systems and still keep their prices down.

Dell still continues one of its biggest flaws though with the Inspiron 530. Digital video editing is becoming much more popular. One of the key features necessary for exporting video from a camcorder to a desktop PC for editing is a FireWire port. Dell continues to make this an optional item rather than standard. This makes the system less than ideal for those looking to do digital video work even at a casual level.

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