Hi Guys,
This is a Small review of L502x from an L501x user. I got this laptop last month itself, but wanted to use it extensively before expressing my Views.
Please Note: It will be quite lengthy at times and noobish, but this is just my second review. So thanks for reading
BTW I felt there would be no need of pics as you can find many on the net.
SPECIFICATIONS:
L501x
CPU : i5 460M 2.53GHz Turbo upto 2.8Ghz
RAM : 4GB(2x2GB)
HDD : 640GB 7200RPM
GPU : 1GB GT420M
Screen: HD WLED 720p
Battery : 6-Cell
L502x:
CPU : i5 2430M 2.4GHz Turbo upto 3.0Ghz
RAM : 4GB(1x4GB)
HDD : 750GB 7200RPM
GPU : 1GB GT525M
Screen : HD WLED 720p
Battery: 6-cell
[attachment=10530:17468.attach]
DESIGN AND BUILD:
The L501x had a Bulky yet classy design. It was one of the best designs i have seen.
Well, The L502x is just the same as L501x. Not much changes in design side, except for the Keyboard.
While the laptop is sturdy, there are some creaks when you press it tightly. The Display,according to my observation, isn't tightly secured.
The Keyboard is the Major Difference in L501x and L502x.
[attachment=10532:17470.attach]
L501x Keyboard was great, classic DELL type. Keys were silent with superb comfort & good feedback . When I heard that they switched to the Chicklet Keyboard,I felt sad.
When I first opened the L502x Box, and saw the keyboard. My first opinion was "YUCK,It looks bad". The Keyboard had even backlighting,well spaced keys, but wasn't silent. The L501x keyboard was a pleasure to type on, but the L502x keyboard wasn't even close.. My suggestion to DELL, Make it better!!!
Rating: 8/10
HEAT:
L501x was very hot. I could never use it on my lap without keeping a Bag or some heat buffer. L502x is slightly better in this aspect.
You can use it on lap comfortably for 30min before you feel slightly uncomfortable.
Thought the Internals reach 90 or 95 Degress while gaming, I never felt it uncomfortable when using on desk. The Thermals have indeed improved.
On L501x it wasnt the case. At 85 Degrees, the fans spin very hard and it gets hot between TAB and E keys, well thats sorted in L502x.
Rating: 8/10
SCREEN:
[attachment=10531:17469.attach]
Many Critics have said and are still saying that the WLED Screen Provided is CRAP. Well, I beg to disagree.. The L501x had a good enough 720P Screen(the LGD0266 one). It wasn't as bright as the B+RGB LED Screen, but it did the job.
The L502x has Similar Screen, Except that now I got a Samsung Screen.
Well Comparatively, the Samsung Screen is CRAP. Really. The LG Screen was far better than this. Samsung screen has too much red hue. I am no pro at colors, but can easily tell the difference.
Viewing angles are great though. But the Screen was very much reflective. Outdoors,I had to force 70% of brightness to see the screen properly.
Rating: 7/10
PERFORMANCE:
Well My L501x was good from start. GT 420M and i5 460M combo was good, but not without issues.
It lagged occasionally when playing a HD video and the gaming performance was passable at 768p. Occasionally even CS was not playable at 720p, It was an Optimus issue actually. Regarding startup and shutdown, it took quite an amount of time. I could run 30 tabs in Firefox and it wouldn't lag much.
But the Performance in compiling my programs and running android emulator was good.
Converting 12GB of Audio from 320KBPS Mp3 to M4a took about 40-50Min.
When I was going for L502x, i was a bit skeptical about the processor. Being 133Mhz slower, I thought it would take a minor hit. But Being a new architecture and having Turbo Boot 2.0 , it was almost on par, if not better in Multitasking.
When I started using the laptop, I was quite impressed. Sandy Bridge is really Fast.
Startup and Shutdown times went down a notch. Most of the Optimus issues I faced,werent present.
The same Audio conversion was done in 30Min and this really surprised me.
Firefox never lags ever,even when opening 40 Tabs. But I still felt that it could be better. Will upgrade to an SSD later and check it out.
Gaming Performace was great. At times, I got 10-15FPS More compared to previous at same settings.
Rating : 9/10
BATTERY LIFE:
L501x was power hungry, I must accept that. Even with Optimus, I got at the max 2hrs to 2 and half hours when browsing on Wifi with Mouse connected and brightness set to 30% in BALANCED MODE. POWERSAVER MODE increased it by 10 min.
While Gaming, I got 1hr max.
The L502x is just great when it comes to battery life. I get 4-5 Hrs at ease while browsing on Wifi with Mouse Connected and Brightness set to 30% in BALANCED MODE. POWERSAVER MODE increased it by another hour. While gaming, 1 and Half hour (Thats while palying Crysis 2 BTW)
Overall, I am pretty pleased by the battery life. It is on par with L501x with 9-Cell.
(To calibrate, run down the battery totally and then charge it up. Do this once a Month for good battery life cycle)
Rating: 10/10
CONCLUSION:
The L502x is a great laptop with superb combination of GPU and CPU. I definitely recommend it to anyone on lookout at a laptop above 50K. But DO TAKE THE 1080P SCREEN. Even If your work doesn't need one, take it. You wont regret. The L501x was a good Arrandale Laptop but Intel has seriously worked out with Sandy Bridge and Dell's L502x is way to show that off.
Here is a small rundown of the Pros and Cons, including the small things I omitted:
MAJOR PROS:
Great Performance
Superb Battery Life
Great USB 3.0 Performance
Very Stable (Never crashes, rarely hangs)
MAJOR CONS:
Bulky Body(You need to take a Bigger Backpack for this)
Bad 720p Screen, get the 1080p Screen for sure
Slightly Heavy(Believe me, its like a Brick in my backpack)
Big AC Adapter
Too Much Bloatware,need to uninstall many at first.
Overall Rating: 8/10
This is a Small review of L502x from an L501x user. I got this laptop last month itself, but wanted to use it extensively before expressing my Views.
Please Note: It will be quite lengthy at times and noobish, but this is just my second review. So thanks for reading
BTW I felt there would be no need of pics as you can find many on the net.
SPECIFICATIONS:
L501x
CPU : i5 460M 2.53GHz Turbo upto 2.8Ghz
RAM : 4GB(2x2GB)
HDD : 640GB 7200RPM
GPU : 1GB GT420M
Screen: HD WLED 720p
Battery : 6-Cell
L502x:
CPU : i5 2430M 2.4GHz Turbo upto 3.0Ghz
RAM : 4GB(1x4GB)
HDD : 750GB 7200RPM
GPU : 1GB GT525M
Screen : HD WLED 720p
Battery: 6-cell
[attachment=10530:17468.attach]
DESIGN AND BUILD:
The L501x had a Bulky yet classy design. It was one of the best designs i have seen.
Well, The L502x is just the same as L501x. Not much changes in design side, except for the Keyboard.
While the laptop is sturdy, there are some creaks when you press it tightly. The Display,according to my observation, isn't tightly secured.
The Keyboard is the Major Difference in L501x and L502x.
[attachment=10532:17470.attach]
L501x Keyboard was great, classic DELL type. Keys were silent with superb comfort & good feedback . When I heard that they switched to the Chicklet Keyboard,I felt sad.
When I first opened the L502x Box, and saw the keyboard. My first opinion was "YUCK,It looks bad". The Keyboard had even backlighting,well spaced keys, but wasn't silent. The L501x keyboard was a pleasure to type on, but the L502x keyboard wasn't even close.. My suggestion to DELL, Make it better!!!
Rating: 8/10
HEAT:
L501x was very hot. I could never use it on my lap without keeping a Bag or some heat buffer. L502x is slightly better in this aspect.
You can use it on lap comfortably for 30min before you feel slightly uncomfortable.
Thought the Internals reach 90 or 95 Degress while gaming, I never felt it uncomfortable when using on desk. The Thermals have indeed improved.
On L501x it wasnt the case. At 85 Degrees, the fans spin very hard and it gets hot between TAB and E keys, well thats sorted in L502x.
Rating: 8/10
SCREEN:
[attachment=10531:17469.attach]
Many Critics have said and are still saying that the WLED Screen Provided is CRAP. Well, I beg to disagree.. The L501x had a good enough 720P Screen(the LGD0266 one). It wasn't as bright as the B+RGB LED Screen, but it did the job.
The L502x has Similar Screen, Except that now I got a Samsung Screen.
Well Comparatively, the Samsung Screen is CRAP. Really. The LG Screen was far better than this. Samsung screen has too much red hue. I am no pro at colors, but can easily tell the difference.
Viewing angles are great though. But the Screen was very much reflective. Outdoors,I had to force 70% of brightness to see the screen properly.
Rating: 7/10
PERFORMANCE:
Well My L501x was good from start. GT 420M and i5 460M combo was good, but not without issues.
It lagged occasionally when playing a HD video and the gaming performance was passable at 768p. Occasionally even CS was not playable at 720p, It was an Optimus issue actually. Regarding startup and shutdown, it took quite an amount of time. I could run 30 tabs in Firefox and it wouldn't lag much.
But the Performance in compiling my programs and running android emulator was good.
Converting 12GB of Audio from 320KBPS Mp3 to M4a took about 40-50Min.
When I was going for L502x, i was a bit skeptical about the processor. Being 133Mhz slower, I thought it would take a minor hit. But Being a new architecture and having Turbo Boot 2.0 , it was almost on par, if not better in Multitasking.
When I started using the laptop, I was quite impressed. Sandy Bridge is really Fast.
Startup and Shutdown times went down a notch. Most of the Optimus issues I faced,werent present.
The same Audio conversion was done in 30Min and this really surprised me.
Firefox never lags ever,even when opening 40 Tabs. But I still felt that it could be better. Will upgrade to an SSD later and check it out.
Gaming Performace was great. At times, I got 10-15FPS More compared to previous at same settings.
Rating : 9/10
BATTERY LIFE:
L501x was power hungry, I must accept that. Even with Optimus, I got at the max 2hrs to 2 and half hours when browsing on Wifi with Mouse connected and brightness set to 30% in BALANCED MODE. POWERSAVER MODE increased it by 10 min.
While Gaming, I got 1hr max.
The L502x is just great when it comes to battery life. I get 4-5 Hrs at ease while browsing on Wifi with Mouse Connected and Brightness set to 30% in BALANCED MODE. POWERSAVER MODE increased it by another hour. While gaming, 1 and Half hour (Thats while palying Crysis 2 BTW)
Overall, I am pretty pleased by the battery life. It is on par with L501x with 9-Cell.
(To calibrate, run down the battery totally and then charge it up. Do this once a Month for good battery life cycle)
Rating: 10/10
CONCLUSION:
The L502x is a great laptop with superb combination of GPU and CPU. I definitely recommend it to anyone on lookout at a laptop above 50K. But DO TAKE THE 1080P SCREEN. Even If your work doesn't need one, take it. You wont regret. The L501x was a good Arrandale Laptop but Intel has seriously worked out with Sandy Bridge and Dell's L502x is way to show that off.
Here is a small rundown of the Pros and Cons, including the small things I omitted:
MAJOR PROS:
Great Performance
Superb Battery Life
Great USB 3.0 Performance
Very Stable (Never crashes, rarely hangs)
MAJOR CONS:
Bulky Body(You need to take a Bigger Backpack for this)
Bad 720p Screen, get the 1080p Screen for sure
Slightly Heavy(Believe me, its like a Brick in my backpack)
Big AC Adapter
Too Much Bloatware,need to uninstall many at first.
Overall Rating: 8/10
