Introduction, design and specifications
In terms of quality, Dell's Inspiron series spans the gamut. Inspiron notebooks range from cheap-looking, plastic laptops that cost less than $300 to svelte, aluminum machines that cost nearly as much as its premium XPS line of laptops. The 7000 series, on the high-end of the Inspiron line, edges toward the "premium" end of that spectrum.
The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is spec'd out in every way: a gorgeous aluminum chassis, a full HD touchscreen, a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia graphics and more RAM than you'll probably ever need. Of course, such premium components command a nearly premium price tag.
The top-of-the-line test model sent to TechRadar would cost you $1,149 (about £672, AU$1223). That figure gets bumped up to $1,238 on Dell's website, thanks to the addition of a slightly faster CPU.
Design
At first glance, the Inspiron 15 7000 looks like a crossover between a mainstream and premium notebook, sporting an elegant but thick aluminum design. The brushed aluminum lid lacks adornment save for an embossed Dell logo in the center.
On the other side, the 15.6-inch display is framed by a glossy black bezel that measures half an inch thick (12.7 mm) at the sides and three quarters of an inch thick (19.05 mm) at the top and bottom. The hinge below the display rotates smoothly and doesn't feel wobbly, though I had to hold the laptop down when I opened the lid.
The brushed aluminum finish extends to the deck, which looks sleek with rounded corners and beveled edges. The spacious 4.1 x 3.1-inch (104 x 78 mm) trackpad is slightly off-center to the left, and the deck offers plenty of space for the wrists to rest comfortably. The backlit, island-style keyboard rests in a slight depression and includes a full-size numeric keypad on the right. The power button is located at the top left corner of the deck.
The laptop boasts a fairly robust selection of ports. On the right, you'll find an Ethernet port, HDMI-out, two USB 3.0 ports, a headphone/mic combo jack and an SD card reader. Two additional USB 3.0 ports are located on the left.
At 14.9 x 10.0 x 0.8 inches (W x D x H; 37.8 x 25.4 x 2.03 cm) and 5.7 pounds (2.6 kg), the Inspiron 15 7000 isn't much heavier than the HP Envy TouchSmart 15, which weighs 5.73 pounds (2.6 kg) and measures 1.17 inches (29.9 mm) thick. Nevertheless, it feels chunkier than most premium ultrabooks. When I carried the laptop and power adapter around the city in my bag, I definitely noticed the weight.
Specifications
The $1,149 (about £672, AU$1223) review unit sent to TechRadar shipped with a 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-4500U quad-core processor, 16GB of DDR3 RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GT 750M GPU with 2GB of GDDR5 video memory and a 1TB, 5,400-rpm SATA hard drive. The system handled multiple desktop tasks with ease.
The Inspiron 15 7000 is available in three configurations, with the model sent to TechRadar being the most premium. You can pick up the base configuration, packing a Core i5 CPU, 6GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, for $649 (about £380, AU$689). Finally, there's a midrange model that comes with a Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive for $949 (about £672, AU$1,007).
After we had received our test unit, Dell announced that they have upgraded the CPUs on the Inspiron 15 7000 line. The new top-of-the-line configuration, which costs $1,238 (about £556, AU$1,321), now sports a 2GHz Core i7-4510U processor – all else is identical to that in our review unit.
Performance and features
I noticed almost no hiccups as I wrote this review in Microsoft Word. And that was while streaming music via Spotify, with a dozen tabs open in Chrome and a full system scan running in McAfee Internet Security.
The Inspiron 15 7000's quad-core Core i7 processor, although not the fastest in the Core i7 series, performed well on our tests. When we ran the CPU-crunching Cinebench test, the laptop achieved a score of 255.
Benchmarks
- Cinebench: Graphics: 64.57 fps; CPU: 255 cb
- 3DMark: Ice Storm: 46,505; Cloud Gate: 7,107; Fire Strike: 1,788
- PCMark 8 Home: 2,493
- PCMark 8 Battery Life: 3 hours and 35 minutes
In terms of graphics, the notebook's GeForce GT 750M graphics burned through our benchmarks. Its score of 46,505 on 3DMark Ice Storm is three times higher than the 15,419 achieved by the HP Envy TouchSmart 15, which uses a GeForce GT 740M GPU. Still, the Inspiron 15 7000's low score on the Fire Strike DirectX 11 test illustrates its unsuitability for the most demanding titles, like Battlefield 4 and Crysis 3.
Battery life
The Inspiron 15 7000's battery life is far from the best – on the PCMark 8 battery test it ran for 3 hours and 35 minutes – but it's by no means the worst, either. The TouchSmart 15, by comparison, lasted a mere 79 minutes on its battery rundown test.
If you reduce the screen brightness and refrain from using the speakers, the notebook will last at least half a day on charge. When I set the brightness at 50 percent, disabled the keyboard backlighting and plugged in a pair of headphones, the Inspiron 15 7000 ran for about 5 hours and 30 minutes before I needed to charge it again.
Display
The Inspiron 15 7000's 1920 x 1080 touchscreen delivers impressively crisp and vivid visuals. When I streamed HD video on Netflix and Hulu, colors popped off the screen, and I noticed hardly any pixelation. Text on websites like The New York Times appeared similarly sharp.
The horizontal and vertical viewing angles are fairly wide. You can turn the screen 45 degrees in either direction without causing the colors to wash out, but the screen appears brightest when viewed head-on.
The touchscreen is quite responsive to input. Gestures such as edge-swiping and scrolling execute immediately, and you can use all ten fingers simultaneously. (Though, it's unclear when you would need to do so.)
Speakers
Unfortunately, the bottom-mounted speakers fail to impress. The bass, although discernable, feels flat. What's worse is that high-end frequencies suffer from noticeable tininess. When I listened to "Genesis" by Grimes, for instance, the singer's ethereal voice frequently became distorted on high notes.
On treble-heavy songs, such as Joe Hisaishi's score to "Princess Mononoke," the distortion becomes even more apparent. Using the notebook on your lap muffles the sound, so that doesn't help, either.
The Dell Audio sound suite (powered by MaxxAudio Pro) hardly improves the quality of the speakers. While you can use the equalizer to fine-tune individual frequency settings or select from music presets such as Blues and Oldies, the audio still suffers from distortion and tininess.
Sound quality gets a serious boost with a good pair of headphones, though you'll want to keep the volume below 10 percent for fear of blowing out your eardrums. One welcome feature of MaxxAudio Pro is that it adjusts the sound depending on the size of your headphones; selecting small boosts the volume and bass, which is helpful if you're using earbuds.
Keyboard
The Inspiron 15 7000's full-size, island-style keyboard provides an excellent typing experience. The chiclet-like keys offer lots of vertical travel, and spacing between keys is generous. Dell also included a numeric keypad on the right, a welcome addition if you spend a lot of time crunching numbers.
I also appreciate that the function keys in the top row have been reversed, meaning I could change the volume and brightness without having to hold down the Function key. The function keys are generally useful, offering control over settings such as screen brightness, volume and Wi-Fi, as well as Windows 8-specific functions like Search and Share.
The laptop offers two levels of backlighting – dim and bright – which you can quickly adjust using a function key. The backlighting is generally even, although using the dim setting in a well-lit room can make it difficult to make out the keys in the top row.
Trackpad
Like the keyboard, the trackpad is generally excellent. At 4.1 x 3.1 inches (104 x 78 mm), it's rather spacious, and the slightly textured surface offers pleasant tactile feedback. Multi-touch gestures, like two-finger scrolling and pinch-to-zoom, perform smoothly.
The only quibble I have is that the right-click function seems to extend slightly above the line separating it from the left mouse button. As a result, I frequently opened the context menu when I meant to click on something.
Webcam
Images captured with the 720p webcam look crystal clear during video chats. When I called my father on Skype, he reported that the video on my end appeared sharp and colorful. Moreover, he couldn't hear any background noise, even with an air conditioner running and music playing from the laptop's speakers. Using Dell Audio, you can adjust the microphone settings for noisy environments or private chats, but in my experience the voice setting offered the best quality.
Bundled software
The Inspiron 15 7000 ships with relatively few pre-installed applications. Third-party software include two different Amazon applications (a Windows 8 tile-based app and an app that lets you search on Amazon directly from the taskbar), eBay and a trial version of McAfee Internet Security.
There's also PocketCloud, an app that lets you remotely control your laptop from an Android or iOS mobile device. Using the app on your smartphone or tablet, you can view your laptop's screen and move the cursor around with your finger. Tapping the cursor functions as a left-click. A wheel menu around the cursor lets you maximize or minimize the screen, open your smartphone's keyboard, scroll up or down on the page or right-click.
PocketCloud shows promise, but a couple of issues kept me from fully embracing it. First, Windows 8 looks great on the Inspiron 15 7000's 15.6-inch screen, but not so much on my Samsung Galaxy S4's 5.1-inch display. Icons are too small to accurately tap, and if I wanted to interact with something on the other side of the laptop's screen, I needed to swipe several times on my phone's display to move from one end of the UI to the other.
The lag between the laptop and the mobile device is another problem. When I tried to scroll through a Word document on the Inspiron 15 7000 using my phone, it took a full two seconds for the shift downward or upward to be transmitted to the computer and then back again to the phone. Dell-branded programs include the aforementioned Dell Audio and the following:
- Dell Backup and Recovery Basic Edition: lets you back up selected files, create a bootable backup, and perform a system recovery
- My Dell: a hub from which you can perform a system check up and download the latest drivers
- Dell Shop: a portal in which you can purchase laptop accessories and other Dell products
Verdict
Overall, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is a fine choice if you're looking for a laptop that has a premium feel, with a slightly less-than-premium price tag. For $1,149, the notebook boasts good components, a beautiful high-definition display and a great typing experience in an attractive brushed aluminum chassis. High-end laptops with the same specs often cost upwards of $1,500.
Of course, there are drawbacks to choosing a laptop that's almost, but not quite, premium-grade. The Inspiron 15 7000 looks and feels heavy compared to svelte ultrabooks like the Dell XPS 15. The speakers failed to impress, too. But if you want a laptop that can handle anything you can throw at it – without breaking the bank – the Inspiron 15 7000 is worth considering.
We liked
As far as mainstream notebooks go, the Inspiron 15 7000's brushed aluminum design isn't hard on the eyes. The laptop is a bit heavy, but it definitely looks better than the plastic, faux-aluminum builds I've seen on many other notebooks in the 7000 series's price range. The laptop's 1080p touchscreen is gorgeous as well.
The keyboard is one of the best I've used recently, offering lots of vertical travel and plenty of spacing between keys. The trackpad is just as quality. Overall, the laptop's components – a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and Nvidia graphics – are top-notch, considering the price. The notebook flew on our benchmarks and in everyday use.
We disliked
The laptop's speakers didn't live up to my expectations. While I could hear the bass, it isn't particularly rich. Worse, high-end frequencies often sound tinny and distorted. Changing the audio presets in MaxxAudio Pro improve the sound quality somewhat, but not enough. And, again, the laptop feels heavy compared to most ultrabooks.
Final verdict
The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is a fine choice for anyone looking to buy an attractive, powerful laptop that's not quite as pricey as a premium Ultrabook. With its quad-core CPU, 16GB of RAM and Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics, it can easily handle intensive multimedia tasks, like video editing or playing lighter 3D games. Moreover, the laptop's excellent keyboard and trackpad make doing serious productivity work a breeze.
However, the speakers are liable to leave listeners disappointed. A good pair of headphones will suffice if you're just using the computer for personal entertainment, but you'll have to suffer the tinny audio if you want to watch a movie with friends. Nevertheless, if you're willing to look past sound quality, the Inspiron 15 7000 is a well-built, fast laptop that won't cost you an arm and a leg.
James Potter