Dell's Inspiron laptops have always been the brand's middle-of-the-road workhorse: equally likely to turn up in a dorm room or coffee shop as at your mom's kitchen table. Dell periodically gives the series a physical makeover, but small differences in fit and finish are almost beside the point; this is still the go-to laptop line for reasonably priced systems that offer mainstream performance at palatable prices.
The new Inspiron 15R is built around Intel's Core i3 and i5 processors, with a handful of upgrades available for hard drives and basic discrete graphics (the same goes for the 14-inch version, the Inspiron 14R). Our review unit included a 2.26GHz Core i3, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive, for a total cost of $639.
Build and Design
The newly redesigned Inspiron 15R offers a much cleaner and sleeker look and feel compared to past models. Similar to the Adamo-series, the layout has a hinge-forward design with the screen positioned just slightly in front of the back edge of the chassis. This has the added benefit of moving the screen closer to the keyboard and bringing the action to you. The outside appearance of the new 15R is very stylish, with a faux-brushed metal screen cover. The look gives the appearance of metal, although with an easier to clean painted surface. This look it also shared inside the notebook, with the palmrest and keyboard trim.
Pros: Excellent build quality; Good battery life considering size; Number pad; Trackpad is smooth and feels great; Speedy; Bright display, Good gaming performance, considering integrated Intel HD graphics; Sound quality; eSATA; 4 USB ports; HDMI
Cons: Graphics could use a slight boost, but a discrete GPU would mean worse battery life; Number pad, while convenient, is a bit small; A bit of bloatware; Not the quickest to boot up
Our Dell Inspiron 15R (N7010) Specifications:
* Intel Core i3 370M processor (2.4GHz, 3MB cache)
* 15.6-inch 1366x768 display with LED backlighting
* Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
* 4GB DDR3 memory
* 500GB 5400rpm HDD
* Intel HD integrated graphics
* 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11n wireless, and Bluetooth
* Intel Wi-Di (wireless display technology) and adapter
* 6-cell Li-ion 48Wh battery
* Dimensions: 14.8 x 10.31 x 1.25-1.34-inches
* Weight: 5.79lbs
* MSRP: $599 (excluding Intel Wi-Di)
