Dell Inspiron 15: NVIDIA GPU Brings The Game
Introduction and Specifications
Understandably, Dell’s premium XPS line gets a lot of attention in the press. We recently checked out the XPS 13 ultrabook and XPS 15 laptop and pegged them quality products for serious users. The Inspiron series is more likely to be overlooked by power users because the Inspiron 3000 and 5000 are Dell’s value and mainstream Inspiron lines. The 7000 represents the best of the Inspirons, however, and the specs and design quality make it worth a look for serious buyers who are turned off by the high price points of the XPS models.
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Display | 15.6-inch WLED Full HD Touch Screen (1920 x 1080), 270-nit brightness |
Processor |
Intel Core i7-4500U 1.8GHz (up to 3.0GHz) |
Graphics |
2GB Nvidia GeForce GT 750M |
Memory |
16GB DDR3L 1600MHz (2x8GB) |
Storage |
1 TB 5400 RPM SATA Hybrid Hard Drive |
Network | Intel 7260BGN + Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet |
I/O Ports | Multi-Card Reader (including SD), 4x USB 3.0 ports (1 PowerShare), Ethernet, HDMI 1.4a, Headphone/Mic, Kensington Lock |
Battery | 58 WHr, 4-Cell Battery |
Software | Dell Checkup, Dell Recovery, McAfee LiveSafe Trial, Wyse PocketCloud |
Operating System |
Windows 8.1 64-bit |
Size and Weight | 14.9 x 0.8 x 10 inches (Width x Height x Depth); 5.7 pounds |
Warranty | 1 Year In-Home Service, 90 Days Phone Support |
Price | $1,149.90 as tested, Wide Price Range @ Amazon.Com |
One of the most important features of the Dell Inspiron 15 7537 is its discrete graphics processor, which sets this system apart from most ultrabooks right out of the gate. The Nvidia GeForce GT 750M gives the 7537 a noteworthy performance advantage in a variety of tasks, as our benchmark results show on the following pages. Dell paired the graphics processor with an Intel Core i7-4500U dual-core processor, which has a base clock speed of 1.8GHz and a maximum Turbo speed of 3GHz.
The 15.6-inch WLED display offers full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution and Dell’s TrueLife technology, which is an alternative to anti-glare coatings that is meant to improve the contrast ratio. The 7537’s Corning Gorilla Glass NBT display is also a touch screen.
The 7537 is in good shape for system memory, with two 8GB DIMMs at 1600MHz. There’s also plenty of storage, and it’s reasonably speedy, too, thanks to the design of the drive. The Seagate ST1000LM014 is a SSHD; a hybrid solid-state/hard drive that gives you faster (than a hard drive) Window boot times and 1TB of storage space without the price of a true SSD. Although it’s a relatively large laptop, the 7537 doesn’t have an optical drive.
The laptop has Gigabit Ethernet and Intel 7260BGN wireless connectivity, as well as Bluetooth 4.0. The Wireless-N chip offers dual streams, but not the 2.4Ghz/5GHz dual bands that higher-end versions of the 7260 series offer.
The Dell Inspiron 7537 has a price tag of $1,149.99, less than half the price of Dell’s XPS 15 Touch, so it’s bound to be appealing to shoppers with tighter budgets.