Since the last few years Dell has really been doing a commendable job in providing good laptops for the aam junta (the common man). With aggressive pricing, latest internal hardware and an appealing design, they have been giving the big guys like HP/Compaq a run for their money. Their laptop line was branched into three segments - the Inspirons were the cheapest ones, the Studio line added some design appeal and a few features, while the XPS range formed the top of the line segment in laptops. Year by year we saw features from the XPS range trickle down to the Studio line. And now we're seeing this same effect in the Inspiron series. Previously, the Inspirons were chunky machines that looked like they were just meant for an average working joe. With a somewhat plasticky build they weren't as awing as the older Studio series.
Recently Dell released the Inspiron R series for their 14 and 15 inch models. The R series brings in a design change along with an update to the latest internal hardware. Today we have the Inspiron 14R for review. Is this the 14-inch model that will appeal to all? Let's find out.
Recently Dell released the Inspiron R series for their 14 and 15 inch models. The R series brings in a design change along with an update to the latest internal hardware. Today we have the Inspiron 14R for review. Is this the 14-inch model that will appeal to all? Let's find out.
The Dell Inspiron 14R is available in a decent variety of colored tops. The design has undergone a makeover and the 14R now from some angles looks a little like its younger sibling, the Inspiron Mini 10.
The screen now rests on hinges that are placed a little away from the edge. The resistance offered by the new hinge construction is pretty decent. Internally too there is big change, now that the entire area surrounding the keyboard is covered with a metallic surface, which offers a feeling of solidity. The build quality overall feels good, and more importantly, doesn't feel cheap. The keyboard is now like the Studio series. All keys are proportionally shaped and have good tactility. They offer a good typing experience.
Below the keyboard is another surprise - the large touch-pad. Although not as humongous and smooth as the Macbooks, the touch-pad on the Inspiron 14R is a welcome change. It offers decent touch-response and supports multi-touch gestures like two-finger scrolling and pinch-zooming. The software also lets you choose between a traditional side-scrolling strip, if you're not a big fan of multi-touch. The usability isn't excellent like the Macbook, but better than ones found on most laptops. Like the Macbooks, the function keys primarily do basic tasks like changing brightness, volume, media playback etc. But if you're a fan of using Fn-key combinations, then you'd want to revert to their original functionality from its BIOS.
The 14-inch screen has a good 1366 x 768 pixel (HD) resolution and is adequately bright. Decent for internet surfing as well as watching HD movies. The webcam above the screen delivers a fairly usable clarity, although the frame-rate isn t silky smooth. To the left side is a LAN jack, HDMI, eSATA cum USB combo port and a SD/MMC/MS/xD card reader. To the right is a DVD drive, headphone/microphone jack, and a USB port. Dell has placed a third port at the back, along with the power port and a VGA port. We think this arrangement is rather beneficial. For instance, if you're using a USB internet modem, then connecting it to the back is convenient than it protruding out from the sides. All in all, the number of ports on the 14R is pretty healthy.
At the base, we have a typical removable 6-cell battery, that's flushed into the casing. The 14R is somewhat thick at one edge, but progressively thin out towards the other. There were times when we felt it being a little bulky. Actually at 2.25 kilos, it is at a benchmark weight for a typical 14-incher. But maybe after using all those sleek 13-inch thin-and-light models our outlook towards traditional laptops is changing. Premium features like a backlit keyboard and battery life indicator, found on the Studio series, are expectedly missing from the Inspiron 14R. The heating of the laptop is also quite manageable. The speakers emitted a really loud output, although the audio quality was not so good. They are no comparison to those Altec Lansings found on HP laptops. But if all you want are loud speakers, then the 14R will not disappoint.
Overall, we were pretty happy with the design and build of the laptop.
Our 14R came pre-loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edition. The SKU we got was a higher-end one; loaded with a Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive and an ATI Radeon 5470 graphics chip. We couldn't wait to put this baby to the benchmarks, since this is the first Core i5 laden Windows laptop we're testing. We compared it to the Acer Aspire 5740G, which came with a Core i3 processor but the same ATI graphics chip. And also the HP Pavilion DV6 2005AX that had an AMD Turion X2 processor and higher-powered ATI Radeon 4650 graphics. Have a look at the scores.
PC Mark Vantage
Real World Performance
The typical Core i3 processor found on todays laptops is the Core i3 330M that's clocked at 2.13 GHz. It's a dual-core processor with Hyper-threading, which simulates 4 cores in the OS. It's also got 3MB of cache memory. The Core i5 430M processor we got on the 14R is clocked a little higher at 2.27 GHz. The main advantage of a Core i5 over a Core i3 is the Intel Turbo Boost feature. Using this it can shoot up the clock speed of one core of this processor to 2.53 GHz when needed. This will benefit when single-threaded apps are in need of that extra juice. Other specs of the Core i5 430M are same as the Core i3 330M.
So, is this speed bump worth it? If you saw the benchmark numbers you'd notice an incremental performance gain in most of the charts. In real life, one can't really make out the difference between a Core i3 and Core i5 when you're doing basic stuff. This is because even a Core i3 is powerful enough to handle modern apps of today with relative ease. It is only when you are planning to use processor-intensive software should you consider getting a Core i5 upgrade over a Core i3.
Thus, the real world performance of the Inspiron 14R was as expected; good. Everything works well, be it internet browsing or HD media playback. Thanks to the on-board ATI graphics chip, it had no problem in handling hi-def 1080p videos. Since some people are also interested in doing a little gaming on laptops, they are lured by the presence of a dedicated graphics chip. But it wouldn't be wise to just go ahead and buy it, since many laptops in the market have older-generation or moderately-powered GPUs, which will give you mediocre performance with recent PC games.
Anyway, so the 14R sports an ATI Radeon 5470 GPU. We put it through our standard array of game benchmarks. First was Street Fighter IV; where it scored a good 30 fps under the highest settings. Resident Evil 5 delivered a somewhat-stuttering 16.2 fps. A graphically-intensive game like Colin McRae: Dirt 2 lagged at an unplayable 12.7 frames per second. These scores are similar to Acer's 5740G model we tested with the same graphics chip. So, the presence of a Core i5 processor hasn't done any good to boost gaming performance.
Our final word: The 14R with ATI's 5470 graphics is good enough for playing games from a couple of years ago (like NFS Most Wanted) in high detail. Modern games would run, only if the settings are toned down. This graphics card is just about a moderate performer, and unlike a stallion like the ATI 4650/5650 that belts out 30 fps even in a game like Colin McRae Dirt 2.
Battery Life
We were skeptical that all those power-hungry elements like the loud speakers, the Core i5 processor and ATI Radeon graphics are going to suck the living hell out of the laptop's spartan 6-cell battery. Those estimations were true - in the 720p video drain test, where the brightness and sound was set to max, the 14R delivered an up-time of only 1 hour 15 minutes. In the second test we dropped the brightness down two notches, hooked it up to Wi-fi internet and started typing this article in an online word processor. Here it survived for just about 2 hours 15 minutes. This was with all power optimization turned off. So, on power saver mode and lower brightness, it could stretch close to 3 hours.
The battery life for this variant isn't very satisfactory. These numbers are generally given by 15-inch models for whom such performance is acceptable. We think the 14R could do better because the model we had was with souped up internals. The one with Intel's on-board graphics and the Core i3 processor could deliver better figures.
Price and Verdict
The Dell Inspiron 14R range starts from Rs. 33,400. Our fully-loaded config would land somewhere in the range of Rs. 40,000. Dell's very aggressive pricing is seen here, most of their models (the 14R included) have a very competitive and wallet-friendly cost. Apart from the slight bulkiness and low battery life, we had absolutely nothing to point out against the Inspiron 14R. Dell has raised the bar for laptops in the range of Rs. 30 to 40k - and we see this one as the ruler of the roost.
If you're either a college student/homemaker/businessman looking for a typical 14-inch laptop, then go check out the Inspiron 14R. The best part about Dell is the flexibility of choosing hardware of your choice on their website. If your daily tasks are going to revolve around surfing the net, office productivity and watching HD movies, then go for the Core i3 330M processor with Intel's HD graphics. This should suffice you and also give you an extra few minutes of battery life. You'd rather spend some extra money buying more RAM or hard disk space.
The Core i5 gives incremental performance gains that will only be seen in applications that are very processor intensive. So only if you feel the need for that kind of power under the hood go for the processor upgrade. If you have the intention of playing the latest games at high resolution and cinematic detail, then the 14R is NOT good enough. But for those post lunch Counter strike sessions it's more than sufficient.
The Dell Inspiron 14R range starts from Rs. 33,400. Our fully-loaded config would land somewhere in the range of Rs. 40,000. Dell's very aggressive pricing is seen here, most of their models (the 14R included) have a very competitive and wallet-friendly cost. Apart from the slight bulkiness and low battery life, we had absolutely nothing to point out against the Inspiron 14R. Dell has raised the bar for laptops in the range of Rs. 30 to 40k - and we see this one as the ruler of the roost.
If you're either a college student/homemaker/businessman looking for a typical 14-inch laptop, then go check out the Inspiron 14R. The best part about Dell is the flexibility of choosing hardware of your choice on their website. If your daily tasks are going to revolve around surfing the net, office productivity and watching HD movies, then go for the Core i3 330M processor with Intel's HD graphics. This should suffice you and also give you an extra few minutes of battery life. You'd rather spend some extra money buying more RAM or hard disk space.
The Core i5 gives incremental performance gains that will only be seen in applications that are very processor intensive. So only if you feel the need for that kind of power under the hood go for the processor upgrade. If you have the intention of playing the latest games at high resolution and cinematic detail, then the 14R is NOT good enough. But for those post lunch Counter strike sessions it's more than sufficient.
