Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Likes: - The black textured plastic finish is very nice, and is used as top-side panels (top cover, palm rest). I like this better than the two-tone metallic finish since it looks more integrated, more business-like, and less as a "tack-on" like the metallic sheet accents in the 15RM. It also means the side and bottom plastic isn't a silver painted variety, but a hard ABS plastic that when scratched, will stay the same color and harder to detect. In my opinion, it is more practical and unpretentious, and the textured finish makes it no less aesthetically appealing--and in my opinion more so--than the metallic trim edition. - Windows 8 is apparently a very touch-centric OS. I suspect that may have caused some initial complaints and awkwardness with mouse and keyboard users (myself included). Having a touch screen really alters the experience. It's really more like a tablet with a keyboard than a PC with touch screen. In that sense, it is also more intuitive for users who are not tech-savvy or uncomfortable with computers. With a fairly large and vibrant glass touch screen, this laptop offers the full Windows 8 experience. I know this is a controversial issue, but while I still miss the start button, I grew to like the user experience, as did my family--especially my parents who were really uncomfortable of PCs in the past. - The overall build quality feels solid, with hard ABS plastic tub as the main chassis that's fairly durable. The touchpad is very responsive, and the keyboard has a good tactile feel. The glass touch screen apparently have enhanced the lid's rigidity as well, reducing flex which can often be an issue with large screen plastic shell laptops. - The i3 may seem like a low end processor, but to my understanding the i5 offers in addition "turbo" mode and virtualization. The former offers a small gain (a few hundred MHz in the lower end models) in clock speed for single thread applications (such as encoding), which isn't terribly common in daily tasks that are often multithreaded. The virtualization is used for Virtual Machines, XP Mode, VMWare, etc., which I suspect is probably not terribly useful for most of us. In that sense it's really the best bang for the buck, and it excelled at daily tasks like browsing, movies, Office, and the like. It handled everything we threw at it very smoothly. - The battery on this machine actually lasts longer than I expected for this screen size. With around medium usage like playing music and video, I was able to get 3-4 hours. If I try to use it mostly to encode a video or do some 3D gaming, I could still get 2-3 hours. It would last longer, such as 4-5 hours, if you were just doing light tasks like office or browsing. - The onboard Intel 4000 integrated graphics isn't the fastest or the most powerful, but other than 3D gaming, it really handles everything else with aplomb. It plays full HD videos without any issues, and the HDMI out can also let you connect to a larger monitor and TV with even higher resolution than the laptop monitor. It worked with my 27" 2560x1440 monitor just fine. Connect a bluetooth/usb keyboard and mouse, it can be an affordable and versatile energy efficient desktop as well. - It's easily upgradeable. This cannot be overemphasized especially seeing how the "ultrabook" concept often eschew upgradable ease for aesthetics. Both the hard drive and the two SO-DIMM memory slots are easily accessible through the bottom hatch cover with a few screws. It can house two SO-DIMM chips so the maximum capacity would be 16GB of RAM (it comes installed in both slots with 2GB each). The SATA drive can also be replaced with a SSD drive easily as well. - Good Connectivity- comes with bluetooth built in, something that can be appreciated when there are more bluetooth enabled portable devices/peripherals than ever: mice, keyboards, speakers, etc. 4 USB Ports (2 of which are USB 3.0) and HDMI makes for very updated connectivity. The built in multi-card reader as well as DVD burner drive also wouldn't hurt. Some Potential Issues: - The aforementioned black textured top cover (on the back of the top lid and palm rest), while looking more expensive than it is, still manages to pick up and show oil mark from palm where it is handled. Similar issue with the touchpad and palm rest area. The black just shows oily smudges and lint/dust a bit easier. However, that largely depends on how it is used. A little cleaning easily takes care of that. - It's not the most portable computer at over 5 pounds. With a 15.6" screen, you probably shouldn't expect it to be. This is probably more suitable for infrequent relocation where you get a larger screen and full size keyboard as a trade-off. - The screen resolution is only 1366x768 (good enough for 720p), with no optional upgrades apparently. In the era of ultra high resolution displays (e.g. Retina), that's probably going to be a gripe for some. People would probably expect at least a full HD (e.g. 1920x1080) display, especially given the large 15"+ screen size. However, given the price point and touch screen, the resolution isn't unreasonable. It is suitable enough for most daily tasks, and the lower resolution density makes for larger text and pictures for much easier viewing (particularly for seniors). There is always the option of connecting to an external monitor via HDMI, as mentioned above. - The Intel HD4000 integrated graphics isn't good for 3D gaming, so you probably shouldn't look at this if you plan on playing 3D games with it, unless you can stand lowest rendering settings with low framerates. 2D games, however, are very smooth and easily managed. - The included 500GB hard drive is a typical 2.5" 5400RPM drive. Like its storage capacity, it's adequate, and hasn't presented me with any issues with performance or responsiveness. One should probably not expect better at this price point. It may feel slow to some (especially if you are used to desktops with 7200RPM drives or even SSDs), yet it does have the advantage of reduced heat and power consumption over 7200RPM hard drives. If speed is really a priority, SSD is the way to go (at a premium), and can be easily upgraded. - No D-Sub VGA port. It should probably be phased out in modern laptops anyway. This may be an issue only if you use legacy products with only VGA support, such as older presentation projectors. However, a HDMI to VGA adapter is inexpensive and easily solves that. Notes: Dell has been a solid choice for budget laptops for years. I personally think this is a great iteration that doesn't feel cheap, but looks professional and almost expensive. The touch screen really completes the included Windows 8, and makes for an intuitive user experience that may be worth your giving it the benefit of the doubt. This is not meant to be a high end laptop, so if you tend to have CPU or graphic intensive tasks (e.g. video rendering, 3D Modeling, 3D gaming, etc.), or want something ultra-portable, you should probably look to pay more for something else. (In my opinion, if you really need ultra-portability, tablet/smartphones is probably the way to go). Yet if you don't carry around your laptop often, or just want something more efficient and smaller than desktop PC, without sacrificing too much power and comfort: this Inspiron offers easy upgradability, vibrant touch-screen, decent battery life, solid construction, and good performance. If you don't mind the bulk, this is a very affordable, functional and solid laptop that will easily satisfy.