Priced around $879, the Dell Inspiron 17 i5770-7449SLV-PUS is quite literally a powerhouse in every way. This rather bulky looking laptop, measures around 17.3 inches and weighs in at 6 lbs making its slightly less portable as compared other laptops. It does make up for this slight inconvenience with fast performance, reduced loading speeds and ample space for storage needs. So on paper this laptop looks pretty promising now let’s go further in depth to find out whether it is really worth it.
Design
There is no hiding it, it is really big. Being big does have its many upsides but for a category of devices that is meant to be portable, this does not bode well. It weighs around 6 pounds with a 10.99 x 16.35 x 0.98 inch footprint, so we could say that it doesn’t weigh as much as it looks but still 6 pounds is a bit much to carry around for a long period of time.
Now coming to the build quality, it is okay at best. The chassis of a laptop is plastic and back is also silver colored plastic and has a slight bend to it. Plastic does have a cheap vibe to it but by avoiding metal, Dell has reduced weight of an already heavy laptop by a significant amount. Inside we have a brushed metal finish with a backlit keyboard which is spaced pretty well.
Display also has thick bezels surrounding it. Some may find this to be a deal breaker but it just comes down to personal preference .Is also has 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, an HDMI port, an AC charging port , an SD card reader and a DVD writer. We also have a finger print scanner built into the power button, which is a nice touch. All in all, this laptop is no conversation starter. Though it has a neat design, it looks ordinary at best.
Display
Screen we are given is pretty good. It is not great but is pretty good. The 17.3 inch FHD screen is very pretty to look at. Resolution maxes out at 1920×1080, so no 4K video support .It has a decent amount of brightness, averaging close to 229 nits.
Color reproduction is okay and at best, it needs to be improved. The display, owing to its size is a pretty good medium for watching movies or to stream some Netflix. Screen also has an anti- glare matte finish which makes it easier to see.
Keyboard, Touchpad and Audio
Inspiron’s keyboard isn’t the most tactile feeling keyboard in world but it is okay. It has a soft feeling to it all while delivering a smooth and comfy experience. It is also well spaced with ample amount of travel.
The touchpad, even though isn’t very large, is spacious enough. It is quite accurate and also has a very good to finish to it which feels good to touch.
The inbuilt speakers use Waves MaxxAudio technology. This does make the speaker quite loud but it does fall flat quite sometimes making for a very lack luster audio experience.
Memory
We are given a 128 GB SSD and a 1TB HDD, which is plenty space for a normal average user. It would be recommended that you don’t clutter 128 GB SSD so as to improve loading and booting times. So try to store your data in HDD rather than SSD. The downside is that nearly all routine tasks access SSD instead of HDD, which does make the task completion much faster but may lead to reduction in performance down the line.
As for RAM, this laptop comes loaded with an 8 GB DDR4 RAM with an extra slot for upgrading. The inbuilt 8 GB itself is enough for multitasking and breezes thorough browsing and other normal activities. Opt for the upgrade if you are into gaming, because most games nowadays demand more RAM, for normal day to day activities, the inbuilt RAM is sufficient enough.
Performance
Equipped with a 1.6 GHz Intel i7-8550U Gen 8 processor, 8 GB DDR4 RAM, 128 GB SSD and a 4 GB integrated AMD Radeon 530 GPU, Dell Inspiron does sound fast on paper. And it is fast but the catch is, it is fast while doing small things like browsing the internet or watching movies. AMD GPU is nothing to boast about, it is an entry level chip from 2017 and would only provide a sub-par gaming experience as far as heavy games go.
Games like Fortnite can be played on this laptop with graphics turned down. Other light games such as Overwatch or Fifa 17 could be played properly. It is pretty good for photo editing or video editing. It is not great or snappy like an ultrabook but it’ll get the job done. Overall it’s a very lackluster performance.
Battery
This is the kind of device which would rarely leave the desk it is placed on so the battery life is quite relative. It could provide up to 5 and a half hours of on time with the brightness set at the lowest. This kind of battery performance is sub-par but it rarely leaves its’ desk so it is fine.
Software
Windows 10 comes preloaded with the device. Dell SupportAssist, which is a highly responsive and useful app, is also available. It also comes with McAfee Lite and Dropbox which is also pretty useful software.
Verdict
There is no hiding the fact that this laptop is a desktop replacement. Desktop replacement laptops are a dying genre but this one shows promise.
Though it has areas which need a lot of improvement it is good enough to work as a computer for the whole family.
| Specs of Dell Inspiron 17 i5770-7449SLV-PUS |
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| Processor | Intel Core i7-8550U quad-core (up to 4.0 GHz) |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon 530 4GB |
| RAM | 8GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD |
| Display | Anti-Glare LED Backlit 17.3″ Full-HD |
