Review Dell Inspiron 15R-5537 Notebook

A ULV CPU and integrated graphics - this should easily make a compact chassis possible. However, Dell has adopted the fairly bulky casing without evident changes. This involves both advantages and disadvantages. The elegant, timeless design is still appealing in terms of looks. Curved forms and the black-silver finish convey an equally discreet and high-quality impression. As in the past, it is also still possible to order a differently colored underside for the new Inspiron 15R. However, only the silver version is currently available in the configurator.

The massive build mentioned above results in a weight of 2.3 kilograms and a thickness of approximately 3.4 centimeters. Comparably swift ultrabooks usually only have a height of about 20 millimeters. However, this is partly due to the downward protruding battery and the somewhat thicker touchscreen in the Inspiron 15R.

The casing has to be praised for its meticulous rigidness. The blend of aluminum and plastic materials prove to be exceptionally resistant so that almost brute force is needed to dent the surface. The screen is virtually on a par with that and also excels with its stiffness. Two accurately-running, very tightly-pulled hinges have a firm grip on the lid although vibrations can cause it to wobble slightly.

In the end, only a few minor manufacturing flaws prevent the Inspiron from reaching a high score. Some gaps could be a bit narrower, but we do not have much to criticize otherwise.

Maintenance

It is too bad that the laptop only has a 2.5-inch slot and two memory banks despite its big casing. They are also all occupied in state of delivery. Dell could have at least installed an mSATA slot so that the user does not have to choose between either HDD or SSD. While the storage and memory can be accessed through an easy to open maintenance cover, disassembling the laptop even more proves to be a bit trickier. However, Dell exemplarily includes a comprehensive Owner's Manual that explains every step in detail.

Warranty

As typical for Dell, the purchase price only includes a 12 month pick-up and repair service, which can be upgraded when required. The surcharge for warranty upgrades and additional services, e.g. telephone support, on-site service, is quite steep. 115 Euros (~$152) is charged for a total of two years and 150 Euros (~$198) is due for 3 years.

It is barely surprising that the screen only has a limited outdoor suitability considering the low brightness and reflective glare screen. In some cases, it is almost impossible to see whether the laptop is even on. Consequently, the user should preferably stay in the shade where reflections are at least a bit weaker. Nevertheless, it would have been better if the manufacturer had installed a brighter screen with a minimum of 250 - 300 cd/m² from the outset.

We finish this overall inglorious chapter with the examination of the viewing angle stability. To make it short, the Inspiron presents the same drawbacks as its contenders with a TN screen. Particularly looking down or up on the screen leads to a visible color and contrast deviation. However, the lateral range is also very limited. A high-quality IPS screen that would alleviate this problem is regrettably not even available for a surcharge.

Dell installs one of the fastest ULV CPUs in form of the Core i7-4500U. The dual-core processor, based on the latest Haswell architecture, clocks with 1.8 to 3.0 GHz (2 cores: 2.7 GHz maximum). It also features the known Hyper Threading technology which enables processing up to 4 threads at the same time. Intel however did not primarily focus on increasing performance but rather on reducing power consumption. Thus, not only has the TDP of 17 watts from Ivy Bridge been reduced to 15 watts but the formerly external chipset is now integrated into the CPU package. The platform's TDP could thus be reduced by a remarkable 5 watts despite the identical 22 nanometer build process. 

Another innovation is the integrated HD Graphics 4400 that is a somewhat lower clocked version of the HD Graphics 4600 that we exhaustively tested. Dell unfortunately does not offer dedicated graphics cards in combination with the Haswell CPUs. We will examine to what extent this is a step backward compared with the precursor with an optional Radeon HD 8730M further below.

However, the generous memory configuration should be very satisfying. 2x 4 GB of DDR3L-1600, "L" stands for the lower supply voltage, and a 1000 GB hard drive should please even demanding users.

It is too bad that Dell does not install an SSD or at least an SSD cache in the Inspiron 15R despite the quite confident pricing. Instead, only a conventional hard drive is available that at least offers a generous 1000 GB.

The storage comes from Western Digital's Scorpio Blue series and does not promise any performance-breaking records with a speed of 5400 rpm. Nevertheless, the transfer rates are quite impressive. Over 85 MB/s in the HD Tune benchmark is remarkable for a 2.5-inch drive. The fairly short access time of only 17.1 milliseconds adds to that as an equally above-average good result. It should however be clear that even low-cost SSDs are in a completely different league.

Providing the user is happy with relatively low graphics settings, the HD 4400 can render most current games in an acceptable frame rate. Except for the extremely demanding Metro: Last Light, our review sample coped easily with all tested titles and sometimes even had enough power reserves for slightly higher details. It again becomes evident that omitting a dedicated graphics solution leads to a noticeable performance drop. Even mid-range accelerators are roughly twice as fast.

As expected, the energy-efficient ULV processor not only ensures a discreet noise level but also an exceptionally low temperature development. Although we performed our tests in summer-like temperatures, the casing's surface barely exceeded 40 °C even during full load. Most parts of the laptop were at most lukewarm. Thus, nothing stands in the way of using the laptop on the thighs.

But what does it look like with the hardware inside the casing? After we tortured the Core i7 for over an hour with Prime95 and FurMark we read out the chip's clock rates and core temperatures and were surprised. Despite the cool temperature of 64 °C, the processor throttled to only 1.1 to 1.2 GHz. Apparently, the low TDP prevents higher frequencies especially since the graphics unit reserves a large part of the power budget for itself. We did not observe throttling in the HD Graphics 4400. Quite the opposite is true. A large part of the Turbo Boost's range is even maxed out with 800 to 850 MHz.

Runtime miracle, office artist, multimedia entertainer: The Inspiron 15R-5537 proved to be an all-round talent, which fused many good traits in our review. The decent quality impression of the casing and input devices were particularly convincing, just like the low noise development and low power consumption. The latter is primarily due to the energy-efficient Haswell CPU that has truly made a gigantic leap in idle and partial load performance compared with Ivy Bridge.

However, Dell also charges accordingly for this. Around 740 Euros (~$980) is not exactly a bargain despite the decent equipment. This is even truer in view of the fact that the previous option of a dedicated graphics solution has been completely eliminated. Even if the HD Graphics 4400 provides acceptable power for an integrated GPU, it is at most recommendable for undemanding casual gamers. The much too dark and very viewing angle dependent screen also has to be reproached. Regrettably, the manufacturer does not offer a better display even for a surcharge.

Many contenders naturally struggle with similar problems or are considerably more expensive. Nevertheless, there are a few interesting alternatives, particularly when a Haswell processor is not an absolute must. The most compelling option could be the extremely price-reduced precursor with an additional Radeon GPU. However, it will likely soon be discontinued.