Dell Inspiron 17 7746 (2015) Notebook Review

"Never change a winning team?" - The manufacturer sticks to the design and looks of the Inspiron 7737 (2013). We are dealing with an identical chassis; interfaces, internal construction and materials have not changed since 2013. That seems strange at first, but Apple also follows this policy for its Air and MacBook Pro models. Unfortunately, Dell has not managed to eliminate the primary weak point, the stability of the base, which is not very impressive.

Both the lid and chassis are comprised of a solid piece of aluminum (underside and upper side). The edges have been beveled and polished to a high finish, which creates the high-quality impression. Dell opted for an end-to-end hinge that is also made of aluminum, but which is not solid (aluminum cover). It has a very firm grip on the lid and the display barely rocks. The fit of the hinge is so tight that we had to hold down the base when opening the laptop.

All silver anodized aluminum surfaces are sleek but fairly slip-proof. The advantage over a polished/brushed finish is the fingerprint resistance.

The stiffness of the 17-inch Inspiron does not correspond to the material quality. The chassis can be warped with only one hand. It obviously twists when both hands are used, and we noticed play in the gaps on the underside. That is different with the lid, which seems to be made of one piece. Even pressure on the center (Dell logo) has no effect.

None of the competitors is a match for the materials and looks of the 7000 lineup. Asus' N751JK comes very close with its silver aluminum B cover, but its quality is higher owing to the base's better stability.

Communication

Wireless connections are established via Intel's Wireless AC-7265 that is connected with two antennas. Unfortunately, the range issues of the N-7260 adapter in the precursor still exist. The laptop did not find a signal 15 meters (~49 feet) outside of the building. The other review samples did not have this problem; many models even found a limited connectivity at 45 meters (~148 feet, non-standardized test). The full signal was available at a distance of 3 and 10 meters (~10 and 33 feet) from the AC router. The poor wireless connection might be related to the Inspiron's aluminum casing. The antennas would be shielded if they were in the lid. Since this has not changed, the successor has also inherited this shortcoming. Realtek's RTL8168/8111 Gigabit-LAN Controller and the Bluetooth 4.0 module finish off the bundle.

Accessories

Just a warranty booklet and quick start guide are in the box besides the 90-watt power supply. Of the preloaded software, only the 12-month trial version of McAfee LiveSafe is worth mentioning. Windows DVDs are not in the box. The user should therefore create recovery DVDs via Dell's Backup & Recovery tool to be on the safe side in case of a hard drive malfunction.

Maintenance

At first glance, accessing the hardware only seems possible from the underside. The battery, HDD and two RAM bars are under two covers. The keyboard has to be removed first to access the fan and Wi-Fi module. Only savvy tinkerers should attempt this since scratching is inevitable. The plastic underside can be removed after releasing the three screws under the keyboard.

Webcam

The HD camera is quite inappropriate for a laptop of this price range. The poor image quality does not even correspond to the average of our webcam samples taken with laptops. The photos with a maximum 1280x720 pixels are very noisy, the colors look pale and unnatural, and focus is only impeccable in the center area (fish-eye).

Warranty

The 12-month warranty (collect and return service) is typical for Dell. An upgrade to a two-year on-site service costs 129 Euros (~$145), for example. A two-year warranty is included in the price of competitors from Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo and Acer.

The 17.3-inch screen's resolution of 1920x1080 pixels is not particularly high. That only equals 127 ppi in a 17-inch device. An eye can just barely see the single pixels with effort (0.2 mm). The multi-touch screen supports ten fingers, and comes from AUO (model: AUO119D B173HTN). It is an IPS display with a glossy surface, which is common for touchscreens.

Our review sample obviously is at a disadvantage with its 15-watt SoC. At first glance, the Cinebench scores look abysmal, especially when we keep in mind that it is a heavy, big 17-inch machine from which the buyer expects a certain amount of high performance. However, these scores were expected from a Broadwell 5200U. The dual-core chip has to compete with quad-core, 47-watt standard mobile processors, which is impossible for a 15-watt chip.

Compared with other notebooks sporting the same processor, the 5200U is on a normal level. It is disappointing that the Boost apparently cannot benefit at all from the aluminum chassis' high cooling capacities. The light, slim ZenBook UX303LA (premium, 13-inch) as well as HP's Pavilion 17-f217ng (budget, 17-inch) achieve exactly the same Cinebench scores.

Cinebench R15 multi CPU ran stably at 2.5 GHz, which is owed to the permanent utilization of the Turbo range. 2.7 GHz were possible in the single test (one core). 2.5 GHz are also reached in battery mode; the benchmark scores were identical.

The temperatures are more in favor of the review sample. Our Inspiron 17 7746 did not even reach 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit, hot spot) in the stress test. Some competitors present as much as 52 degrees (125.6 Fahrenheit). The most powerful laptop, the Aspire V Nitro 7-791G, is again most affected here. The gaming machine also gets 3 to 6 degrees (~5 to 10 Fahrenheit) warmer in idle mode. However, overall, it cannot be said that the surfaces of any of the comparison devices get too warm. 17-inch devices are not made for use on the lap anyway, making waste heat fairly secondary.

The temperatures are on a very agreeable level when idle and during low load with a maximum average of 25 degrees (77 Fahrenheit) on the upper side. A feature of aluminum bases is the very even distribution of heat over both the upper side and underside.

This looks different with the inner temperatures. The waste heat of the SoC and graphics card has a direct impact on the performance. The frequency of the CPU and GPU increases or decreases as soon as certain temperatures are reached according to how the manufacturer sets the temp-tables.

The CPU and GPU performed the stress test with almost stable performance. The 845M always clocked at 1150 MHz (stable), and the CPU remained at 2.5 GHz (multi-core load). That is clearly over the 2.2 GHz default clock rate, and we can thus speak of a full Turbo utilization at all times. That would be an important statement in a slim 13-inch device, but it is compulsory for the cooling system of a 17-inch, aluminum machine.

The speakers are found under the wrist rest, and they radiate their sound on the tabletop. The presets in Dell's Audio render the sound as if it were being played in a confined space. The presets in MaxxSense do not seem right for classic music. In any case, the MaxxAudioPro provides settings for bass, treble, stereo, volume and more. New setting or presets are very audible; we cannot deny that the speakers have an acceptable sound spectrum.

Despite MaxxBass, the low ranges are neglected. We would have expected more from a 17-inch laptop with a multimedia claim. The sound in games, movies or music is not bad, but we would have hoped for a bit more bang. The volume is relatively high, but not deafening. At least there is no scratching or distortions at maximum level.

Recordings made with the integrated dual-array microphone, located to the right and left of the webcam, sound hollow and tinny. The recordings were best at a distance of 50 centimeters (~20 in), but the hollow sound impression unfortunately remained at a slightly improved level no matter what microphone preset we used.

Buyers of all genders will gladly put this on their tabletop: A classy, pleasant-to-touch, high-quality, 17-inch laptop with a high-contrast, Full HD screen and generously sized input devices. The 7746 has apparently done everything right for a place on the desk. The cool and fingerprint-free casing looks good under the hands. Unfortunately, the input devices disappoint particularly in office use; the feedback is weak and the adjective "shaky" comes to mind.

Users with expectations of stability will also be disappointed. Dell does not achieve the rigidness of a MacBook or ZenBook aluminum unibody, although the chassis is made of one piece of metal (plastic underside with cover).

As to the FHD screen, the 7746 offers a middling contrast and wide viewing angles. Unfortunately, the brightness sets standards in the below average range. However, that is of no consequence in view of the reflective touchscreen's poor outdoor suitability. The competitors, some with a matte IPS screen, provide better equipment here.

A fly in the ointment is the SoC's low computing power compared with the 47-watt chips in similarly priced competitors. We particularly ascertained performance losses in some games, which were sometimes below the performance of an 840M alongside a standard-voltage CPU. The performance is more than satisfactory outside the gaming world. However, it is ultimately disappointing that a heavy, bulky 17-inch laptop does not have more power under its hood than a light, slim 13-inch device based on the same 15-watt SoC. Waiving performance would still have been tolerable had Dell at least implemented weighty advantages in other aspects. That is not the case apart from the battery life, load power consumption and low waste heat.

The competitors offer more performance for the money, in particular for games. Acer's Aspire V Nitro 7-791G pleases the gaming community with a GeForce GTX 960M, standard-voltage Core i5 and a brighter, higher contrast screen (starts at 950 Euros/~$1067). Asus' N751JK is pricier, but also has better gaming performance with its GTX 850M. Besides that, the external subwoofer adds surround sound. We are currently testing the newest N751JX-T4056H version with a GeForce GTX 950M.

Lenovo's IdeaPad Y70-70 Touch (starts at 1100 Euros/~$1235) with a GTX 860M is a genuine gaming laptop. However, the casing has some weak points, and the limited CPU Turbo utilization is not particularly attractive for gamers. A GPU alternative from AMD is found in Toshiba's Satellite S70-B-106 (Radeon R9 M265X). This 17-inch machine scored a lower rating in total, though.

We would recommend a configuration of Acer's Aspire V Nitro 7-791G to gaming fans, and multimedia fans should stick to Asus' N751JK or the latest N751JX.