Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Русский
Türkçe
Svenska
Chinese
MagyarReview Dell Inspiron 17R-5721 Notebook
For the original German review, see here.
At first, there were simple 13-inch ultrabooks with integrated graphics. Customers wanted big-screen gaming so the ultrabooks with 14 and 15-inch displays and dedicated graphics appeared. Even a real gaming machine was pressed into thin aluminum (Asus Zenbook UX51VZ with the GT 650M, 20 mm thick). Some manufactures quickly abandoned ultrabook standards in terms of size and weight.
Dell continues this evolution and now equips its 15- and 17-inch mainstream laptops exclusively with low-voltage processors (i3/i5/i7). Does the customer have to fear performance disadvantages? Or is the frugal customer happy with the low energy consumption and long battery runtime? We are going to find out.
The list of the competition in the 17-inch class with prices up to 800 Euros (~$1050) is very big. There are a vast number of available configurations. The graphical options are the GT 650M, GT 640M (Kepler architecture), GT 630M and the AMD HD 7670M. We will need to see how the new Radeon HD 8730M compares to the offerings from Nvidia.
- Acer Aspire V3-771G (i5, GT 630M), 550 Euros (~$725), review GT 650M version
- HP Pavilion g7-2222sg/2205sg (i5, HD 7670M), 575 Euros (~$760), review 2007sg
- HP Envy dv7-7200sg (i5, GT 630M), 690 Euros (~$910), review premium edition (European market)
- Packard Bell EasyNote LV44-HC-137GE (i5, GT 630M), 575 Euros
- ASUS X75VD-TY205H (i5, GT 640M), 620 Euros (~$820), review Asus K75VJ (identical in construction)
- Lenovo G780 (i5, GT 630M), 600 Euros (~$790)
- Toshiba Satellite Pro L870-173 (i5, HD 7670M), 640 Euros (~$840)
- Samsung 350E7C (i5, HD 7670M), 680 Euros (~$900)
- Samsung 550P7C (i5, GT 630M), 800 Euros (~$1050), review with GT 650M
- Sony Vaio SVE-E1712Q1E/W (i5, HD 7650M), 730 Euros (~$960), review with PDC
- Dell Inspiron 17R SE (i7, GT 650M), 800 Euros
Case
Compared to the 2012 Inspiron 17R-SE-7720 (anodized aluminum) and the 2011 Inspiron 17R (N7110), both with replaceable display covers, the new Inspiron does not have such an exchangeable cover anymore. Now a matte, sparkling blue anodized and brushed aluminum surface covers the display and the palm rest. A good choice by Dell, even if the material has a negative impact on the weight (2.91 kg/6.41 lb.). The cool surfaces are a significant design improvement, avoid fingerprints and enable very good stability. This is seen especially with the large palm rest, which cannot be dented even slightly with substantial pressure.
The cover has limited torsional resistance and can be bent when forced. The hinges are firm but come with plastic covers. Nevertheless the hinges have a very solid connection to the base unit. During opening the heavy cover hits a point at which no further motion is possible.
The base unit is very pressure resistant even from underneath and can only be slightly twisted. All in all, the stability is very good for a heavy 17-inch device in this price range. The selected mixture of materials is of adequate quality. A similar appearance can be found on the HP Envy dv7-7200sg (matte aluminum surfaces, good stability).
The device has a maintenance cover at the bottom. The hard drive (2.5-inch), RAM (two slots occupied, 2x 4 GB) and CMOS-battery are accessible. Unfortunately, the WLAN module remains concealed. The whole bottom panel has to be removed to get to the fan.
Connectivity
The port selection is as expected from a device of this class - four USB ports (2x USB 3.0) are a small benefit. Competitors like the Lenovo G780 and the Vaio SV-E17 also have four USB ports, while the Pavilion g7-2007 and EasyNote LV44HC only have three. No competitor ignores the traditional VGA D-Sub like what Dell has done with the 17R. This is not a problem for latest TFT monitors most of the time as they usually have VGA, HDMI and DVI on board.
The ports are very close to each other on the left side, and there could be complications with thicker USB sticks. These can be avoided with the use of the single USB port on the right side. The ports are too far towards the front of the unit. All the cables block the desk area, which is a hindrance to a clean work area due to bulky HDMI or Ethernet cables.
Communication
The RJ45-port is not the usual Gigabit adaptor (1,000 MBit) that is in use in most systems, but the Fast-Ethernet chip (Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller 10/100 MBit). This is not supposed to be in a device in this era of high-speed data transfer. Anyone who ever copied hundreds of GB from one PC to another via WLAN knows that. Perhaps if the user had a Gigabit switch, then the 17R cannot deliver the supported performance.
Dell also uses the cheapest WLAN module available from Intel: the Centrino Wireless-N 2230 which only supports a single band (2.4 GHz). In case of interfering wireless networks, you cannot switch to the 5 GHz band. How is the reception quality? With a distance of three to ten meters (upstairs), the reception is excellent. Outside the house it gets down to two bars (15 m) and at 40 meters, the 17R loses the router signal. That is sufficient for daily use but adaptors like the Centrino Advanced-N 6205 are better: At further distance (40 m) it still has two bars (in the Fujitsu P702). The signal strength of the router (Fritz!Box 7270) is reduced to 50%.
The webcam has a maximum resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The exposure of pictures is good but it creates strong image noise and colors were unnaturally cool. Therefore, the webcam should not be used for pictures as the result is even worse with bad illumination indoors.
Accessories
The Dell notebook comes with a 90 watts power supply unit, the battery that is inserted at the bottom and a quick start guide. The new user should not miss anything as a Windows 8 recovery DVD is present in the box.
The laptop is light on preinstalled software. My Dell Support Center (clarify problems, contacting support, driver updates, FAQ, manual), Dell Backup & Recovery (burn an image) and Dell Digital Delivery (update of the system software via service tag) are the only OEM software. There is also manual for Windows 8 with useful tips.
Warranty
The standard warranty period (pickup & return) is 12 months. For longer coverage, you have to purchase a warranty extension. One year on-site service is an additional 75 Euros (~$100), two years 115 Euros (~$150) and three years 150 Euros (~$200). Dell also offers accident coverage for 40-80 Euros (~$50 to $110).
Input Devices
Keyboard
The matte black chiclet keyboard convinces with precise and clear pressure point in combination with medium key travel. The stability is very good and the area does not yield even under high pressure. Fast and accurate typing is a bit difficult due to the lack of a finger-friendly design (available in Lenovo laptops) but the large key spacing and the wide layout can compensate for that. The separate arrow keys and the numeric keypad with a standard layout (+/-/Return on the right side) are very convenient. However, all 17-inch rivals have a numerical keypad.
The noise development during typing is muffled and adds to the impression of the laptop being a high quality device. It is a good keyboard for daily use, but serious typists will desire more key travel as well as curvature better design on the keys (see Latitude).
Touchpad
With a diagonal of 11.3 centimeters, the touchpad is quite large and allows navigating the mouse over the entire screen without repositioning your finger. They slide over the matte surface with small resistance. The Dell input device is very precise and delivers distinct feedback for every movement. Dell offers a very comfortable setup for the multi-touch pad. Cursor movements, sensitivity and browse/scroll can be adjusted separately. Although, almost all trackpads offer these adjustments, the ease of use and explanation of features in this case are excellent.
But the touchpad does fall short on some points. The mouse buttons have very small travel, which leads to fast triggering of the click. The feedback is too weak for our taste.
Display
One of our biggest criticisms for multimedia laptops is usually the display. Pale colors, inappropriate resolutions and small viewing angles spoil gaming and productivity. The 17R is no exception, although the contrast ratio of 354:1 is better than some competitors. The Pavilion g7-2007sg (166:1), IdeaPad G780 (141:1) and the Vaio SV-E17 (268:1) show that the screen could have been even worse. The Packard Bell LV44HC (656:1) and the Aspire V3-571G-53214G50Maii (1.016:1, FHD IPS) are better equipped (but similarly priced!).
The resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels is typical for a 17.3-inch screen and results in a very modest pixel density of 106 dpi. The TN panel is glossy, but the brightness is sufficient at 234 cd/m². All the competitors have the same glossy HD+ resolution. The Aspire with its matte Full HD display (IPS, 1920 x 1080) is still the exception in this price range.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 75 %
Center on Battery: 244 cd/m²
Contrast: 354:1 (Black: 0.69 cd/m²)49.13% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
67.1% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
51% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Color spaces and TFT calibration are important for professional picture editing and printing. This is not the target group for the 17R, but for the sake of completeness, we show the measurement results. The small sRGB color space is by no means covered, the same applying to the AdobeRGB. We compare the coverage with the IPS display of the Aspire V3 (only on some models) and see that the color space is not to be equated with contrast or viewing angles. The Aspire does not cover the sRGB as well with the color spaces of the 17R and V3 IPS panel being almost identical.
The following three screenshots show the color analysis with the i1 Pro 2 photo spectrometer and CalMAN 5 software. Without calibration we measure a distinct weakness with the grayscale presentation. The DeltaE (2000) of almost 15 (average) indicates a suboptimal presentation. Distortions for the inexperienced eye become visible with a value of 3 and more. At 7700 K, the white point is clearly shifted into the blue area (blue cast, too cool, ideal: 5500K). The color accuracy shows that blue, cyan and magenta deviate the most. The yellow line (picture 2) should be met with the 17R being almost three times above that.
Outdoors, the usage of the 17R is very limited. Thanks to the moderate heat development under load, the 17-inch device can be used as warming cushion or hand warmer on cold winter days but the reflections from the screen and the cold fingers are not very pleasant after a while. Our pictures were taken on a cloudy day; sunlight would make the dark screen even worse. To minimize the effect. the brightness should be at least 350 cd/m².
When it comes to viewing angles, the 17R shows the typical limitations of a TN panel. Viewing angles indicate whether colors or characters are clearly visible on the screen in the view from the side. The angles of the 17-inch panel are not very wide. If the screen deviates vertically, colors become pale even with small angles (around 10 degrees). To the left and right (horizontally) we could deviate up to 50 degrees from the center before colors started to invert and the TFT becomes noticeably darker.
Performance
The Inspiron 17R-5721 is equipped with a Core i5-3317U (1.7 GHz). This 17 watts processor (TDP, ultra-low voltage) is the only choice for the configuration with the dedicated Radeon HD 8730M and HD Graphics 4000 (switching via AMD Enduro). Two other versions without Radeon can be ordered with a Core i3 and i5 (only HD 4000) for a lower price.
8192 MB memory (dual channel, 2x 4GB) and a 750 GB HDD complement our package. The choice of a processor, which is currently used in many ultrabooks (MacBook Air 11-inch 2012-06), small subnotebooks (Aspire V5-171, 11.6inch) and thin 14-inch and 15-inch devices (IdeaPad U510) is very interesting, since we have a thick 17-inch device in front of us that should have no problems with the cooling of a 35 watts chip with integrated graphics (standard voltage).
Furthermore, we investigate if the selected CPU brings advantages for ergonomics, power consumption and of course, the battery runtime. The 17R is, so far, the only 17-inch notebook with an i5-3317U (and an i3 alternative) on the market. Until now, you have had to choose a device with the AMD E2-1800 (or the older E-450) if you wanted a low voltage 17-inch notebook. However these processors had scary low performance.
Processor
How does the chosen Core i5 stand against the i7-3610QM, the Pentium B980, the i5-3210M and the i7-3612QM that are used in the competition? In terms of price, the i5-3210M fits perfectly for our 17R (e.g. Packard Bell EasyNote LV44HC, starting at 575 Euros).
The Cinebench R11.5 CPU Multi benchmark (2.38 points) delivers equal results to numerous other 3317Us in our reviews. We couldn’t detect any difference in the Turbo for the different tests (2.4 GHz for multi core, 2.4 GHz for single core). We expected Turbo boost to allow the processor cores to reach the designed 2.6 GHz frequency.
Nevertheless, the cooling solution in the 17-inch body is a bonus. Many ultrabooks want to offer Core i5 or even Core i7 processors but overextend on the design with their cooling solutions. The result: The Turbo is not in use (e.g. HP Folio 13-2000) or the clock is reduced below the design clock. This does not happen with the 17R, which is indicated by the stress test (see ergonomics).
But back to the comparison with standard voltage processors. As expected, the quad cores are far ahead of the 3317U in the Multi benchmark. However, the i7-3610QM (+163 %) and the i7-3612QM (+160 %) cannot be found in the base configurations of the Pavilion g7, Asus K75VJ, Aspire V3-771G and the Inspiron 17R SE. In these cases, we get a i5-3210M (+21 %), like in the EasyNote LV44HC. The G780 performance is below average with the same CPU due to some throttling issues. Only the Pentium B980 (Vaio SV-E17, -21 %) is beaten by our low voltage model.
The differences are not that big in the Cinebench R11.5 Single benchmark (1.07 points). Here, our 17R is behind the i5-3210M (Medion Akoya +7 %; G780 throttling). The quad cores are ahead by 17-27 %. During use on the battery, the user does not lose any performance. The R11.5 Multi benchmark result is identical.
System Performance
PCMark 7 evaluates the system performance of a Windows PC. The result of 2349 points is only superior to the G780 with throttling issues and the slow Pentium based Vaio SV-E17. But even quad core systems get 17 % more points at most. In the case of the Pavilion g7-2007eg, the higher overall score is due to the Radeon HD 7670M. The more powerful GeForce GT 650M (Inspiron 17R SE) cannot enhance the System-Score significantly which is interesting. The HDD is the bottleneck for this benchmark. Only an SSD would improve the overall score significantly for our 17R and the competition.
| PCMark 7 Score | 2349 points | |
Help | ||
Storage Devices
The Western Digital Scorpio Blue (WD10JPVT-75A1Yt0) offers 1000 GB for storage, and for more storage, users will have to explore the option of an mSATA SSD or find a system with two HDD bays. The 2.5-inch hard drive (9.5 mm height) only works at 5400 rpm. Apparently, it offers high performance, 92 to 104 MB/Sec for sequential reads. Read performance of smaller files is much lower (4K: 0.452 MB/Sec). The access time of 16.6 ms is okay for this type of HDD. Because of this, the PCMark 7 HDD-Score (1558 points) is slightly above average (for a 5400 rpm drive). Fast 7200 rpm drives are up to 20% faster (e.g. Asus A95VM-YZ030V).
Graphics
The Radeon HD 8730 (1024 MB, DDR3) is an AMD mainstream graphics card. The GPU can be disabled via AMD Enduro technology in favor of the integrated HD Graphics 4000. All new GPUs still support DirectX 11.1. The chip is produced using the 28 nm process, unlike the 40 nm based HD 7670M. The smaller production process gives efficiency advantages (more performance per MHz). Information on additional energy saving features like Power Gating and ZeroCore can be found in the Data-sheet of the HD 8730M.
In our opinion the performance is mixed. In the Open GL Test, it is on the level of the Radeon HD 7670M (+ 3%). A GT 630M is 50 % behind, yet the new GT 730M (+ 14 %) cannot be beaten. 3DMark 06 and 11 show a similar picture considering the GT 730M (+ 26 and 22 % respectively) and GT 640M (+ 49 and 28 % respectively).
Note: 3DMark 06 gets a big boost from the CPU of the Acer Aspire V3-571G-73614G50Makk compared to our Inspiron 17R’s low voltage core.
Without high CPU load, the HD 7670M falls back in 3DMark 11 (-20 %) and 3DMark 06 (- 20 %) (Sony Vaio SV-E1712F1EW, Pentium). The common GT 630M (-29 %) and GT 635M (-27 %) loose despite the faster processor (Asus K75VJ-TY102H, quad core; IdeaPad G780, standard i5).
| 3DMark 06 Standard Score | 8636 points | |
| 3DMark Vantage P Result | 6292 points | |
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 1510 points | |
Help | ||
| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value) | |
| Dell Inspiron 17R-5721 | |
| Sony Vaio SV-E1712F1EW | |
| Asus K75VJ-TY102H | |
| HP Pavilion g7-2007sg | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad G780 (M843MGE) | |
| Medion Akoya Sample | |
| Acer Aspire V3-571G-73614G50Makk | |
| Dell Inspiron 17R-SE-7720 | |
| 3DMark 06 - 1280x1024 Standard Score AA:0x AF:0x (sort by value) | |
| Dell Inspiron 17R-5721 | |
| Sony Vaio SV-E1712F1EW | |
| Asus K75VJ-TY102H | |
| HP Pavilion g7-2007sg | |
| Packard Bell EasyNote LV44HC-137GE | |
| Medion Akoya Sample | |
| Acer Aspire V3-571G-73614G50Makk | |
| Dell Inspiron 17R-SE-7720 | |
Gaming Performance
The gaming performance of the Radeon HD 8730M shows what 3DMark 11 already indicated: The popular HD 7670M gets 20-30 % less frames. A GT 635M can be saved by a strong quad core depending on the game (Hitman), but is otherwise slower (Mass Effect). The GT 730M is always ahead, at least around 20 %. Again, Hitman benefits from the standard Core i5 (+179 %).
Gaming is usually not possible in the native HD+ resolution (1,600 x 900). We resort to minimizing the resolution to 1366 x 768 setting to get smooth game play. One demanding game was not playable at all: Hitman: Absolution (repeatedly tested, dGPU active). The nearly identical Inspiron 15R had a similar problem with Assassin's Creed II (18 fps average). Higher settings are not possible with the Radeon HD 8730M.
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
| Crysis - GPU Benchmark (2007) | 35 | 31 | ||
| Crysis - CPU Benchmark (2007) | 31 | 27 | ||
| Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010) | 71 | 58 | 42 | |
| Metro 2033 (2010) | 72 | 41 | 22 | |
| StarCraft 2 (2010) | 94 | 27 | 20 | |
| Mafia 2 (2010) | 64 | 47 | 38 | |
| Total War: Shogun 2 (2011) | 125 | 33 | ||
| Deus Ex Human Revolution (2011) | 101 | 47 | ||
| Battlefield 3 (2011) | 38 | 32 | 27 | |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) | 58 | 44 | 30 | |
| Anno 2070 (2011) | 79 | 46 | 29 | |
| Mass Effect 3 (2012) | 57 | 44 | ||
| Risen 2: Dark Waters (2012) | 48 | 38 | 22 | |
| Diablo III (2012) | 78 | 56 | 51 | |
| Max Payne 3 (2012) | 37 | 35 | ||
| Sleeping Dogs (2012) | 49 | 28 | 22 | |
| F1 2012 (2012) | 32 | 29 | 25 | |
| Fifa 13 (2012) | 225 | 154 | 128 | |
| Medal of Honor: Warfighter (2012) | 54 | 33 | 26 | |
| Hitman: Absolution (2012) | 15 | 14 | 12 |
Emissions
Noise Level
The noise levels of the 17-inch notebook are very good. It is always audible because the fan never stops spinning. The noise is very low during idle at 32 db (A). In this scenario, the fan speed is more or less constant and therefore very convenient for office use. The hard drive can be a bit disturbing with the clatter of the read/write heads, we measured 33.4 db (A) during high activity.
When we demand the highest performance of the 17R, the noise rises up to 42.1 db (A) (stress test CPU+GPU). When we just play a game or run 3DMark 2006, we measured a moderate 36.4 db (A). In these cases the speed of the fan is also constant and there is no annoying pulsating.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 32 / 32.4 / 32.4 dB(A) |
| HDD |
| 33.4 dB(A) |
| DVD |
| 35.1 / dB(A) |
| Load |
| 36.4 / 42.1 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Voltcraft sl-320 (15 cm distance) | ||
Temperature
The cooling solution performance is pretty good on this system. Only with extremely high and continuous load on the CPU and GPU (stress test) does the bottom heat up to 48 degrees in some places. The average temperatures on the top and bottom are 36 and 34 degrees centigrade respectively. During idle, the surfaces are just lukewarm (up to 35 degrees centigrade).
Throttling was not an issue with our 17R. The 3DMark result after the stress test was identical to the value measured after a cold start. The clock in the stress scenario was always above the nominal clock of 1.7 GHz at a steady 2.4 GHz. Even with the highest CPU+GPU load, the CPU can use the Turbo feature without any restrictions. Most of the thin notebooks with the same or similar low voltage CPUs tend to throttle down at this point. Unpleasant examples of ultrabooks with throttling issues or deactivated Turbo are:
- Aspire S3-391-53314G52add (stress: 800 MHz to 2.4 GHz fluctuations)
- Aspire V5-171-53314G50ass (stress: base clock 1.7 GHz)
- Asus Zenbook UX32VD (stress: throttling at 0.8 GHz)
- Dell Inspiron 14z (5423) (stress: throttling at 1.4 GHz)
- Fujitsu LifeBook UH572 (stress: base clock 1.7 GHz)
- HP Envy 6-1000sg (stress: base clock 1.7 GHz)
- HP Envy Spectre XT 13-2000eg (stress: base clock 1.7 GHz)
The list would be even longer if we included other low voltage processors. The last generation 17R with a standard voltage CPU also had problems. Thin laptop profiles are normally to the detriment of the cooling system leading to throttling to keep temperatures down. It is still difficult to establish a reason for using an ULV processor in the new Dell 17R with its thick construction compared to the other ultrabooks and mainstream laptops on the market.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 43.4 °C / 110 F, compared to the average of 36.9 °C / 98 F, ranging from 21.1 to 71 °C for the class Multimedia.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 47.6 °C / 118 F, compared to the average of 39.1 °C / 102 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 29.9 °C / 86 F, compared to the device average of 31.2 °C / 88 F.
(±) The palmrests and touchpad can get very hot to the touch with a maximum of 39 °C / 102.2 F.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.8 °C / 83.8 F (-10.2 °C / -18.4 F).
Speakers
The 17-inch notebook is equipped with stereo speakers, which are located at the front beneath the palm rest. The volume is sufficiently high but the sound is tinny at best. The lack of a subwoofer results in almost no deep tones or bass. Music playback is uniform without differentiation of trebles, middle and deep tones. This performance is disappointing, especially for a 17-inch notebook with enough space for a subwoofer on the bottom. We could not find the "Dell-Audio" software (15R) by MaxxAudio (preconfigured profiles) on the 17R. We suggest using external speakers to enjoy music or games.
Energy Management
Power Consumption
Is the 17R as frugal as an ultrabook? Due to the lack of a 17-inch notebook with a 3317U, we compare it to the Acer Aspire V5-571G (HD 4000 + GT 620M). The Acer uses 7 to 10 watts (minimum to maximum settings) during idle. The smaller screen and the 50 cd/m² higher luminance distort the comparison, nevertheless our 17R consumes disproportionately more energy from the socket: We measure 13 to 18 watts (idle) without charging the battery.
During 3DMark 2006 the consumption rises to 42 watts, with the HD 8730M active instead of the HD 4000 (Enduro switching). The stress test consumes even more power with a measurement of 52 watts. Compared to the competition these values are low. The following table shows other 17-inch devices with similar or identical 3DMark 2006 scores needing up to 60% more power.
| Dell Inspiron 17R-5721 Radeon HD 8730M, 3317U, WDC Scorpio Blue WD10JPVT-75A1Yt0 | Acer Aspire V5-571G-53314G50Makk GeForce GT 620M, 3317U, Hitachi Travelstar Z5K500 HTS545050A7E380 | HP Pavilion g7-2007sg Radeon HD 7670M, 3612QM, Toshiba MK7575GSX | Packard Bell EasyNote LV44HC-137GE GeForce GT 630M, 3210M, WDC Scorpio Blue WD5000BPVT-22HXZT3 | Asus K75VJ-TY102H GeForce GT 635M, 3610QM, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint ST500LM012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark 06 | |||||
| 1280x1024 Standard Score AA:0x AF:0x | 8636 | 7466 -14% | 8203 -5% | 9832 14% | 8463 -2% |
| Power Consumption | 29% | 3% | -3% | -10% | |
| Idle Minimum * | 13.1 | 6.6 50% | 10.4 21% | 7.6 42% | 7.9 40% |
| Idle Average * | 18 | 9.1 49% | 12.3 32% | 11.7 35% | 13.2 27% |
| Idle Maximum * | 18.2 | 10.2 44% | 12.3 32% | 14.2 22% | 13.3 27% |
| Load Average * | 41.6 | 42.1 -1% | 44 -6% | 66 -59% | 65.1 -56% |
| Load Maximum * | 52.2 | 49.5 5% | 86.6 -66% | 81.8 -57% | 98.1 -88% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 8% /
22% | -1% /
1% | 6% /
-1% | -6% /
-9% |
* ... smaller is better
| Off / Standby | 0.1 / 0.6 Watt |
| Idle | 13.1 / 18 / 18.2 Watt |
| Load |
41.6 / 52.2 Watt |
   
| |
Battery Runtime
Due to the high idle consumption, the battery runtimes are not much better than the competition. Only the WLAN test with a runtime of 4:01 hours is above average.
- Acer Aspire V3-771G (4:40/2:43 h; idle/WLAN; 48 Wh)
- HP Pavilion g7-2007sg (5:38/3:53 h; 48 Wh)
- Packard Bell EasyNote LV44-HC-137GE (3:51/2:33 h; 48 Wh)
- Test Asus K75VJ (5:33/3:22 h; 50 Wh)
- Lenovo G780 (5:49/3:36 h; 48 Wh)
- Sony Vaio SVE-E17 (3:51/2:36 h; 44 Wh)
- Dell Inspiron 17R SE (5:04/3:48 h; 48 Wh)
During idle, the review unit manages 5:16 hours, and even standard voltage systems with lower battery capacities reach this runtime. In contrast, the 17R comes with a 65 Wh battery.
Verdict
The 17-inch mainstream notebook, the Dell Inspiron 17R-5721 is targeting price sensitive customers who want a fully equipped notebook with gaming capabilities. The Intel Core i5-3317U (1.7 GHz) feels to be too little power at first. Based on the measurements, the performance of the low voltage system is not above ultrabooks with the same processor. Yet the 17-inch chassis with its large cooling solution offers sufficient reserves for the full CPU-Turbo feature, even with combined GPU load. This is not the case for most ultrabooks with low voltage CPUs.
The ergonomics also benefit from the large chassis. The fan does not immediately speed up with spontaneous load, and it is able to keep the fan quiet until temperatures really rise to unbearable limits. The result is a quiet system that can be used in an office environment without disturbing the neighbor.
People who like to be green will be pleased with the low consumption under load, thanks to the 18 watts TDP that is lower than the standard voltage competition (35 W). However, the AMD Radeon HD 8730M does not offer the highest frame rates in games. Gamers will have to reduce the resolution to 1366 x 768 pixels and use medium quality settings. In some cases the 3317U can be a bottleneck for games too.
