Review Dell Inspiron 17R-5737 Notebook

The chassis did not change since the last generation. Dell deserves praise for the nice metal surfaces that cover the lid and the palm rest. Aluminum is not a matter of course for devices below 1,000 Euros (~$1364).

However, the case is not completely made out of high-quality metal to keep the costs down. Besides the bottom, the outer frame of the notebook is also only made of plastic. Dirt is not really a problem thanks to the bright color scheme and the matte finish, only the glossy keyboard frame attracts fingerprints and dust particles.

There is also not much criticism with the design. The style of the Inspiron 17R is individual yet suitable for the masses and should work for the majority of users. One exception is the battery compartment, which sticks out at the top of the chassis. The thick curvature between the hinges is not really appealing. The 17-inch device is pretty good in terms of stability, but you can dent the area around the optical drive.

We could also find small imperfections in regard to the build quality. Our review unit had some slightly imprecise material transitions and gaps, wobbly touchpad buttons and some creaking sounds (strong pressure in the area of the DVD burner). We can also see the background illumination through the corners of the display frame, which should not be the case. The overall quality is, however, solid and comparable to many rivals; many of the mentioned weaknesses can only be seen with a closer inspection.

Software

Dell is able to keep a good balance between scope and unnecessary bloatware in regard to the preloaded applications. Almost everything could be deemed useful if you ignore the Amazon app. Among others you get a trial version of Microsoft Office 365 and McAfee Internet Security; Windows Essentials 2012 and a Media Suite from CyberLink are also available. 

This set of applications is complemented by several tools from the manufacturer, for instance My Dell with many settings or a backup and recovery application for the system. You can also delete them if you do not use them to save some storage. The notebook reacts rather sluggishly right after the boot.

Accessories

The number of provided accessories is not really generous. Similar to most companies, Dell only puts a quick-start guide and some information brochures (warranty information, security information, etc.) in the box. Recovery and driver DVDs are not included.

Warranty

The Internet shop Notebooksbilliger.de, which supplied our review unit, specifies the warranty with 24 months. If you order the Inspiron 17R directly from the manufacturer's website, you can replace the one-year carry-in and repair service (Limited Support) with a 12- to 48-month on-site service (Premium Support). The according upgrade comes with an additional charge between 69 and 249 Euros (~$94 and ~$339).

Processor

The Core i7-4500U is an energy-efficient ULV model, which is, contrary to other dual-core CPUs like the Core i5-4300M, specified with a TDP of 15 instead of 37 Watts. However, the L3 cache is slightly bigger with four instead of three MB. The Haswell chip is produced in a 22 nm manufacturing process.

Even though the nominal clock of 1.8 GHz is rather low, the Core i7-4500U can run with up to 3.0 GHz via Turbo Boost. Hyper-threading even allows the processor to execute four threads simultaneously. The integrated GPU from Intel has the designation HD Graphics 4400, but the performance is slightly behind standard voltage dual-core CPUs because of the lower clock (200-1100 MHz). The HD Graphics 4600 is, depending on the application, much faster.

But performance or not: It is much more important that Dell integrated AMD's Enduro technology into the Inspiron 17R. It automatically switches between the integrated and the dedicated GPU, which improves the energy management and the battery runtimes.

New games and 3D applications should be recognized correctly by the HD 8870M if you use current drivers. Unfortunately, AMD's switchable graphics is still not quite as good as its counterpart from Nvidia (Optimus technology) – it lacks reliability and feedback. You can at least assign each program with one of the GPUs or change the global profile via Catalyst Control Center.

The Radeon HD 8870M is AMD's transition between the mainstream and the high-end range. Given the shader units, you could speak of a halved Radeon HD 8970M.

The current top version based on the GCN architecture (will be replaced by the R9 M290X soon) has 1,280 instead of 640 shaders. Further limitations of the HD 8870M are the core clock (725 vs. 850 MHz), the memory interface (128- vs. 256-bit) and the memory size (2048 vs. 4096 MB). However, the DirectX11 version is also smaller, more frugal and easier to cool in return.

The core clock can be increased up to 775 MHz during 3D applications via PowerTune, which is similar to Intel's Turbo Boost technology. Our measurements confirm the feature (even though the clock fluctuates between 725, 755 and 775 MHz). We already know that the performance is similar to the old GeForce GTX 660M from our review of the Samsung 770Z7E.

Our review unit used the driver version 12.100.14.7000 (according to the tool GPU-Z). There can be problems in some games (see section Gaming Performance), so we recommend an update.

Despite the generous size, the device only has one 2.5-inch drive bay. Dell equips it with a 1,000 GB hard drive from Western Digital. The WDC Scorpio Blue WD10JPVX-75JC3T0 is one of the fastest drives with 5400 rpm, even some 7200 rpm drives cannot keep up with the sequential transfer rates (read and write) of more than 110 MB/s.

Normal Windows operation does, however, quickly show the limitations of the conventional drive. Many actions take much longer than with a modern Solid State Drive because of the low speed with small data.

You should ditch the HDD in favor of an according 2.5-inch SSD if you can afford it. Cloning and transferring the operating system is another topic. Dell should at least have integrated an mSATA slot or offer an SSD upgrade ex-works.

As you can see in the gaming chart, the HD 8870M is quickly brought to its limits with newer titles. A combination of 1920x1080 pixels, (very) high details and activated anti-aliasing usually results in unplayable frame rates.

Using 1600x900 or 1366x768 pixels is much better for the GPU, even though you should not exaggerate anti-aliasing or the level of detail with these resolutions, either. The extreme scenario, when the low CPU clock reduces the performance, will require minimum settings (for instance Assassin's Creed IV). However, less complex titles like FIFA 14 are no problem for the DirectX 11 chip. 

All in all, the performance of the Inspiron 17R is only sufficient for occasional gamers.

The enormous temperature development is another sign for the limited cooling performance. The notebook only warms up to a moderate 26-31 °C during idle, but the surfaces get really hot under load. A maximum temperature of 51 °C (around the fan) could also be the result of a real high-end notebook. Up to 42 °C in the area of the palm rest is not perfect either. 

Another critical issue is the temperatures of the components. Despite a temporary CPU throttling to 800 MHz and a GPU throttling to 575 MHz, both the Core i7-4500U and the HD 8870M can exceed 90 °C under maximum load. The situation would be much better with a more powerful cooling solution. The temperatures in the current situation are not perfect by any means.

The sound quality tries hard to compensate for the previously mentioned problem. Dell integrates two stereo speakers at the front that not only have good maximum volume, but also convenient software. The most important part is the MaxxAudio 4 technology, which improves the sound quality. You can select between different profiles (movie, music, voice, gaming etc.) that clearly have an effect on the sound.

The lack of a subwoofer is not a huge problem for the Inspiron 17R because the speakers already do a fairly good job. All in all, the performance of the speakers is above average. The majority of the rivals are worse, but it is not enough for the reference. It is not really surprising that the 2.0 system sounds a bit tinny.

Even though the battery capacity of 65 Wh does not win any prizes, the 17-inch device manages surprisingly good battery runtimes. A minimum value of 120 minutes (high load, 100% luminance) is as respectable as a maximum runtime of around nine hours (low load, lowest brightness setting).

Wireless web browsing with around 50% luminance is possible for little more than 5.5 hours. This is a good result and also beats most of the rivals. The same applies for 3.5 hours movie playback. Multimedia notebooks with a standard voltage CPU instead of a ULV model usually manage less (for instance the Asus N750JV).

The choice of a processor with a TDP of 15 Watts is a blessing and a curse at the same time. On the one hand you get good results for the energy consumption and battery runtime; on the other hand it is very disappointing that the dual-core cannot always utilize its full performance. 

The reason for that should be the suboptimal cooling solution. As we demonstrated in the course of our review, the all-rounder has serious problems dissipating the heat under load. Dell should also improve the port variety and layout as well as the maintainability. Some users would certainly appreciate it if they could clean the fan.

Dell does a good job otherwise. The noble (even though pretty heavy) 17-inch case can convince with a bright and high-contrast display and does not really attract dirt. There are also no bigger problems with the keyboard and the touchpad.

We can recommend our review unit for the retail price of 850 Euros (~$1159).