Dell Inspiron 15R (I15RN-5882DBK)

Available at Best Buy for $649.99 (list), the Dell Inspiron 15R (I15RN-5882DBK) is a perfectly reasonable choice for a budget laptop. It?s not packed to the gills with performance-enhancing components, but what it has is enough to keep it consistently at the upper end of the power spectrum. If you need something stronger, but not too much more expensive, you can find it. But this machine is a fine basic choice for anyone looking for a 15-inch laptop that doesn?t put up (or cause) too much fuss.

Design
The I15RN-5882DBK maintains the standard Dell look, with a glossy lid attractively decorated to resemble brushed metal; Dell calls the lid color Diamond Black, we call it handsome. A silver Dell logo smack dab in the middle is the only other design element on the lid. The color scheme extends to the inside of the laptop as well, with the palm rest, keyboard deck, and bezel around the 15.6-inch glossy widescreen 1,366-by-768 display (a webcam is located in the center of the top edge) all black as well.

The chiclet-style keyboard uses slightly scalloped keys that offer good travel and should provide sufficient typing room even for those with larger hands. The touch pad and its easy-to-press buttons are both oversized, so you won?t feel cramped. The only other features of note are the three buttons in the upper-right corner of the keyboard: one opens up the Windows Mobility control panel, one the Dell Support Center, and one switches to an external monitor if you happen to be using one. All three, plus the power button and the Caps Lock key, glow bright white when you press them.

Weighing 5.8 pounds, the I15RN-5882DBK is approaching the heavier side, but it?s still easily manageable. Its dimensions, 1.4 by 14.8 by 10.2 inches (HWD), are likewise?acceptable for a laptop in this class.

Features
There?s a solid selection of hardware in the I15RN-5882DBK, starting with the Intel Core i5-2410M CPU. It runs at 2.3GHz, and with Turbo Boost enabled can shoot up to 2.9GHz in some situations; this dual-core processor can also utilize Intel?s Hyper-Threading technology to marshal as many as four threads at a time, for improved performance. Another plus as far as efficiency is the 6GB of on-board RAM, a healthy amount you can even expand to 8GB if you still want more. The 5,400rpm hard drive has a comfortable capacity of 640GB. Video is limited to the Intel HD Graphics 3000 system integrated into the CPU, so you won?t get as much gaming performance as you would from a discrete graphics chip.

If you want to hook up your laptop to an external display, you have three options: Either hook up an old-school monitor to the VGA port located on one rear corner, take advantage of Intel?s Wireless Display (WiDi 2.0) technology to stream content to your HDTV (assuming you have a Netgear Push2TV adapter, which must be purchased separately), or use the HDMI port located on the laptop?s left edge. Also on that side are a USB 2.0 port, a USB 2.0/eSATA combo port, and an SD/MMC card reader. On the right edge you?ll find the DVD?RW drive, headphone and microphone jacks, and a USB 3.0 port for extra-fast data transfers; there?s another one of those on the rear panel, next to the Ethernet jack. This computer is nicely equipped from a wireless standpoint, too, offering not just 802.11n Wi-Fi but also WiMAX.

Windows 7 is the (expected) operating system on the I15RN-5882DBK, and it comes pre-installed with all the various Dell utilities for safeguarding your data (DataSafe Local Backup), Dell Digital Delivery (for purchasing software), and the Dell Stage launcher for easy access to programs to help you deal with your music, photo, and video files. Also present are the potentially useful Microsoft Office 2010 Starter and McAfee Security Center, along with some more generic bloatware items: the Bing Bar, Skype, Windows Live Essentials, and an eBay link on the desktop.

A limited one-year parts-and-labor warranty from Dell is also included with the purchase price.

Performance
The I15RN-5882DBK edged into the upper ranges of performance during our benchmark tests, but never took the lead. Its 2,117 score in PCMark 7, which we use for full-system evaluation, isn?t far behind what we saw with our Editors? Choice systems: The Lenovo IdeaPad V570-1066AJU ($629.99 direct, 4 stars) earned 2,275,?and the Asus U56E-BBL6 ($699.99 list, 4 stars) earned 2,255; and is itself further ahead of the 1,926 achieved by the?Toshiba Satellite P755-S5215?($719.99 list, 3 stars)?and the 1,866 from the?Samsung NP300E5A-A01UB ($599.99 list, 4 stars). We saw the same in our other performance tests, too, with the Dell?s times converting a video clip in Handbrake and applying a dozen filters in Adobe Photoshop CS5, and its score in our CineBench R11.5 CPU-based rendering test, all a shade behind those of the Asus and Lenovo, but a fair step ahead of the other laptops? results.

Gaming was more clear cut all along the line: Only the Gateway NV55S05u ($579.99 list, 4 stars)?came in above 30 frames per second (fps) when we tested with Crysis or Lost Planet 2 at 1,024-by-768 resolution; the Dell was actually the highest, and its 20.3fps is far from praiseworthy. But if you?re even moderately interested in playing 3D games, you?ll definitely want to choose a laptop like the Gateway that has more advanced video hardware.

In terms of battery life, the 5 hours 8 minutes the Dell lasted on its 48Wh battery while running MobileMark 2007 was unremarkable compared with the two? champs: the Asus (7:42) and the Samsung (6:37). It beat out the Gateway and the Toshiba, but in neither case by very much.

There?s not much else, good or bad, to say about the Dell Inspiron 15R (I15RN-5882DBK). It?s not quite as?adept an overall performer as the Editors? Choice models, the Asus U56E-BBL6 or Lenovo IdeaPad V570-1066AJU, but it?s certainly never disappointing, either. If every last drop of processing potential matters to you, either of those machines would be a better way to go. But if you?re content with paying less, the I15RN-5882DBK won?t make you feel like you?re compromising too much.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

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