Dell Inspiron 17R Review: Lightweight with Various Options

Dell Inspiron 17R: At First Glance

With the Dell Inspiron 17R, Dell has once again proven that they are one of the best in the laptop manufacturing business. Basically, this Dell Inspiron 17R laptop is another big name in the brand’s highly commendable Inspiron lineup.

Furthermore, this laptop offers numerous specs configurations ranging from the processor to the GPU. Also, the laptop comes with some mouth-watering features that sure will entice potential buyers.

However, that doesn’t mean the laptop doesn’t have one or two setbacks. Having mentioned a few things about the Dell Inspiron 17R, let us get to know the laptop even more in subsequent sections below.

Dell Inspiron 17R: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Like most laptops in the Inspirion lineup, the Dell Inspiron 17R features a neat and sleek design that looks amazing. To give more details, this laptop comes with a matte-black plastic chassis.

Although this laptop’s chassis is made of plastic, the laptop is very sturdy and durable.

That said, the Dell Inspiron 17R’s lid comes with a diamond-cut texture that makes it really attractive. Something else that makes this laptop’s lid attractive is the silver “Dell” logo at the center of the lid.

Impressively, this lid doesn’t flex a bit even when pushed with force. This is all thanks to the two sturdy hinges that connect the lid to the laptop’s base.

Upon opening this lid, you will find out that the Dell Inspiron 17R features a 17.3-inch display screen. Interestingly, Dell offers multiple screen resolution options for the Dell Inspiron 17R’s massive display.

These screen resolution options include an HD+ (1600 x 900) and an FHD (1920 x 1080) resolution. In terms of performance, with either resolution option, the Dell Inspiron 17R’s display should be able to deliver decent picture quality.

However, this laptop’s display is surrounded by thick bezels that may cause some major distractions when viewing the display. On a positive note, there is a “Dell” logo on the left edge of the bottom bezels.

The top bezel, on the other hand, features a 720p webcam, a webcam indicator, and a microphone. This laptop’s webcam offers ideal performance for casual video conference calls.

However, for taking pictures, this webcam is a “no-no”.

Moving on to the keyboard, the Dell Inspiron 17R comes with a full-size chiclet-style keyboard. This keyboard features well-spaced keys that offer a decent amount of key travel.

In case you were curious, key travel is the distance between a key’s resting point and complete depression. Therefore, thanks to its key travel, this keyboard should offer a comfortable typing experience.

Beneath the keyboard, the Dell Inspiron 17R features a sizeable touchpad with dedicated click buttons. This touchpad is quite accurate, responsive, and its dedicated click buttons offer decent key travel.

That said, now for the ports, the Dell Inspiron 17R comes with a really good number of ports. To give more details, the left side of the laptop houses two USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port, and an HDMI port.

Also, you will find an Ethernet port, charging port, and combo headphone/microphone port on the laptop’s left side. Meanwhile, on the right side of the laptop, there is a DVD+/-RW drive, a Kensington lock slot, and a USB 2.0 port.

That is not all for the ports, the laptop also features an 8-in-1 media card reader slot on its front side. Thus, this media card reader supports SD cards, SD Hi-Capacity (SDHC) cards, and SD Extended Capacity (SDXC) cards with Ultra High Speed (UHS).

That’s not all, the media card reader also supports a micro SD card, memory stick PRO, memory stick extended capacity (MSXC), multimedia card (MMC), and a multimedia card plus (MMC+).

For the dimensions and weight, the Dell Inspiron 17R measures 412 x 270 x 31 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1200 g. Clearly, weighing just 1200 g, this laptop can be considered to be lightweight.

In fact, due to its lightweight, you should be able to carry the laptop around with ease. Comparatively, this Dell Inspiron laptop is about two times lighter than the HP Pavilion G6 which weighs 2500 g.

In conclusion, the Dell Inspiron 17R features a decent design and offers two display resolution options. Also, this laptop offers a large number of ports and weighs less than most of its competitors.

Hence, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 17R a nine out of ten in this design review section.

Dell Inspiron 17R: Processor (CPU) Performance

Just like the display resolution, the Dell Inspiron 17R offers multiple processor options. Basically, you can purchase the laptop with either an Intel Pentium 977, Intel Celeron 887, or Intel Core i7-3517U processor.

The Intel Pentium 977 and Intel Celeron 887 are both dual-core processors with a cache memory of 2 MB. The Intel Core i7-3517U processor, however, is also a dual-core processor but features a cache memory of 4 MB.

In terms of speed, the Intel Pentium 977 and Intel Celeron 887 features a standard frequency of 1.40 GHz and 1.50 GHz respectively. However, the Intel Core i7-3517U processor features a base and maximum frequency of 1.90 GHz and 3.0 GHz respectively.

Performance-wise, the Intel Core i7-3517U processor is way better and faster than the other processor options. This is due to the fact that the processor features a higher cache memory and a maximum frequency.

Thankfully, this review is based on the Dell Inspiron 17R with the Intel Core i7-3517U processor. Thus, with this CPU, the Dell Inspiron 17R should be able to handle most computing tasks including heavy multitasking.

Besides, this laptop should be able to run demanding applications without slowing down.

That said, to further verify the laptop’s performance with this Intel Core i7 processor, we will now discuss its results on a Cinebench R10 benchmark test. Briefly, Cinebench R10 is a benchmark test that evaluates the performance of a computer’s processor by testing its cores.

Basically, the benchmark test measures how the processor will perform whenever its processor cores are in use. Hence, the benchmark test involves two tests – the single-core test and the multi-core test.

The single-core test basically assesses the performance of the computer’s CPU when only one core is operating. The multi-core test, on the other hand, evaluates the CPU’s performance when all of its cores are operating.

Moreover, on both tests, a high score indicates a great processor performance. So, according to the test results, the Dell Inspiron 17R was able to score 5102 points and 10589 points on the single-core and multi-core tests respectively.

Comparatively, the Dell Inspiron 17R was outperformed by the Dell Inspiron 15 5566 which uses an Intel Core i7-7500U processor. Specifically, the Dell Inspiron 15 5566 scored 5624 points and 12161 points on the Cinebench R10 single-core and multi-core tests respectively.

In conclusion, the Dell Inspiron 17R offers multiple processor options including a powerful Intel Core i7 processor. However, the laptop performed less than one of its closest competitors on a CPU benchmark test.

Hence, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 17R an eight out of ten in this processor review section.

Dell Inspiron 17R: Memory (RAM) Performance

For the memory, the Dell Inspiron 17R offers standard memory of 2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz. Also, this laptop comes with one memory slot and supports a maximum RAM capacity of 8 GB.

Honestly, 2 GB of memory might not be enough for the Dell Inspiron 17R to run smoothly or handle heavy multitasking. Therefore, if you know you will be multitasking heavily on the Dell Inspiron 17R, it is best you upgrade its memory to 8 GB.

Speaking of multitasking, this laptop should be able to smoothly run 15 Chrome tabs concurrently with 8 GB RAM. Besides, with this amount of memory, the laptop will be able to switch between the chrome tabs swiftly without lagging.

To further prove this laptop’s performance with 8 GB, we will now be discussing its PCMark 10 test result. PCMark 10 is a benchmark test that measures the performance of a computer when handling basic productivity tasks.

It is important to mention that a high score on this test means a good performance. So, on this PCMark 10 test, the Dell Inspiron 17R scored 5071 points.

Comparatively, the Dell Inspiron 17R performed significantly better than the HP Pavilion G6. To give more details, the HP Pavilion G6 scored 2434 points on the PCMark 10 test.

In conclusion, the Dell Inspiron 17R offers a limited memory capacity and just a single memory slot. However, the laptop performed better than one of its closest competitors on a memory benchmark test.

Therefore, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 17R an eight out of ten in this memory review section.

Dell Inspiron 17R: Storage Option and Performance

When it comes to storage, the Dell Inspiron 17R features a 5400 RPM HDD storage type. Furthermore, this laptop supports a maximum storage capacity of 1 TB.

In my opinion, 1 TB of storage space should be sufficient for most users. Nevertheless, if you feel the storage space isn’t enough, the Dell Inspiron 17R has an 8-in-1 media card reader for storage expansion.

However, due to the fact that this laptop uses HDD storage, it might not offer a fast transfer speed. To prove this, I will now discuss the laptop’s performance on a file transfer (copy) test.

Specifically, the Dell Inspiron 17R was able to transfer 4.97 GB of mix-media files at a transfer (copy) rate of 25.1 MB/s. Comparatively, the HP Pavilion G6 which also uses HDD storage was able to achieve a transfer rate of 33.9 MB/s.

In addition to its slow transfer speed, the Dell Inspiron 17R also offers a slow boot time due to its HDD storage. To give more details, it takes this laptop around 25 seconds to boot into Windows 8.

This boot time is about 4 seconds slower than the HP Pavilion G6’s 21 seconds boot time.

In conclusion, although the Dell Inspiron 17R offers sufficient storage space, its storage speed is very poor. Therefore, I will be rating the laptop a seven out of ten in this storage review section.

Dell Inspiron 17R: Graphics Card Performance

To start with, the Dell Inspiron 17R offers four graphics card options that buyers can choose from. These graphics card options include the Intel HD Graphics, Intel HD Graphics 4000, AMD Radeon HD7670M, and AMD Radeon HD8730M GPU.

The Intel HD Graphics is an integrated graphics card that offers a base frequency of 350 MHz and a boost frequency of 1150 MHz. Similarly, the Intel HD Graphics 4000, is also an integrated graphics card.

However, this graphics card offers a base frequency of 650 MHz and a boost frequency of 1050 MHz.

That said, the AMD Radeon HD7670M and AMD Radeon HD8730M are both dedicated graphics cards. The AMD Radeon HD7670M offers a dedicated VRAM of 1 GB DDR3 and a standard frequency of 600 MHz.

The AMD Radeon HD8730M, on the other hand, features a dedicated VRAM of 2 GB DDR3. Also, this graphics card offers a base frequency of 650 MHz and a boost frequency of 700 MHz.

The integrated graphics card options won’t be powerful enough to run graphic-demanding apps or games. This is because they are built into the laptop’s processor options and share the laptop’s memory with them to carry out graphics-related tasks.

The dedicated GPU options, on the other hand, are capable of running graphics-demanding games or apps. This is due to the fact that they feature dedicated VRAM.

Thankfully, this review is based on the Dell Inspiron 17R with the dedicated AMD Radeon HD8730M graphics card. Therefore, with this graphics card, the laptop should be able to smoothly run graphics-intensive apps like Adobe Photoshop.

Also, the laptop should be able to deliver a frame rate of around 54 fps while playing graphics-demanding games like Far Cry 3. Thus, if you are a graphics designer or love gaming, it is best you purchase the Dell Inspiron 17R with a dedicated graphics card.

Moving on, we will now be discussing the Dell Inspiron 17R’s result on a 3DMark 11 test. This test is to further prove the laptop’s performance with the AMD Radeon HD8730M graphics card.

For clarity, the 3DMark 11 test is a benchmark test that measures a computer’s graphics rendering ability. Furthermore, the higher the score on this test, the better the graphics performance of the computer.

So, on the 3DMark 11 test, the Dell Inspiron 17R scored 589 points. Unfortunately, this Dell laptop falls short of the HP Pavilion G6 which uses a dedicated AMD Radeon HD 7670M.

Specifically, the HP Pavilion G6 was able to deliver a score of 642 points on the 3DMark 11 test.

Therefore, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 17R an eight out of ten in this graphics review section. This rating is due to the fact that the laptop offers multiple graphics card options.

Dell Inspiron 17R: Battery Life and Performance

Unlike the graphics card, the Dell Inspiron 17R offers just one battery option. To give more details, this laptop comes with a 4-cell 40 WHr, “smart” lithium-ion battery.

To confirm how long the Dell Inspiron 17R can last with this battery, we will now examine its result on a battery rundown test. This battery rundown test involves surfing the internet via a WIFI connection while the laptop’s brightness level is at 50%.

At the end of this test, the Inspiron 17R lasted for 3 hours and 58 minutes. This battery life is a few minutes longer than the 3 hours and 45 minutes category average.

However, when compared to the HP Pavilion G6, the Dell Inspiron 17R have shorter battery life. To give more details, on the battery rundown test, the HP Pavilion G6 lasted 4 hours and 39 minutes.

In conclusion, the Dell Inspiron 17R offers an average battery life. Therefore, I will be rating the laptop a seven out of ten in this section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Dell Inspiron 17R is a laptop that offers numerous configuration options. Essentially, this laptop offers two resolution options, three processor options, and four graphics card options.

Besides its numerous configuration options, this laptop also comes with a good number of ports. Also, the laptop is somewhat lightweight and offers decent storage space.

However, the laptop’s boot time and transfer speed are poor due to its slow HDD storage. Notwithstanding, if you need a laptop with various configuration options to choose from, the Dell Inspiron 17R might just be your best pick.

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