POOR BATTERY LIFE ASIDE, THE DELL INSPIRON 15 5558 IS A POWERFUL LAPTOP THAT’S UNBEATABLE VALUE FOR MONEY
So-called “do everything” laptops are getting cheaper with every innovation from component manufacturers such as Intel and Nvidia. Dell’s Inspiron line has long been a popular choice for those on a tight budget, and this 15.6in laptop is an easy sell when it comes to the important “bang for your buck” ratio.
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Your $830 buys you a dual-core (with Hyper-Threading) Intel Core i5 clocked to 2.2GHz, 8GB of RAM and Nvidia’s latest GeForce 920M graphics card. That substantial spec pushed the Inspiron 15 5558 to an overall score of 35 in our benchmarks, easing its way past the HP Envy x360 and Toshiba Satellite Radius 15, and coming second to the Asus N551JX.
The processor may only be a dualcore chip, but we never felt hamstrung by it – open as many browser tabs as you like and you’ll barely notice a stutter.
That said, if you choose to keep the preinstalled McAfee LiveSafe software, you’ll find the noise of your teeth grinding growing ever louder as it interferes with programs and runs scans willy-nilly. We uninstalled it as soon as possible.
“If you’re mostly deskbound and want a laptop that will handle work, nothing beats the Inspiron 15 5558”
The GeForce 920M graphics card managed an average of 30.5fps in the Bioshock Infinite benchmark at Very Low settings and 1,920 x 1,080 resolution.
You won’t be able to play the very latest games in Full HD, even at limited graphics settings, but this low-end chip at least gives you the option to fire up a few older titles and play newer ones at a reduced resolution, which isn’t bad for an laptop.
Windows 10 (which is available as a free upgrade from the preinstalled Windows 8.1) feels responsive, and the only slight hesitancy in normal use comes from the spacious – if slightly sluggish -1TB, 5,400rpm Toshiba hard disk.
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BATTERY BURNOUT
With such a strong spec for the price, there are naturally compromises, the biggest of which is the battery. It recorded one of the worst results of the laptops on test, managing only 3hrs 12mins of our looping-video playback benchmark before shutting itself down. This means you never feel quite as free and off the grid as you might hope, making this laptop better suited to domestic use than life on the road.
2.2GHz Intel Core i5 5200U dual-core processor • 8GB memory • 1TB hard disk • Nvidia GeForce 920M graphics • 15.6in 1920×1080-pixel screen • Webcam • 802.11ac Wi-Fi • 3x USB 3 ports • HDMI port • Windows 10 Home • 23.8x380x260mm (HxWxD) • 2.32kg • One-year warranty
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