While it isn’t part of its Dell Alienware series, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming (7577) is one such gaming laptop that bridges the gap between performance and price, giving you the best of both worlds. I have never really been a fan of the Alienware series, mostly due to its steep price point, but this is one gaming laptop I can back.
Sleekly Designed
While renowned for its mid-tier gaming line-up, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming Series focuses mainly on providing a seamless and well-rounded experience without the heavy price tag. The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 (7577) entry is one such gaming laptop, featuring a specially designed sleek matte black coating around the body.
While the bezels around the display are slightly larger than normal, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it is an Ultra HD display with 3840 x 2160-pixels resolution. This makes it a 4K display, meaning it is great for both gaming and movies; a plus point for any laptop. Its clean and discreet aesthetics also doesn’t give the Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming the impression that it is a gaming laptop.
Present it to any Tom, Dick and Harry on the streets and they’ll probably think it’s just like any other laptop. That is one thing I enjoy – the subtlety that comes with this laptop.
A Great Piece of Work
Running this specific Dell Inspiron 15 7000 entry through a few benchmarks, the scores came back accurate to the specs that roars within. With the Intel 7th Generation Core i7-7700HQ processor, 16GB DDR4 memory and a GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q GPU, this is strictly within the mid-range gaming laptop category.
Some of the games tested include Defense of the Ancients 2, Overwatch and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG); all yield decent results. Frame-rates are great across the board and the laptop barely heated up. In fact, it stayed quiet even during critical moments in-game. It also doesn’t stutter at all when playing; this is great, especially if you’re a rager like me.
Even the palm rests on the Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming was pretty comfortable, due to its large spacing. Normally, that would be the part that heats up, especially for gaming laptops but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.
Keyboard Could be Better Though
Having spent two weeks with it, it quickly became apparent that the keyboard for the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is mediocre at best. While I do like the subtle red hue that floods over the keys, I hate the fact that it is slightly smaller than usual. Of course, this is due to my fat large fingers; and you know what they say about people with fingers like that: they can’t eat Pringles properly.
Personally, go get a proper keyboard, gaming or otherwise, and hook it up with the laptop. Without it, my typing became slower (I tested it through typingtest.com) and my keystrokes isn’t as smooth as I imagined it to be. Of course, that isn’t the laptop’s fault perse, it’s mostly just me. If you have averagely-sized fingers, you’ll do just fine with this.
Netflix and Lepak
I had a Netflix Asia representative point out that the term ‘Netflix and Chill’ has such a negative connotation so she suggested I use this instead, which is a lot more relatable…now, back to the matter at hand.
Once more, the 4K display is the perfect partner. Going through my Netflix on a Friday night in proves how this laptop is the only companion needed. 4K HDR videos turned out crisp and vivid on this bad boy. I even lost count of the number of times I wanted to sleep early, but binge-watched an entire season instead. It’s just too good; with the visual and writing, obviously.
Dell’s Resurgence
While many know that Dell Alienware is pretty overpriced, I believe that the Dell Inspiron 7000 gaming laptops are worth looking into. At RM6,699, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 (7577) is practically the top-end of its series. Besides packing in pretty decent hardware to back its stature, it also rocks decent front-firing speakers and work well with action movies as they receive optimisation from Waves MaxxAudio Pro.
At a similar price point, there aren’t many gaming laptops that offer the same amount of performance, sans a few brands that mainly hail from Taiwan. Overall, Dell did an awesome job and, hopefully, it’ll continue this trend for years to come.
