The Dell Inspiron 14 7000 made to knock your socks off
Byline: By Daryl Tan
Ask anyone about Dell and you might get a similar reply: boring, office staples. Thus, Dell has attempted to refresh its notebook line-up to better compete against all comers. So is the new Inspiron 7000 series, the darling of Dell’s home notebooks, a case of same old, same old?
Premium Feel
Unlike its predecessors, which comes clad in metal, the new this new Dell Inspiron 14 7000 ditched the metal look in favour of soft touch plastics that feels surprisingly sturdy and premium. Its lightweight chassis belies the potent innards within as it comesequipped with an Intel 4th Generation Core i7 and NVIDIA GTX graphics. Paired with 8GB RAM, the notebook absolutely flies with apps opening quickly never having any expected stutters. It is seamless even with Spotify, BioShock Infinite, and multiple tabs of Chrome open at the same time. This new Inspiron is a very capable machine indeed.
Pleasant Sights
It’s not every day that you find an absolutely gorgeous full HD screen on a 14inch notebook. The matte IPS display is simply a delight to look at ascolourscome out vibrant with excellent contrast. Even the viewing angles are peerless. This proves Dell made a good choice to go with a matte display. Personally, the sacrifice of a clearer picture in exchange for being able to see what’s on the screen instead of seeing your own face is well worth it.
Gaming Champ
NVIDIA rolled out itsGTX 850M for this Dell entry, and it’s easy to see why; the near high-end graphics is able to withstand my barrage of heavy games with surprising aplomb. I consistently achieved over 60fps on DotA 2 at its highest settings, while newer games like Shadow of Mordor averaged 40fps at full resolution with medium settings. That is mighty impressive coming from such a small package. Even if killer games like Crysis 3 choked the Inspiron at Ultra, the performance of the Inspiron is certainly nothing to scoff at.
LAN Parties, Ahoy!
The Dell Inspiron 14 7000 is a truly remarkable piece of tech.With decent looks, it manages to hold its own with a solid excellent performance. Its light and portable chassis also makes carrying this bad boy to any LAN party an absolute breeze.
Price: RM3,199
Dimensions (W x H x D): 346.5 x 25.9-28.9 x 247.5mm
Weight 2.12kg (2.23 with optical drive)
OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit
Processor: 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4710HQ
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 4GB DDR3
Display: 14in HD Anti-Glare IPS Display, 1920 x 1080
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 1TB 5400rpm SATA Hybrid
Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 802.11ac Wi-Fi
I/O: 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x Global Headset
PC Mark 8 Home: 2480
PC Mark 8 Work: 3530
3D Mark Fire Strike: 2458
3D Mark Sky Diver: 13429
3D Mark Cloud Gate: 7325
3D Mark Ice Storm: 52548
Value: 10/10
Features: 8/10
Performance: 10/10
Design: 9/10
Usability: 8/10
Verdict: A lightweight gaming machine that will satisfy any nomadic fragger.
Total Score: 9/10
