I bought this during the Black Friday week sales so I got a really good price reduction on the machine. Even at it's current higher price it's still a pretty good deal. It features a core i5 processor, 6GB of RAM and a 640GB internal drive. I haven't had any problem running software/games including Civ 5 which runs quickly and smoothly. The wireless and Bluetooth operate well, though the machine seems reluctant to automatically reconnect to a network once it has entered sleep mode.
The laptop is sturdy and the screen is bright. The keyboard takes a little getting used to as the keys are a bit off-center and some keys that you will use a lot are half-sized (cursor keys, delete, etc.). That takes a little getting used to. The fan is quiet and keeps the laptop cool. It runs noticeably cooler than my previous Dell laptops and much cooler than the HP laptop we have.
It comes with 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium and I haven't had any issues with older programs not running. Adding printers is noticeably faster and easier than it was with Vista. Office 10 trial is installed and you can run "starter" for free if you don't want to buy it. That's a nice feature if all you are going to do is basic word processing/worksheets.
The negatives for this model are fairly minor. The number and placement of ports is unusual. There are only four USB ports and two are on the back and the other two near the back, one on each side. I'd rather see over/under dual ports on the side. The other problem is the power cord falls out a lot. As in all the time. Even minor shifts in your sitting position can jar it loose.
Overall it's a very nice machine.
I got this for $785. It appears the price has gone up. It is a good computer, quite fast. I am hoping that it lasts as long as my previous Dell.
I have a few minor quibbles...none of which particularly bother me, but I can see other people not being satisfied as a result of them.
It is not as sturdy as I would like.
There is a lot of "bloatware" installed on the machine that really needs to be taken care of to achieve optimal results.
The faux metal surface where you put your hands to use the keyboard will get scratched by your watch. So if that bothers you, don't get this computer.
The battery life is not amazing. I am getting about 1.5 hours off battery.
Buy Dell Inspiron i15R-2646MRB 15.6-Inch Laptop (Mars Black) Now
The real product name of this laptop, as shown in BIOS and in Windows System Information, is Dell N5010. For its price, this is a good laptop, but it can also piss you off if you are peculiar about things:
1. For a 15.6" screen, the resolution is low: 1366x768. Business laptops have standard 1400x900 for 14" screens. I've had one for years and that resolution was great for the screen size. The screen is glossy and will reflect light. Outdoors, it's almost impossible to see anything, unless you hunch over the screen to shade it. POOR vertical viewing angles. 20 degree off the perpendicular direction to the screen, colors begin to shift visibly: whiteout if you look at the screen from above, darkened if you look from a bit below.
2. The keyboard can be really annoying:
silly reassignment of Fn keys to perform laptop-specific functions (volume up/down, Wi-Fi on/off etc.) instead of doing those by pressing Fn+F#. Configurable from the BIOS though.
besides that, the F# keys are labeled a faint blue on black, and are barely visible in a well-lit room. The reflection of the screen on the glossy laptop finish near the hinge doesn't help. The visible labeling is for the laptop function keys (Wi-fi on/off, brightness up/down etc.). This shows how the laptop is aimed at those who don't know what F5 does.
odd placement of the PrintScreen key between Insert and Delete
narrow trackpad buttons, often annoying to hit with the thumb
the arrow keys are too thin, half the height of normal keys
after having used laptops without a numeric keypad for the past few years, the keypad is not only useless; it gets in the way. where I expect Backspace to be, there's now Keypad Minus.
there is no Break key (useful for Win+Break to get the Windows System properties, or Ctrl+Break in command line applications)
there is no context menu key (equivalent to right click on the focused control)
3. My unit had a problem with the fan, while other owners reported theirs worked fine. Maybe Dell has a quality control problem here. For no reason at all, my laptop's fan would ramp up and whir every 2-3 minutes for about 20 seconds, even if there is no spike in CPU load. This became really annoying in a quiet environment, such as a classroom or library. I had updated to the latest BIOS (A12), and the problem was still there. One possible way to "fix" this is to always have the CPU running one core at full speed, e.g. by running some CPU-intensive application like Folding@Home. This will keep the fan at a constant (albeit loud) speed.
So make sure these things don't bother you, or you'll hate the laptop. Try to get a feel for the keyboard and trackpad at a local store (Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Fry's etc.)
Read Best Reviews of Dell Inspiron i15R-2646MRB 15.6-Inch Laptop (Mars Black) Here
overall this is a good value laptop esp considering 6 GB RAM/500 GB HDD. screen resolution is great; however battery life is only 2 hours even with dimming the screen. my other dell laptop with a 9 cell battery (albeit 14 inch screen) lasts 4 hours.
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I got this laptop to use while traveling and it does what I wanted it to do. Add to that, the graphics and you have a great deal here. I'm not a big PC gamer, but I decided to try a couple games and see how they would work on the laptop. All the games I've installed so far, have worked perfectly. I've got a couple other Dell laptops I use for everyday things and home entertainment, both cost more than this laptop. The 2 older Dell's I have have the 17" monitors and continue to work great, but it is nice to have the slightly smaller Dell to take on trips with me. I don't use it battery powered too often, but it does have a fairly short battery life. If battery life is your biggest concern, don't bother with a laptop, pick up a netbook. I'm pleasantly surprised at the quality of this laptop, especially for the price paid to get it.
