Overview
QUICK TAKE
The Dell Inspiron 14 7000 series is a well-rounded machine that, while its value may suffer due to a lack of an SSD and graphics card, is still a solid computer overall, with good portability and decent power for the price.
Quick Specs
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Build and Design
The Inspiron 14’s aluminum body feels good in the hand when closed. There is a bit of give on the top when squeezed, but not enough to make the device seem fragile. Instead it feels comfortable to hold with one hand. The chassis doesn’t dip much when pressed hard on the palm rests, and flexing the screen back causes very minimal rippling.
With its sturdy hinge design, the touchscreen doesn’t wobble much when tapped. While it isn’t nearly as heavy as the 15-inch Dell Inspiron 15 7000, the computer still feels secure on the tabletop while typing, not sliding overly thanks to its long rubberized grips. The fact that the Inspiron 14 utilizes a hybrid drive that combines a traditional hard drive (HDD) with a small solid state drive (SSD) cache means the device is a bit heavier than other 14-inch Ultrabooks, though at only 4.4 lbs and 0.6 inches thick, it is still plenty portable.
Ports and Connectivity
For connectivity options, this computer is a bit lacking. It features only two USB 3.0 ports, one of which has PowerShare, an HDMI output for external monitor use, a 4-in-1 SD card reader, a headphone/microphone combo jack and a Noble Lock port. The Inspiron 14 also features Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 2×2 AGN Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 for connecting external wireless devices such as mice and keyboards.
For connectivity options, this computer is a bit lacking. It features only two USB 3.0 ports, one of which has PowerShare, an HDMI output for external monitor use, a 4-in-1 SD card reader, a headphone/microphone combo jack and a Noble Lock port. The Inspiron 14 also features Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 2×2 AGN Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 for connecting external wireless devices such as mice and keyboards.
Display and Speakers
The Inspiron 14 features a 14-inch full HD TrueLife multitouch display at 1920×1080 resolution. While the color quality is good, the glossy touchscreen surface is very reflective and accumulates smudges very easily. However, it is responsive to gestures and touches throughout, and has very good viewing angles and deep, rich blacks.
The included Waves Maxx Audio software allows users to adjust sound settings based on whether they are listening to music, watching movies, gaming or more, and the good audio quality extends all the way out of the speakers. The Inspiron 14 is loud enough to fill a small room on maximum volume. Oddly the small speakers grills are located on the left and right sides of the device.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The Inspiron 14’s chiclet-style keys feel very limp and light, not offering much in the way of tactile feedback when pressed. The travel length is very short as well. However, the backlighting works well on this keyboard, which is a nice change from the usual; it has three modes (off, dim, or bright) which are controlled via a key above ‘9’. Light doesn’t seep out much from the sides of the keys, which also suggests that the keyboard may stay cleaner inside as well. The airplane mode key, which turns off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, sits right next to the brightness control and print screen keys. This lead to a few accidental cuts to wireless connections, which grew frustrating after a while.Keyboard and Touchpad
The touchpad, which is located directly below the spacebar in the center of the device, is a light and overly sensitive piece of plastic that doesn’t feel good at all when used. It also reacts readily to wrist input, making typing for long durations a bit annoying due to accidental input. There are no discrete touchpad buttons here so you may find yourself pressing a left click when you meant to press a right click, or vice versa.
Performance
The Inspiron 14 features 8 GB of DDR3 RAM and a 4th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, so it can easily handle common activities like web browsing, word processing and other general productivity tasks. The major bottleneck that users may encounter is when running intensive graphics. The Inspiron 14 does not have a discrete graphics processor, so despite having an impressive CPU and a decent amount of RAM, this laptop will most definitely struggle when playing a modern game or performing any work that involves 3D rendering.
The other area of contention we had with the device was Dell’s decision to use a hybrid drive as opposed to just a solid-state drive. Windows boot times and application launch times were very long, even when just waking the computer from sleep. While the use of the hybrid drive keeps the price down while still allowing for 500 GB of local storage, this computer suffers as a result.
As previously mentioned, a major selling point for this particular configuration is the full HD (1920 x 1080 resolution) display with multitouch surface for on-screen control of various Windows 8 apps. We are certain you’ll appreciate the extra screen real estate that a full 1080p resolution give you even if you never use the touchscreen and stick to the touchpad or an external mouse.
Battery Life
The battery test that we run includes web browsing, office productivity, multimedia and gaming tasks, at a much more strenuous level than normal usage. The Inspiron 14 that we tested lasted a very good 5 hours 13 minutes on the Balanced Powermark test.
Powermark “Balanced” battery life test results in minutes (higher score means better battery life)
Heat and Noise
Even during benchmarking, the Inspiron 14 didn’t heat up much, except around the vents on the back edge and bottom. The hard drive runs louder than solid states do, but it never got loud to a point of annoyance, likely due to the aluminum chassis muffling the sound well.
Conclusion
The Dell Inspiron 14 7000 series is a decent machine, with decent portability, for a decent price. It doesn’t excel in any particular area, but also doesn’t fall short when compared to the competition in this segment. This laptop doesn’t stand out with impressive performance due to the lack of a discrete graphics card and a slow hybrid drive … but 8 GB of RAM and a solid Intel Core i7 processor still provide enough muscle for everyday computing.
The body is solid and portable, and the screen is great (despite the glare and smudges from the touchscreen surface), but the keyboard and touchpad leave a bit to be desired, so it’s also a middle-of-the-road computer in terms of physical build. While there may be other Ultrabooks that outperform this device at around its price point, the Inspiron 14 definitely isn’t the worst, and it makes a good addition to Dell’s more affordable line of Ultrabooks.
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