Dell Inspiron 15R Special edition (7520)

ooh my 15R SE would definately kill someone if you launched it at them

its very solid/ruggedly built as far as im concerned, i love the the lid and palm rest as its nice n cold to the touch being aluminium. and no! the main body is not ripped from the stone of the gods manually using tooth pics !!! but its not MBP prices either,

its just nicely put together and ATT doesnt overheat or crash

 

The 650 DDR5 is a 660, the best card you can buy at a decent price and not wanting a huge cooling system and a lot of power. Yes, it can't play everything on 1080p at high settings, but will play most of them at medium. The screen also does a good job with lower resolutions so you might consider a high setting on a lower resolution.

1080p on 15" it a lot anyway, your eyes will thank you later.

Right now I have no idea if cooling will support OC on 650 to make it a 660 or if the (auto) OC function is even active/possible on Dell. I don't think Dell made it to barely be OK and some performance OC might work (like a +5-7% - back in the days, well, a few months ago, but this feels outdated now, the 555GT could be pushed quite a lot in the right machine - most problems were due to heat and lack of voltage).
If a game works fine without OC, then don't OC. Try it only when you need a few more fps to make it smooth. No need to push the card without a reason. And try using a cooling pad (active or not, still makes a difference).

Yes and no.

The RGB LED = Adobe RGB (more or less, does not matter that much).
The W LED = sRGB (more or less as well).

Now, if you need that extra color space from sRGB to Adobe RGB (let's say you do a lot of photo edit), you will be disappointed with it. Your best bet might not even be Dell, but a Lenovo with IPS. I saw some that even had a hardware calibration system, sorry I can't remember the model right now.

If you just use if for every day stuff, it's a good panel. Most things look OK only in sRGB mode anyway.

In any case, try to do hardware calibration. Well, in fact it's a hardware/software of course, but it's a machine that makes the choices, not a human (brain). You need something like Spyder Elite. Any other method is "close" at best. Even the hardware one is not flawless due to the nature of these LCDs.

 

I went for the 1TB and 32GB cache. The system does start very quickly and wakes from sleep very quickly. That is probably the biggest difference you will notice. I was not that interested in the Blueray either. You just have to decide if it is worth $180. I thought it was worth it.

I was impressed with the Dell Canada shipping. It came three days after I ordered it.

 

Yes, I like mine. It probably is less ruggedly built than the XPS line but it is a lot less expensive and more than rugged enough for me. It replaced my Inspiron 1525 and is a huge step up in quality and performance. I think the two finger scrolling works great btw.

 

I promised I would share my findings about battery life and the Lagom test.
I tested the battery life with Battery Eater pro, on the 'classic' (heavy use) test it consumed 40% of the battery life within 30 minutes. The 'reader's test' (just viewing a text document) consumed 20% of the battery life within 30 minutes. Hope that helps. (I hope I'll soon have time to do a batterytest myself (=not using a program) by editing photo's, playing games, reading ebook, browsing the web, that kind of stuff. Will let you know when I've done that.)

Now for the Lagom test:
(I did already calibrate my monitor using this test, but I don't think it really changed anything. (Maybe some of you can get better results by calibrating, I used nothing but my eyes and the page, and well, that's quite hard ) So here are my findings with a 'calibrated' monitor)
Contrast: I can make out all the bands of all colors (although blue 1 is very hard to make out)
Sharpness: I don't think I can change anything about that?/Not very good, can make out the big horizontal and vertical stripes.
Gamma: 48%: ??, 25%: around 1.8 somewhere, 10%: around 2.2 (this one is definitely the clearest to say something about).
Gradient: some vertical lines, not too bad
Black-level: can't make out the first 5 (not even when I try to view it low or high).
White saturation: I can make out blocks 200 up to and including 253.
Flicker: 4a flickers slightly
Response time: ??? I see a lot of flashing things, but I have no idea how to rate this
Viewing angle: from left to right little change in colors, from up to down a lot of change in colors.


Cheers!

 

MichelledeFouw
Thank you very much for the tests.
Your results of Lagom LCD test are very good for a notebook display.

 

@MichelledeFouw

Try Battery Bar, free version. It will give you battery time based on discharge rate. It will also allow you to see how much you wear the battery and if it's fast, you need to change the way you use it as much as possible.

What I do is keep it as cool as possible and keep the charging cycles to a minimum, so no run on battery-recharge-run on battery, if it's not necessary.

If you want a proper calibration for the display, try to find a Spyder Elite or something similar. The WLED screen is above average from what I can tell.

 

But at the same time the 750Gb is 7200 rpm while the 1TB is 5400 rpm, so I think that 7200 rpm will be fast enough even for booting, what do you think ?

 

Won't it be more dependent on how the chace is used?

 

Hi bananam8nuk thanks for the info!

 

Hi godgough thanks for your oppinion!

 

It depends what you mean by "fast enough". 7200 rpm and 5400 rpm hard drives generally boot between 1-2 minutes for a clean install, which is plenty fast for me.

SSDs boot in ~30 seconds, which is still fast. Relatively, the SSD is much faster - but if "fast enough" is around 1 minute for you, a 7200 rpm should be dandy (but I manually optimize my Windows for a quick boot, so that may be why I'm fine with a hard drive).

 

MichelledeFouw
Hi. I would like to buy 17R SE with the same config as you.
I must ask: how about noise and temepratures? Is it hot when playing or something like that?
Is Full HD on 17' OK? or letters are too small?
Overall, should i buy it?
Thanks ^^

Sorry for my english

 

If you can wait a few more days, I'll do a full review on mine.

I'll even try to find 2 x 8Gb RAM modules, but it's not up to me, so no promises.

I already have a layout for it, but if you guys have questions, let me know.

FHD on 17" works OK, but I gess "small" for me might not be the same "small" for you. I'll give you some screens then.

 

I would be very grateful

 

I'm also interested in reading a full review of the 17R SE. I'm particularly interested in the quality of the screen as I plan to use the 17 R SE for photo editing. If you have a hardware calibrator (Spyder 3 or similar) it would be amazing to review the screen after being properly calibrated. Maybe to post a before/after calibration report.

I'm also interested in finding out the keyboard quality, battery life and the general performance of the laptop. I would suggest running and posting the Windows Experience Index, with details for each category.

Thanks in advance!

 

I'll try.

Do you work in sRGB?

 

Yes, I do.

 

I just noticed that on the UK site they've added a new XPS15, but its specs are roughly the same as the 15R SE... same i7-3612qm processor, GT640M 2Gb, FHD dispaly, same RAM... but around £200-400 more expensive.

 

A before/after test with any calibration system might not tell the entire story, regardless the result. Not all the panels are the same and stay the same.

Calibration is not like set it and forget it. How often you need to do it is based on panel quality most of the times. You need to test it from time to time to see how accurate things are.

I will try to find the panel type in this laptop. I can't measure the color space.

It should be on par with sRGB. Not quite full sRGB, but much closer than others.

 

Can someone with the Inspiron 15R SE do some benchmarks with the 7730M? How powerful is it? Is it capable of running Skyrim on 1080p? Can someone play some games? It is greatly appreciated!!

And how is the cooling of the system? I did find an review saying it can become 90 degrees Celsius which is very hot in my opinion, what are he temperatures you guys are getting?

 

I have my 17R SE now... and from the nVidia tool:

Dedicated video memory: 2048 MB GDDR5

 

15RSE: 7.5/7.8/6.6/6.6/5.9
17RSE: 7.6/7.8/7.1/7.1/5.9

Couple notes: The 5.9 for the 17RSE is very misleading since it has SRT, which I'm sure the disk benchmark hasn't the slightest idea about. It's obviously better than a 5.9 in the real world.

Also, in the case of the 15RSE, your video results will vary--and not necessarily in a way that makes sense--depending on how winsat.exe is set in Switchable Graphics. I think there might be a problem with winsat in this area, too.

 

You're welcome!
I must say I do like the display very much, am going to use it for photo editing myself, so it's important to me it has a good quality.

Thanks, but it wasn't really about making the battery last longer, or calibrating the display. I was asked to do make a comment/review on both, so that's what it was for

Have you seen my mini review a few pages up? Noise is almost non-existent. Even when the ventilator kicks into a higher gear it's pretty quiet (at least, that's my opinion). The temperatures are fine, the aluminium palmrest gives a nice cool touch. Of course the notebook does heat up a bit, but doesn't get close to being uncomfortable.
17" is great! I don't think the letters are too small, and if I do think they are I just enlarge the webpage/word document (or you can set the windows settings to standard use a bigger letter).

For me it is a great buy, I would advise it to you, but I don't know what you want and need. But if this is what you want and need, just buy it!

WEI:
Processor: 7.1
RAM: 7.4
Graphics: 7.0
Graphics for games: 7.0
HDD: 5.9 (I am still thinking about replacing it with a SSD)
(i5, FHD 17", 6GB RAM, 750GB 7200RPM HDD, the 90W Nvidia)

I'll try to lend a Spyder, but can't guarantee anything. But Lagom test was good...

Keyboard is good, it's feels good to type with it. Battery life is stated a few messages earlier.

 

My suggestion was for you, not for testing. It will allow you to manage Dell's battery life/wear better. Did you have any Dells before?

 

I did a couple of benchmarks of the 17R SE (3610, 6GB, 750GB) back in my review on page 7, which I'll repost here:

3DMark Vantage: Overall P9952, GPU P8481, CPU P20897
3DMark11: Overall P2310, GPU P2091, Physics P7334

Generally, most games seem to work well at 1080p, and for anyone interested in doing scientific computing, the processor really seems to get through e.g. Folding@home work units quickly, thanks to the 8 hyperthreads.

I'd reiterate that the 17R SE really is a brilliant desktop replacement at a very good price.

As an aside, seems that the 650M also overclocks really nicely, and even comes overclocked in the rMBP. Should be able to comfortably get 3DMark scores of >2600 once turbo/throttling issues are resolved, possibly with newer drivers.

 

Where did you get that info? Do you also know when this will be available?

 

Can someone with the 15R SE run this program:
EnTech Taiwan | Utilities | Monitor Asset Manager and report back which screen Dell is using on the 15R SE?

 

And for the 17R SE too, please!

Thanks!

 

hope this helps:


Windows description...... Generic PnP Monitor
Manufacturer............. AUO
Plug and Play ID......... AUO21ED
Data string.............. 35K06€B156HW2 [*CP437]
Serial number............ n/a
Manufacture date......... 2011, ISO week 4
Filter driver............ Monitor
-------------------------
EDID revision............ 1.4
Input signal type........ Digital
Color bit depth.......... 6 bits per primary color
Color encoding formats... RGB 4:4:4
Screen size.............. 340 x 190 mm (15.3 in)
Power management......... Not supported
Extension blocs.......... None
-------------------------
DDC/CI................... n/a

Color characteristics
Default color space...... Non-sRGB
Display gamma............ 2.20
Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.620 - Ry 0.350
Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.320 - Gy 0.600
Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.150 - By 0.120
White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329
Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
Range limits............. Not available
GTF standard............. Not supported
Additional descriptors... None
Preferred timing......... Yes
Native/preferred timing.. 1920x1080p at 60Hz
Modeline............... "1920x1080" 148.000 1920 2020 2040 2186 1080 1090 1100 1128 +hsync -vsync
Detailed timing #1....... 1920x1080p at 40Hz
Modeline............... "1920x1080" 98.670 1920 2020 2040 2186 1080 1090 1100 1128 +hsync -vsync

Standard timings supported

Report information
Date generated........... 02/07/2012
Software revision........ 2.60.0.972
Data source.............. Registry-Active
Operating system......... 6.1.7601.2.Service Pack 1

Raw data
00,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,00,06,AF,ED,21,00,00,00,00,04,15,01,04,90,22,13,78,02,E2,B5,9E,59,52,99,26,
1E,50,54,00,00,00,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,D0,39,80,0A,71,38,30,40,64,14,
AA,00,58,C2,10,00,00,1A,8B,26,80,0A,71,38,30,40,64,14,AA,00,58,C2,10,00,00,1A,00,00,00,FE,00,33,
35,4B,30,36,80,42,31,35,36,48,57,32,00,00,00,00,00,00,41,21,9E,00,00,00,00,02,01,0A,20,20,00,16


does any one know what the limitations are for WIDI
just connected and everything seems fine, playing videos etc, but i just get an orange screen when i play a game, im just assuming you should be able to do this ?/

 

That was my idea as well. Will happen in a few days.

 

Monitor
Windows description...... Algemeen PnP-beeldscherm
Manufacturer............. CMN
Plug and Play ID......... CMN1720
Data string.............. HDKPVƒ173HGE [*CP437]
Serial number............ n/a
Manufacture date......... 2011, ISO week 2
Filter driver............ Monitor
-------------------------
EDID revision............ 1.4
Input signal type........ Digital
Color bit depth.......... 6 bits per primary color
Color encoding formats... RGB 4:4:4
Screen size.............. 380 x 210 mm (17,1 in)
Power management......... Not supported
Extension blocs.......... None
-------------------------
DDC/CI................... n/a

Color characteristics
Default color space...... Non-sRGB
Display gamma............ 2,20
Red chromaticity......... Rx 0,640 - Ry 0,330
Green chromaticity....... Gx 0,300 - Gy 0,610
Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0,150 - By 0,060
White point (default).... Wx 0,313 - Wy 0,329
Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
Range limits............. Not available
GTF standard............. Not supported
Additional descriptors... None
Preferred timing......... Yes
Native/preferred timing.. 1920x1080p at 60Hz (16:9)
Modeline............... "1920x1080" 141,290 1920 1976 2014 2110 1080 1084 1090 1116 +hsync -vsync

Standard timings supported

Report information
Date generated........... 2-7-2012
Software revision........ 2.60.0.972
Data source.............. Registry-Active
Operating system......... 6.1.7601.2.Service Pack 1

Raw data
00,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,00,0D,AE,20,17,00,00,00,00,02,15,01,04,90,26,15,78,02,ED,95,A3,54,4C,9C,26,
0F,50,54,00,00,00,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,31,37,80,BE,70,38,24,40,38,26,
46,00,7E,D7,10,00,00,1A,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,FE,00,48,
44,4B,50,56,83,31,37,33,48,47,45,0A,00,00,00,00,00,00,41,01,9E,00,00,00,00,02,01,0A,20,20,00,F0

 

I'm curious to know how overclockable the 650Ms on the 17R SE are and what sort of thermals people are getting, if anyone has that info. I wish notebookcheck or Anand would do a review of this laptop.

 

Anyone with a 15R S/E 7730M can post benchmarks/temps/FPS on some of the most demanding games? Like BF 3 for example?
Need this to make my choice about this one =D

 

Below you'll find the only review I could find for this laptop. It also has an unboxing video and benchmark results.

Dell Inspiron N7720 – Review

As you noticed it's in Romanian. Use Google Translate . You can also ask me as Romanian is my mother tongue.

 

Does anyone know if it is (easily) possible to replace the dvd drive with and hdd (ssd) in the 15R model?

 

This review is for 17" 650M, I need/want only for 15" 7730M =)

 

Those interested in the 17R SE will surely be interested.

 

Sorry friend, it wasn't my intention to say that your post isn't good, it's only that in my country, Dell isn't selling the 17R SE, only 15R SE, so I need infos in that specific NB.

Thank you for linking the review to 17R SE

 

Got mine today!

Stand out features:
1) Screen is beautiful, love the full HD coming from a 720p laptop.
It's bright and sharp.

2) Keyboard is fantastic, very very good to type on and I feel at home straight away!

3) CPU and GPU performance is great.
I dont play games on the laptop but thought i'd "stress test" it using Battlefield 3.

It runs the game on Ultra settings (except for MSAA OFF) at about 15fps, it feels smooth and is fine for running around etc, however for proper playing you would need more.

I had to drop it to Medium settings and the fps was between 26 and 32, say average of 30fps which was quite ok.

However to get really smooth gameplay I dropped the resolution to 720p and put it on "AUTO"...

On Auto settings it uses a mixture of Ultra/Medium settings which look great and it runs at 45fps average going as high as 60!

Considering BF3 is the latest and most stressful game around, I think this $1099 laptop does quit well!

Impressed with the HD7730M, was not expecting much as most people think its bad and does not compete with 640M, does ok for me!

Regarding heat, I played for about 1 hour on 64 player maps with medium/high settings and the laptop only got slightly warm. The fan seemed to be going at a fast speed and I could feel warm air coming out the left side, however the laptop itself was not hot or having any issues (I did not monitor temps).

I also did some 1080p Youtube video tests, I set IE9 to run with Intel Graphics and a full HD video played easily, the CPU usage was 15% average, the laptop was almost sleeping!

System is quite responsive using the default Intel SRT 32GB mSATA and 1GB HDD combo, boot up is VERY FAST, almost like my SSD OS on my other laptop.

Build quality is alright, its definitely no Macbook Pro or XPS, looks like my 5+ year old Insipirion 6400... (same size/weight etc).
Material and build quality is good.

I have the 15R SE with all the options ticked, after running Windows Performance Index and BF3 for quite a bit it never crashed or had any errors.

Very Happy!

 

That sounds pretty good
I wonder how well it would play the Witcher 2? It's probably the only game which has higher requirements than BF3 at the moment.

Could you please do a Windows Experience index test? I'd just like to know how it compares to the 17R SE.

 

Thanks for this information! It is the B156HW02 v1 with 59% gamut...it is such a shame that Dell uses crap screens in their notebooks .

 

Review it's almost done. I got to a very interesting part. If nothing comes up, I'll make a full post tomorrow. I don't want to ruine the surprise, in fact surprises. Spyder is still on hold, but maybe I'll get lucky with that one as well.

Thank you for your understanding.

 

Can you manually switch the vid card from intel to radeon?

 

Looking forward to your review!

 

Ordered this laptop last week. It was a tough choice between the Inspiron 15 R SE and the new XPS 15 but I just feel I get a system almost as good for half the price. Do think the XPS 15 looks very cool but I'm happy with my choice.

Unfortunately I was five minutes late when UPS wanted to deliver today. :/ One thing is for sure: Am so happy to be back to the Dell family after being bitterly disappointed with the Lenovo IdeaPad series.

 

C-man, any idea when your review will be up? Also looking forward to it

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...ell-17r-n7720-se-user-review.html#post8677093

Here it is.

 

@Bill
Do you have any idea if the msata option will be available on the UK site for the 15R SE and the 17R SE at some point?

 

Thank you soooo much!!!
So basically it'll run any current game on high. I mean, if it can play the witcher 2 at fullHD and high, then... YESssss XD

Along with the rest of the review, you've pretty much finalised my decision! I'm getting the 7720 XD