Dell Intros Inspiron 15R Alloy Edition Discussion

Dell has introduced a version of its Inspiron 15R notebook featuring an aluminum finish with a laser-etched wave design.

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Is that a Dell Envy?

 

To say the lid pattern is atrocious would be too kind.

 

Essentially, this is Dell's response to HP's Envy-like metal budget G-series.

 

Since when was the G-series metal? I think you mean the dv6 select edition.

I wish this was around when I was looking for a laptop. It doesn't look to great, but I'm sure it has a better screen than the dv6 at least, plus a number pad...

 

Well, it has a metal lid, although admittedly it does have a largely plastic chassis. What I meant was that overall, the G-series had a more premium look than the previously all-plastic Inspiron line, so the shift to use of aluminum alloy with the Inspiron 15R is largely a response to HP's use of different materials in its cheapest laptops.

 

Huh. I was positive that the lid was plastic, and I have seen it in person. The only metal I noticed was the hinges...

I see your point, of course, but you've gotten me curious.

 

Dell's Inspiron line is sorely lacking in the quality department compared to the HP G-series; the same goes to for the Dell Studio vs. HP Pavilion. The keyboard is also not as good and neither is the design (naturally, all my opinion). Dell has some catching up to do.

 

Chaz I own a G61 and the quality is excellent compared to the inspiron

ps. did you get a new notebook

 

Reminds me of WWII "splinter" camouflage. Maybe they're trying to attract some of those military FPS gamer-types?

 

Yet another 15.6" laptop with a 1366x768 display. I wish they'd stop wasting time on gimmicks and actually improve the fundamentals of the product.

 

This reminded me of the Envy also. I think you guys are being far too harsh on its appearance -- it's very stylish. I prefer the Envy's pattern, which is a more understated, but this design is hardly garish in the world of laptops. I like it.

 

I don't mind how it looks. It looks a bit better than the standard Inspiron 15; however, I do agree that resolution for a 15in notebook is a bad move.

 

Higher res costs more money, and the manufacturer can't really control the price of parts. All of them should have the option for a higher res, but I think 1366x768 isn't going to be phased out anytime soon.

 

Yes they can, to an extent. Major manufacturers like Dell and HP have a lot of purchasing power. They buy their parts in large quantity bulk orders. They have some influence with their suppliers.

 

Yeah but they still wanna save costs when they realize 90% of the consumers don't really care.

 

For me, screen quality is a leading cause of laptop envy.

 

For YOU yes, but go to Best Buy and ask and I'm sure half the buyers will not really care. If you stick a "720p" sticker on the laptop's specs they'll think it's some "high definition screen"

Caring for one thing and what the masses care about is different. For example, I care about viewing angles, but most people won't that much seeing as they keep their laptop screen opened to the same rough angles, but I wanna be able to see at 160 degrees if need be.

 

That is the issue -- consumer ignorance. City Pig is correct, 1366x768 is not going anywhere.

Most notebooks have used crappy resolutions for years; 1280x800 was the old 16:10 standard and 1024x768 before that.
The problem is, these days, it is getting harder and harder to find a notebook with a decent screen resolution (1600x900 or better) -- you really have to look around. Even in business class notebooks it is becoming more difficult to find.

 

Well you have to think about the change in market. Back when laptops were first introduced, they were a premium product that only corporate users would buy. Back then, laptops were still considered a "niche" or "specialty" purchase so not every Joe and his mom went to get one, usually an office IT consultant would purchase some select few in the company. Therefore, back then, the market of people were both lesser and more knowledgeable due to this more "niche" status of the product. Nowadays though, every Joe and his mother has a laptop therefore the ignorance factor boosted a lot. It's the fate of every product gone "widespread" according to my Materials Design teacher.

 

1366 x 768 is so bad, my really old dell latitude had 1600x1200 for a 15"
that was amazing

now i have the ul30vt-a1, this res. is so ugh

 

Higher resolutions create headaches in terms of reading text. Yes, you can play around with font and icon sizes, but in reality, 1366x768 (or 1280x800 for diehard 16:10 fans) is a perfectly acceptable resolution for a mainstream notebook computer. Sometimes even a 900P upgraded notebook screen creates more problems than it solves.

I know there are people who complained when 1200P screens disappeared from a couple of high-end notebook lines, but there again, very few buyers were interested in the upgrade. After all, if the giant flat screen in your living room looks fine with 1080P or even 720P, why do you need 1200P for your notebook? There's no 1200P content, so why bother.

 

What's so amazing about tiny text and tiny icons? Where's the 1200P video content - oh, that's right, it doesn't exist.

Basically, there wasn't any substantial demand for 1200P notebook screens. It was a pricey upgrade without any obvious applications. If you need that much screen real estate, you're probably using an external monitor already.

 

If Dell is going to offer alloy screen lids or palm rests on the Inspiron R series, we can assume it's because the Inspiron R is very nearly the same as the new XPS series, in much the same way that the Envy 14 can easily be mistaken for a DM4. It all comes down to marketing. It's easy to get buyers to pay more for hardware upgrades if you slap an upmarket name on the product, rather than retaining a downmarket name. After all, would you rather pay $1000+ for an HP Envy or for a HP Pavilion that has the same specs and appears to be mostly the same computer. It's brilliant marketing.

Of course, the marketing gets really confused when Dell launches this "Alloy Edition" Inspiron. Ummm....why upgrade to a 15" XPS? HP also plays the same games, and there might be a cheapo Pavilion G-series sneaking around with an alloy lid. Why? To sell computers. However, you really have to wonder about paying extra to upgrade to the XPS and Envy lines when there are so many similar looking Pavilion and Inspiron models around. Is is any wonder than consumer have abandoned high end notebook PCs for MacBooks?

 

Oh boy. This isn't going to end well.

The simple answer is that computers aren't televisions. They are used for work, and certain types of work (writing long code, high-res photo editing, CAD, ect.) work better at high resolutions. Also, games look prettier at high resolutions. Some people want to be able to do their work on the go or don't have much desk space, so an external monitor doesn't work for everyone. And believe it or not, there are people that actually like small text and icons.

That said, you are right about the demand, but you're a bit off about the reason. It's really consumer ignorance. Most consumers don't even know what resolution is beyond HDTVs. Hell, they even think that screen size determines real estate! However, they do know what HD is. Therefore, an HD sticker is enough to fool them into thinking a laptop screen is amazing. This is taken advantage of by manufacturers. Since anything higher than 1024x768 is fine for general use, manufacturers are trying to save money by only putting high-res screens on high-end computers, meaning that anyone with a budget of less than $1500 (even worse in some countries) is screwed if they need a high-res screen. That's why I think that 1366x768 is fine as a base option, but there need to be upgrade options.

 

What's so amazing about super fast speed and acceleration? Where are the roads that you can drive over 160 kph on without fear of being arrested - oh, that's right, they don't exist.

Basically, there wasn't any substantial demand for turbo-charged V8s and Hemi's. It makes for pricey cars without any obvious applications. If you need that much speed, you probably own a race car already.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

The ignorance is spreading everywhere...for my work the bosses have decided on some ridiculous low limit for laptops (there is money in the university, for 3-4 cross atlantic trips for the bosses of course). If there are 500 euro laptops, a 1000 euro laptop is considered a "luxury" item and wasteful.
I'm having to buy a external monitor for work with my own money