Just Announced: New Dell Inspiron R, Z and Special Edition Laptops Discussion

Dell today announced its expanded Inspiron laptop portfolio just in time for graduation gifts and the upcoming back to school shopping season. Parents always want their kids to have the best advantages, and Dell is capitalizing on that by offering an impressive line-up of Inspiron laptops tailored for the unique needs of families and students. The new Inspiron 13z and 14z notebooks offer thin and light design for people on the go. The Inspiron 15R and 17R are stylish, budget-friendly laptops for everyday family PC activities, while the Inspiron 15R Special Edition and 17R Special Edition offer studio-quality multimedia and audio -- available soon on Dell.com.

Read the full content of this Article: Just Announced: New Dell Inspiron R, Z and Special Edition Laptops

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So I was the one that played with these - apologies if you hate my photos.

I have to say, they're easily the nicest value line of laptops I've ever seen from Dell, hands down. Especially that special edition, but then, they should be at those prices (bit much, in my opinion).

 

And of course, crappy low-res screens.

When will you ever learn, Dell?

 

That was something I called them out on back at the event. You know what, though? The people buying these rarely seem to care or even notice. That might change if/when Apple brings super hi-res displays to notebooks and pushes the issue to the forefront of consumer observations.

 

I know a handful of people who actually prefer lower res but higher quality screens. As for a budget line, I think the Inspiron series does a good job.

 

Yes, I think the big push for higher-res screens is only going to come from as more and more people are consuming content that is HD/HD+. Sure, most digital cameras have been recording still images that are "greater than HD" for a long time but most consumer video cameras and most streaming content isn't being sent at greater than 1080p resolution.

Also, Microsoft hasn't done the best job of making Windows automatically adjust so that typical human eyes can read text on the screen regardless of the resolution. I mean, if I show my parents a previous-gen iPad2 (1024 x 768 resolution)and a new iPad with Retina display (2048 x 1536 resolution) they can see the app icons and read books and websites on both iPads without any problem. Meanwhile, the FIRST thing they asked me to do after I bought them a 1080p desktop monitor was reset the resolution to a lower setting so that everything was easier to see and read. Windows users shouldn't have to do that ... Windows and software designed to run in Windows should just automatically scale to keep things easy to read and likewise automatically display greater-than-HD content at the display's native resolution.

As we start seeing more 4K screens for consumers and as more consumer-focused devices like tablets get displays with resolutions that are greater than 1080p I think more people will demand 1080p and 1080p+ resolutions on their laptops ... but we're not there yet for the average laptop shopper.

That said, I think the day when a large percentage of laptop shoppers demand higher res screens is fast approaching.

 

I think dell's beginning to get their Inspiron design mojo back. Seriously, for a while there they seemed to be in the weeds. These look great.

 

Yes. In my humble opinion, the previous generation Insprion aesthetics were terrible. But yet, people were so keen on dropping $799 on a Core i7-equipped Inspiron 15R, despite its cheap-looking aesthetics and mediocre display.

I rarely judge laptops strongly by their looks, but the previous-generation Inspiron line is an exception.

 

Skullcandy audio! I read on laptopmag.com that the 15R can upgrade to a 1080p screen.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

 

Woo more marketing gimmicks!

 

Well it turns out that, while the 1080 display is offered with the new 15R, it is only available with the more expensive Special Edition. Dell, once again, failed to address the critical issue of offering a budget notebook with the option to upgrade to a decent display.