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In the past year or so Dell’s high performance brand Alienware have released a number of new laptops which have received rave reviews across the web, including here. Meanwhile under their own brand name there has been a steady turnover of new and improved models from mainstream portable systems to the luxury Adamo XPS……..

Dell has released its upgraded version of popular Inspiron 15 series, Dell Inspiron 15R notebook that features newly designed 15.6-inch widescreen HD display and packs new Intel 2010 series Core i3 Processor powered by integrated Intel HD Graphics.

Meet the InspironTM  15 — a new 15.6″ laptop computer for your everyday needs. With an attractive, clean design and mobile technology, this laptop features everything you want for everyday computing. The Inspiron 15 offers a soft touch finish with a color choice of Ruby Red, Jet Black or Midnight Blue. Not to mention Intel®  CoreTM 2 Duo processors, a Dell Dock and optional facial recognition software, all at a value within reach.

Only 1.25-inch thick, the new Dell Inspiron 15R Laptop is powered by 2.13 GHz Intel Core i3-330M Processor with 3-MB L2 smart cache,  4-Threads @ 1066 MHz FSB featuring Mobile Intel 5 Series Express Chipset (HM57)  mainboard, 3-GB DDR3 SDRAM @ 1333 MHz, 320 GB SATA 5400 rpm Hard Drive and 8X 12.7-inch SuperMulti Dual Layer DVD Writer.

The new Dell Inspiron 15R laptop sports a supposedly newly designed 15.6 inch (39 cm) Glossy UltraSharp Widescreen HD WLED TFT display with TrueLife technology offering full 720p HD resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels maximum resolution in 16million colors powered by integrated Intel HD graphics solution with shared video memory. Optionally ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5470 discrete graphics with  512MB dedicated video memory or ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5470 discrete graphics with 1-GB DDR3 video memory.

There is a built in web-cam, as well as Skype pre-installed on the system, for those of you who like to do the whole online video chat thing.  There’s also a built in wireless-G adapter, which will allow you to connect wirelessly anywhere there’s a wifi connection available.

All of the specs listed here are upgradable, but I just wanted to represent the basic system as it would ship from Dell.  While a lot of people will choose to upgrade various parts of the system, many people also don’t want to bother with that & just want to know if what they get right out of the box will do what they need.

The new Inspiron design is a step up from the series’ recent plastic-heavy look, with a brushed-metal pattern on the wrist rest and keyboard tray (although the materials still seem to be plastic). The back of the lid seems very similar to previous Inspirons, with a round Dell logo surrounded by a solid glossy color (ours was blue, but black, red, and pink are also available). The chassis has a slightly tapered design that makes it a bit thinner on the front lip, but fairly chunky at the rear.

The Inspiron 15R includes Dell’s now-standard software dock. Like the dock found on Apple’s MacBooks, it puts shortcuts to frequently used apps in a bar across the top, bottom, or side of the screen. We like the idea of having quick access to media and troubleshooting apps, and the dock itself is customizable, which is handy for removing adware, such as the included links for the CinemaNow movie store and Wild Tangent games. Speaking of adware, we also groan a bit whenever a helpful McAfee message pops up, excitedly reminding us to “Save 38 percent on Dell PC Protection Renewal!”

Unlike previous generations of Dell Inspiron laptops, you don’t get the nearly limitless build-to-order configuration options Dell is known for. Instead, we found about a dozen preconfigured models, which to be fair, cover just about every variation. You can drop down to a non-Core Pentium P6000 CPU with 3GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive for $599, or move up to a Core i5 with 6GB of RAM, Blu-ray, a 640GB hard drive, and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD5470 GPU for $974, with plenty of stops in between.

Dell Inspiron 15 is a good option for those who need a desktop relacement for the road.  If you’ve got kids going to college in the fall, this is one that you could consider and know that they will be able to do all their homework, as well as  connect with friends on Facebook and everything else.  If you’re a businessperson who’s looking for a device for the road, this should suit you just fine.  You can run any office application on this system, as well as multimedia presentation and video conferencing, etc.  For home users who are looking for a laptop instead of a desktop, again this will work for you.  If you’re a one computer type of person, and have a slightly bigger budget, you may want to consider upgrades to the processor or possibly a slightly more powerful base model, but that’s only if you’re replacing your entire desktop setup with this machine.  All in all, you get a good deal for a fair price with this Dell laptop.

Ports:

• 3 USB 2.0 compliant 4-pin ports (one on left and right side each)
• 1 eSATA/USB 2.0 port
• IEEE 1394a FireWire port
• 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN card port RJ45 Port
• External Modem/Fax card via USB port
• 15 Pin External VGA monitor port
• ExpressCard 54 mm slot
• 7-in-1 removable memory card reader (in front)
• Dual digital array Microphones
• Consumer IR Port
• Audio jacks (1 line-in, 1-line out, 1 Mic-in)
• HDMI Digital Out port

Dell Inspiron 15R Laptop PC Features:

• Intel Mobile Core i3-330M Processor, 2.13 GHz
• 3-MB L2 Cache, 4-Threads 1066 MHz FSB
• Mobile Intel 5 Series Express Chipset (HM57)  mainboard
• 3-GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM, 1333 MHz
• 320-GB SATA HDD @5400 rpm
• 8X SuperMulti Dual-Layer DVD Writer
• 15.6 inch (39 cm) Glossy UltraSharp Widescreen WLED TFT display with full 720p HD resolution at 1366 x 768 pixels
• Integrated Intel HD Graphics with shared video memory
• Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Webcam
• Built-in Microphone
• Intel High Definition Audio 2.0, Surround Sound
• Internal Stereo Speaker
• Dell Wireless 1397 802.11b/g /N Half Mini Card WiFi LAN Connection
• Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal v2.0 mini-card Wireless Connection
• Integrated 10/100 Fast Ethernet LAN
• External 56kbps v.92 Fax/Modem via USB port
• Dell MediaDirect technology for fast, one-button access to videos, music or photos
• 7-in-1 Memory Card Reader
• 15-pin VGA video output & S-Video
• Color Choice – Ruby Red, Jet Black or Midnight Blue
• 3-cell 24WHr Li-Ion Battery, Upto 3 Hrs life
  6-cell 48WHr Li-Ion Battery, Upto 6 Hrs life
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
• Dimension (WxHxD): 373.5 x 25.9/37.8 x 244 mm
• Weight: 2.65 Kgs (with 6-cell power pack)

Resources :zeitgeistpdx.com,reviews.cnet.com