Dell inspiron 13 7000

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 – Обзор обновленного ноутбука 2-в-1

Последняя модель ноутбука Dell Inspiron 13 7000 — хороший вариант устройства 2-в-1 за приемлемую и доступную цену. За исключением нескольких недостатков.

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Ноутбук Dell Inspiron 13 7000 — Отзывы

В последнее время у производителей бюджетных ноутбуков серьёзные проблемы. Продажи падают, и даже линейка Dell Inspiron, давно известная своей доступной ценой и надёжностью, должна привлекать чем-то необыкновенным.

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-в-1 — последняя попытка корпорации Dell привлечь внимание к Inspiron, не поднимая цену. Это устройство, которое можно использовать и как ноутбук, и как планшет, с процессором i5 Core, жёстким диском SSD на 256 Гб и 8 Гб оперативной памяти. И всё это за 750 $ — не плохая цена за такие характеристики.

Но если вы можете потратить немного больше, а именно 1,080 $, вы сможете приобрести его с Core i7, с жёстким диском 512 ГБ, а также 12 ГБ оперативной памяти. Кроме того, есть сенсорный экран и 360-градусный шарнир, который позволяет использовать планшет на любой поверхности.

По описанию выходит, что Dell Inspiron — отличный вариант, но так ли это на самом деле? И действительно ли это устройство пойдёт в качестве планшета?

Небольшой ноутбук или большой планшет Dell Inspiron 13 7000

Продукция компании Dell часто получала положительные отзывы простых пользователей и экспертов за дизайн, особенно за XPS. Но линейка Inspiron никогда не вызывала такого же внимания. К примеру, версия Dell Inspiron 13 7000 прошлого года выглядела устаревшей лет на 5. Однако модель 2016 года хоть и похожа на прошлую, выглядит немного лучше.

С толщиной в 0.75 дюйма (1,9 см) в закрытом состоянии, и весом примерно в 1.6 кг, этот ноутбук может считаться достаточно тонким и лёгким.

Как и в версии 2015 года, последняя модель состоит из чистого алюминия, но есть одно заметное улучшение — клавиатура стала частью корпуса. Теперь её не окружает отдельная панель, а значит, новый Inspiron 13 выглядит более современным и стильным.

Несмотря на в целом удобный общий дизайн, есть одна деталь, которая многих раздражает — кнопка питания. Она располагается рядом с передним краем так, что велика вероятность нечаянно отключить устройство. Стоит отметить, если вы хотите использовать Dell Inspiron в качестве ноутбука, а не планшета, вам пригодится специальный шарнир, который достаточно прочен и надёжен.

Несмотря на то, что это вариант 2-в-1, и как для ноутбука он весит немного, постоянно носить его в качестве планшета в одной руке довольно нелегко.

Вы можете иногда использовать Dell Inspiron как планшет, положив его на стол, или на колене, но всё же это только дополнительная функция, а сам по себе «2-в-1» не является полноценной заменой портативности и удобств обычного планшета.

Подводя итоги, можно уверенно сказать, что Dell Inspiron 13 серии 7000 2-в-1 — это в первую очередь ноутбук.

Стильная и удобная клавиатура

Чёрные клавишами на фоне алюминия неплохо смотрятся, к тому же они расположены на достаточном расстоянии друг от друга, что очень удобно при наборе текста. Кроме того, каждая кнопка оптимально откликается на нажатие, то есть случаи, когда клавиша будет недостаточно или случайно нажата, сводятся к минимуму. К тому же, у клавиатуры есть подсветка, яркость которой можно контролировать или вообще отключить.

О дизайне нельзя сказать ничего плохого, как и хорошего

Сенсорная панель, возможно, меньше, чем она должна быть — шириной в два с половиной дюйма и высотой в четыре. Но для работы этого достаточно, к тому же есть поддержка жестов мультитач. Традиционалисты будут рады видеть чёткое разделение на имитацию левой и правой кнопки мыши. Текстуру нельзя назвать совершенной, но это не мешает в работе.

Также есть большой сенсорный экран, с гладким на ощупь стеклом, позволяющим осуществлять точный ввод данных. Единственная причина, по которой на клавиатуру приходится отвлекаться — не работающая на сенсоре прокрутка.

Подключите их всех

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-в-1 предлагает два стандартных USB-порта. Один — USB 3.0, другой — USB 2.0, и также есть порт USB Type-C, который обещает стать новым стандартом подключения. Кроме того, есть порт для SD-карт.

Полный порт HDMI позволяет подключать внешние дисплеи или телевизор, а разъём для наушников — внешние динамики или микрофон.

Двухдиапазонная беспроводная карта Intel AC-3165 обеспечивает беспроводное подключение на стандарте 802.11 ac и Bluetooth 4.1.

Проблемы с яркостью

13,3-дюймовый экран находится под цельным стеклом, которое покрывает большую часть передней панели. С разрешением 1080p, Dell Inspiron 13 7000 предлагает 166 пикселей на дюйм. Это не впечатляет, но всё же и не плохо для современного ноутбука.

Дисплей выдает 215 люменов, что создаёт проблемы для работы вне дома. Используя этот ноутбук на улице, даже в пасмурный день, приходится сильно напрягать зрение, а глянцевый экран ещё больше всё усложняет.

Оценка контрастности при максимальной яркости составляет 640: 1, что не страшно, но хуже, чем у большинства подобных устройств. Даже Acer Aspire S13 превосходит в этом Inspiron, поскольку его результат — 800:1. Этого достаточно, чтобы читать текст, но с тенями в играх и видео могут быть проблемы.

Гамма дисплея — ещё одно слабое место, поскольку Dell может обрабатывать только 48% спектра AdobeRGB. Ужасный показатель — подобные ноутбуки обычно охватывают около 70% спектра. Это означает, что диапазон отображаемых цветов не велик, что особенно заметно при просмотре качественных фотографий и видео, а также в играх, в которых из-за проблем с гаммой словно чего-то не хватает. С другой стороны, средняя разница цвета составляет 1,84, что довольно неплохо. Т.е. цвета чётко разделены, и их недостаточно.

Такие проблемы с цветовой гаммой делают всё, что вы будете смотреть на этом дисплее, недостаточно красочным, как будто с приглушённым цветом. В целом, дисплей является самым слабым местом Dell Inspiron 13 7000.

Динамики ненамного лучше. С плохим качеством на всём диапазоне, высокие и средние тона довольно трудно различить. Звук становится более чётким, если вы установите ноутбук на твёрдую плоскость, поскольку динамики находятся на нижней части устройства и звук может отражаться от поверхности. Но даже в идеальных условиях нельзя ожидать от него хорошего звучания.

Хорошая производительность за неплохую цену

Благодаря процессору Core i5 6-го поколения и 8 Гб памяти, не стоит опасаться каких-либо проблем с использованием ноутбука для решения повседневных задач.

Результаты испытаний Бенчмарком подтверждают это. С одноядерным показателем 3174 и многоядерным 6475, Dell Inspiron аналогичен другим устройствам с i5, включая Acer Aspire S13. Он не уступает даже значительно более дорогим, таким как Microsoft Surface Book с процессором i5 Core.

Тесты показывают впечатляющую производительность, как для устройства за 750 $. При такой производительности, ежедневные действия вроде посещения Интернета и обмена сообщениями никогда не будет медленными.

Да и требующие гораздо большего напряжения ресурсов задачи будут решены относительно быстро, конечно если не сравнивать с устройствами на базе Intel Core i7. К примеру, прохождения теста Handbrake, в котором нужно перекодировать файл mp4 объёмом 420МБ, у Inspiron заняло чуть более получаса. Это хороший результат, а значит и с кодированием видео ноутбук справляется без проблем.

Ёмкий жёсткий диск

Пора рассказать о Sandisk Z7400s m.2 — жёстком диске с 256 ГБ пространства. Это щедрое количество памяти, но что насчёт производительности?

Тесты показали средние, а в чём-то даже довольно низкие результаты. CrystalDiskMark определил скорость чтения в 475 мегабайт в секунду и скорость записи 310,7 МБ/с. Скорость чтения соответствует большинству подобных устройств, хотя Surface Book в этом немного превосходит Inspiron. Но скорость записи примерно на 100 МБ/c медленнее, чем у конкурентов, и это существенный недостаток.

В то время как производительность невелика, объём заслуживает похвалы. 256 Гб за 750 $ — это просто отлично, и ставит Inspiron в один ряд с Asus Zenbook UX305UA, далеко впереди большинства конкурентов. Не каждый более дорогой ноутбук имеет такой жёсткий диск, а у многих других бюджетных вариантов диск всего на 128 ГБ.

Играть можно, но не с высокими настройками

Inspiron 13 7000 использует интегрированную графику, а именно HD Graphics от Intel 520. Не стоит ожидать высокую производительность в играх, что и подтверждается тестами: Fire Strike показал 878, а Sky Diver — 3,657, и это средние результаты.

Чтобы проверить на примере, на разрешении экрана 1366 x 768 были протестированы несколько самых популярных игр.

Heroes of the Storm на самых низких настройках показала 58 кадров в секунду, что немного ниже идеальных для комфортного геймплея 60fps. Но при высоких настройках в этой же игре, частота составила 20fps.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive —выдала тоже самое. На низких настройках частота кадров составляла 73fps, а на высоких — 21fps.

Таким образом, на ноутбуке можно играть во многие игры, но высокие настройки в современных он практически не тянет.

Батареи хватает на 5 часов в интернете

Ноутбук Dell Inspiron 13 7000 имеет 3-элементную литий-ионную батарею на 41 ватт-часов мощности. Тест батареи длился четыре часа и четыре минуты автономной работы, пока батарея не разрядилась. Это неплохо, хотя подобные ноутбуки могут лучше. Acer Aspire S13, для сравнения, продержался 4 часа и 46 минут, для Zenbook UX305CA тест длился 6 часов и 17 минут.

Обычное посещение веб-сайтов медленнее расходует энергию, и батареи хватает на 5 часов работы, а воспроизведение видео высокой четкости истощит аккумулятор за 6 часов и 30 минут. Это хорошие результаты, но восторга не вызывают.

Немного шумный вентилятор Dell Inspiron 13 7000, зато не нагревается

За время всех тестов Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-в-1 не слишком нагрелся. Самая высокая температура поверхности ноутбука составила 34 градусов, что даёт ощущение тепла, но не вызывает дискомфорта, а значит ноутбук можно спокойно держать на коленях.

Вентилятор нельзя назвать бесшумным, и без наушников, в тишине, звук может отвлекать. В то же время, слушать музыку или смотреть фильм это не помешает.

Гарантия на один год

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 поставляется с ограниченной гарантией на аппаратную часть сроком на один год. Если понадобятся какие-либо ремонтные работы, необходимо будет переслать ноутбук в ближайший центр.

Итог

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-в-1 в целом можно считать хорошим ноутбуком. Прочный корпус, приемлемый срок службы батареи, и довольно неплохая производительность, учитывая цену. Так что, если бы не проблемы с дисплеем, его можно было бы рекомендовать всем.

Но есть варианты и получше. Линейка Toshiba Satellite Fusion предлагает процессор i7, 8 ГБ оперативной памяти и 256 ГБ жёсткий диск за те же 750 у.е. А если вам особенно важна память — у Lenovo Flex 3 те же характеристики, что у Satellite Fusion, но диск на 1ТБ.

Кроме того, если у вас нет необходимости в сенсорном экране, вы можете по той же цене получить лучший ноутбук — Asus Zenbook UX305UA, с превосходным дисплеем и качеством сборки.

Преимущества

Прочный, но относительно лёгкий ноутбук;
Неплохой стиль;
Железо, которое стоит потраченных денег;
Порт USB Type-C.

Недостатки

Слишком большой и тяжёлый для использования в качестве планшета;
Плохое качество цветопередачи дисплея.

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 стоит рассматривать в качестве отправной точки, если вам нужен ноутбук за 750 $, но имейте в виду его проблемы с дисплеем, прежде чем принимать решение.

Ноутбук 2-в 1 Dell Inspiron 13 7000 – видео трейлер

Если вы нашли ошибку, не работает видео, пожалуйста, выделите фрагмент текста и нажмите Ctrl+Enter.

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Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 (7386)

When PCMag last reviewed it, in March 2018, the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 convertible laptop offered woefully short battery life, a fatal flaw for a laptop whose screen rotates 360 degrees to let you use it as a tablet, practically begging you to unplug it. A new version (starts at $879; $1,009 as tested) boasts several improvements, but it retains the same relatively small battery from the previous generation. Refreshed, more efficient internal components—especially the new CPU—eke slightly more time out of the cells, and a significantly revamped chassis incorporates some sleek design elements borrowed from Dell's more expensive XPS lineup. But they're still not enough to boost this machine to the top of a crowded market, of which the Editors' Choice Lenovo Yoga 730 is currently king.

A Few Key Physical Improvements

The premium 2-in-1 convertible market is indeed crowded. Dell's flagship contender is the XPS 13 2-in-1, which competes not only against the Yoga 730, but also the HP Spectre x360, the Asus ZenBook Flip, and a handful of others from the likes of Acer, LG, Samsung, and even Google. The Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 lives one rung down the ladder in Dell's product hierarchy from the XPS 13 2-in-1, on par with the Yoga 730, the Asus VivoBook Flip, and HP Pavilion convertibles. At the bottom are Dell's Inspiron 3000 and 5000 series 2-in-1s. The Inspiron 7000 series family also includes 15-inch and 17-inch convertibles for people who need more screen real estate.

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At a starting price of $879, the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 bridges the gap between Dell's XPS flagship and under-$500 options such as the Acer Chromebook Spin 11. Thanks to their 360-degree hinges, all of these models have something that sets them apart from the sea of under-$1,000 conventional laptops, so manufacturers have to be creative when it comes to further differentiation. Dell often pushes out iterative updates—sometimes more than once a year—with few of the upgrades being truly substantial. But this model, unveiled in August, offers much more than just pedestrian changes.

Even before I powered it up, I noticed that the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 is startlingly, pleasingly different from the staid model it replaces. The most obvious physical transformation is the keyboard deck, an etched, angular piece of metal that slopes up slightly to meet the touchpad and palm rest in the middle of the chassis. The XPS lineup inspired the new design in a trickle-down fashion, according to a Dell spokesperson. The overall effect on the new Inspiron model is much sharper than the old deck, which was a simple piece of silver aluminum.

The only disagreeable design elements are the small but ungainly rubber bumpers on the left and right sides of the keyboard, as well as the diamond-cut borders around the touchpad and power button, which add unnecessary bling to an otherwise simple, attractive exterior. Those struck me, but they may not bother other observers.

The Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 is 12.11 inches wide and 8.36 inches deep, making it smaller than the old model by a few tenths of an inch in both dimensions. It's a positive step; unlike smartphones, which started small and grew bigger, laptops are shedding inches and ounces as quickly as their designers can lose them. At a maximum thickness of 0.64 inch with the lid closed, however, the new model isn't any thinner than the old. Still, it compares well with the Lenovo Yoga 730, which measures 0.55 by 12.1 by 8.5 inches (HWD).

At 3.08 pounds for the configuration I'm reviewing, the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1's weight is down a few feathers from its predecessor, which weighs 3.2 pounds. The 3-pound mark is a sweet spot for ultraportables, especially for ones that include the additional hardware required to transform into a tablet. It's a bit heavy to wield as a tablet for more than a few minutes at a time, but it also suggests enough room to cool a reasonably powerful set of components—in this case, an Intel Core i7-8565U processor from Intel's latest Whiskey Lake generation, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB SSD. Thinner and lighter models exist, but they are typically conventional laptops and are less powerful, more expensive, or both, for example in the case of the $1,699 Acer Swift 7.

Another key physical improvement is a power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader. If you're used to waking up your phone and unlocking it with a single press, you'll likely appreciate this feature. Over several days of locking and unlocking, it proved to be a significant time saver, since I didn't have to press a power button and then touch a separate fingerprint reader. However, it failed to recognize my print several times, making it less accurate than the similar button/reader combo on the Huawei MateBook X Pro.

One of the best physical attributes of the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 is its keyboard. The sturdy, backlit keys are at least as comfortable as the excellent ones on the Yoga 730 and Lenovo Yoga C930. The clickable touchpad is also comfortable, though fans of physical left- and right-click buttons may bemoan their absence.

Same Display Options as Before: 1080p, 4K

Much of the rest of the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 remains the same, especially when it comes to the 13.3-inch full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) display on the base model. This In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel offers wide viewing angles and vivid colors, but at 220 nits it's not particularly bright. In addition to this configuration, there's also an option for a 4K display.

If you've amassed a large collection of 4K movies and TV shows that you watch frequently when you travel, you'll want the 4K display. You'll also get it, want it or not, by default if you're eyeing the new Abyss Black color option, which is available only with the 4K display. (The base model is Platinum Silver.) Otherwise, stick with the full HD option, since lighting up more pixels requires more energy, which could drain the battery faster.

The bezels (or borders) around the screen are thin, but not vanishingly so like the ones you'll find on the Dell XPS 13. That means there's still enough room to situate the webcam conventionally, above the center of the screen, rather than in the awkward position below it that the XPS 13 uses, which results in Skype sessions starring your fingernails and nostrils.

Dell significantly redesigned the HD webcam, including adding noise reduction technology, but it still offers the vaguely grainy picture quality you'll experience in most laptops, especially when you're using it indoors with little ambient light. It's fine for quick video calls, but you wouldn't want to use it to capture stunning photos or video. The option for a face recognition webcam offered on the last generation is not available on this model.

The speakers, on the other hand, are robust and deliver very good clarity. Their volume is hampered somewhat by their positioning at the bottom of the laptop—there are are no upward-facing grilles like you'll find on the Apple MacBook Pro.

That's slightly disappointing, since the Inspiron 13 7000 also features two very perceptive far-field microphones, which means it can serve as an alternative to an Amazon Echo if you download the Alexa app for Windows 10. In my testing, Alexa responded to my commands when the laptop was about 15 feet away, but she wasn't as loud as I would have liked. You can give her somewhat of a boost by placing the Inspiron 13 7000 in stand mode, with the keyboard facing downward on a table and the screen at a 270-degree angle.

On the left edge, you'll find a power port for the 45-watt AC adapter, an HDMI 2.0 video output, and a USB-C port. The versatile USB Type-C connector can serve as a DisplayPort video output and charge the laptop, though both of these tasks will require adapters or special cables that aren't included. This USB-C port doesn't support Thunderbolt 3, a feature reserved for the XPS lineup. Neither does it support fast charging; Dell claims that you can go from zero to 35 percent charge in 20 minutes, but a full charge took approximately two hours.

Right edge I/O options include a micro SD card reader, an audio input/output combo jack, and a USB 3.1 Type-A connector. Overall, the port selection is rich in options, which you'll appreciate if you have many different types of peripherals, but stingy in quantity. For example, the Yoga 730 includes two USB-C ports, both of which support Thunderbolt 3, but it lacks HDMI output, an SD card reader, and a dedicated power port.

For wireless connections, the Inspiron offers 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Potent Performance

Thanks in part to its cutting-edge Whiskey Lake CPU, the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 offers potent performance for such a thin and light convertible laptop. Its performance on benchmark tests is very good when compared with other similarly priced convertible and conventional laptops listed in the chart below. (The previous-generation Inspiron 13 7000 is not included because it was tested using our previous benchmarks, and the results are not comparable to our current ones).

The simplest measure of how well an ultraportable laptop performs on everyday tasks like web browsing, video conferencing, and editing documents is the PCMark 10 test. The Inspiron's score of 3,703 on this test is better than its big brother, the Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1, as well as the Acer Spin 3 and the Asus VivoBook S.

The PCMark 8 storage scores, which measure how quickly a PC is able to read and write data from its storage drive, are roughly equal across all of these systems, since they all feature speedy SSDs.

Although the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 is not designed for intensive multimedia editing tasks, its scores on our Cinebench and Photoshop tests show that it offers more performance than many of its competitors for 3D rendering or image editing.

Cinebench stresses the CPU to render a complex image, while the Photoshop test—on which the Inspiron took first place among its competitors—applies a series of 10 filters and effects to a JPEG image.

The Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 is even relatively good at running graphics-intensive games at low quality and resolutions. Its integrated graphics chip managed to churn out 21 frames per second on the medium-quality Unigine Superposition benchmark, and scored 4,774 on the 3DMark Sky Diver graphics subtest.

This is no match for a dedicated graphics chip, as evidenced by the far superior performance of the GeForce MX150-equipped Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1, but it's still better than most laptops with integrated graphics.

Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising constant between the new Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 and the old is the battery capacity. Both use a three-cell, 38-watt-hour (WHr) battery, which is concerning, given the previous version's short life on our battery test, as well as the fact that the 15-inch version of the Inspiron 7000 offers a choice between a three-cell, 42WHr battery and a four-cell, 56WHr one.

With the same battery size but more efficient components, the Inspiron 15 7000 managed 6 hours and 45 minutes on our battery rundown test, while the previous generation managed just 4 hours and 34 minutes on our old battery rundown test. The improvement doesn't serve as an exact, direct comparison, because the video source files used in the tests are different, but the overall result is the same: the Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1's battery simply dies too quickly. It will get you through neither a full day of light work nor a transatlantic flight worth of movies, both of which are becoming increasingly reasonable demands as many ultraportables offer 10 or more hours of battery life.

Will the Battery Last?

Because shoppers seeking a rotating-convertible laptop have so many options, the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1's subpar battery life sticks out like a sore thumb. The rest of the machine is greatly improved from its predecessor, and it offers very good computing performance, so it garners three stars instead of the half-star less that it achieved last time. The problem is, none of the good qualities matter if the laptop won't power up and there's no power outlet in sight. It's not hard to find a convertible laptop with a similar feature set that won't give you battery anxiety, such as the Editors' Choice Yoga 730.

www.pcmag.com

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 (7373)

The Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 (7373) is an attractive, reasonably priced convertible laptop. For $849.99 (as tested), it gives you a handsome aluminum chassis with an eighth-generation quad-core, instead of seventh-generation dual-core, Intel CPU. It has both a USB-C port and an HDMI port, so you don't have to fuss with adapters for the former if you want to connect an external monitor. Its 13.3-inch screen is bright and colorful.

But there's one fatal flaw. The Inspiron 13 7373 has a relatively small 3-cell, 38WHr battery that won't let you stray too far from an AC outlet. While its competitors easily deliver eight, 10, or more hours of battery life, we couldn't get the laptop to last more than four-and-a-half hours in our video playback rundown test, despite numerous attempts. That's the kind of stamina we expect from a big gaming laptop nowadays; it's unacceptable from a thin-and-light machine. And the possibility of having to stay plugged in while in Tablet mode is a non-starter.

View All 9 Photos in Gallery

That's a shame, because otherwise it would be a formidable system. For example, the Inspiron 13 7373 easily outshines its slightly cheaper, plastic-clad stablemate, the Dell Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1 (5379) . It's a sleek system that flips and folds smoothly through convertible laptops' familiar four modes, from Laptop to Tablet, with easel-style Stand and A-frame Tent modes in between. It's also sensibly priced, with our $849.99 base model featuring an Intel Core i5-8250U processor, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD). Another 100 bucks steps you up to an Intel Core i7-8550U chip, while $1,149.99 gets you the Intel Core i7 with double the memory (16GB) and SSD storage (512GB).

A Few Ounces Overweight

At 3.2 pounds, the Inspiron 13 7373 is no burden in a briefcase, though like all convertibles, it's a tad heavy for use as a tablet. While it's lighter than the 3.56-pound Dell Inspiron 5379, however, it's not the lightest in its class—the 13.3-inch Lenovo Yoga 720, our top pick, weighs 2.83 pounds and the HP Spectre x360 13 weighs 2.89 pounds. At 0.61 by 12.2 by 8.5 inches (HWD), our test unit is almost a perfect match for the Lenovo Yoga 720 (0.6 by 12.2 by 8.4 inches) and more compact than the 3.5-pound Acer Spin 5 (0.63 by 12.8 by 8.9 inches).

The Inspiron 13 7373 has an understated design in silver aluminum, with chrome accents, such as the Dell logo centered in the lid. There's no flex in the keyboard deck or if you grasp the screen corners, though the screen wobbles a bit when tapped in Laptop or Stand mode. The bezels around the display are thin, though not as vanishingly thin as those of Dell's XPS models. Unlike the XPS models, the webcam on the Inspiron 13 7373 is in its proper place above the screen; it not only captures fairly bright, non-grainy selfies, but also serves as a face-recognition camera for Windows Hello logins.

The aforementioned USB-C and HDMI ports are on the laptop's left side, along with a USB 3.1 Type-A port, audio jack, and the connector for the AC adapter. Another USB 3.1 port joins an SD card slot and a Noble lock slot on the right side. Two bottom-mounted speakers produce passable sound for Skype conferences and video viewing, though you'll likely want a set of headphones for listening to music—our MP3s sounded flat or two-dimensional, albeit with no distortion when volume was cranked up to fill a room.

Covering All the Bases

Flat is also the word that comes to mind for the Inspiron 13 7373's backlit keyboard, which offers adequate tactile feedback, but not a lot of travel. It's possible to get a crisp, snappy feel from a thin machine—we're thinking of the HP EliteBook x360 1020 G2, among others—but the Inspiron 13 7373's keys just felt plasticky.

Dell earns points for arranging the cursor arrow keys in the correct inverted T rather than a row, though they're doubled up with the Fn key for Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down. The top-row keys conveniently default to system functions, such as volume and brightness, rather than F1, F2, and so on. The touchpad has an oddly textured, non-skid feel, like very fine-grained sandpaper, but glided and tapped smoothly enough.

The display features full HD (1,920-by-1,080) resolution, which is a good fit for its size, showing fine details without getting squinty. (The system arrived with Windows' zoom set to 150 percent, which I felt made icons and the taskbar too big, so I dialed it back to 125 percent.) Colors are vivid, and contrast is good. In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology enables wide viewing angles, though these are handicapped by reflections on the screen's glossy surface. Touch-screen operations are precise.

Above Average Performance—Almost

The Intel Core i5-8250U is a 1.6GHz quad-core processor that powers both the Inspiron 13 7373 and the Dell Inspiron 5379. It helped the pair to excellent scores (3,368 and 3,156, respectively) in our PCMark 8 overall office performance test, just behind the 3,459 of the more costly Samsung Notebook 9 Pen and its eighth-generation Core i7 CPU. The Acer Spin 5 (SP513-52N-58WW) landed between the two Dell models at 3,206.

The Editors' Choice Lenovo Yoga 720, with its seventh-gen Core i5 (current models have an eighth-gen chip), was not far behind the Dell duo in PCMark, but the Dell models' quad-core muscle prevailed in our CPU-intensive Cinebench measurement and Handbrake video editing exercise—the 7373 completed the latter in less than half the time of the Lenovo Yoga 720 (1:18 versus 2:44).

See How We Test Laptops

The Inspiron 13 7373 also outclassed the field in our 3DMark, Heaven, and Valley graphics tests, though all of these convertibles, with their integrated graphics, fell far short of laptops with game-worthy dedicated graphics. They're meant for solitaire and casual games, not the latest $60 titles.

But both the Inspiron 13 7373 and the Dell Inspiron 5379 fare poorly in our battery life test, where the Inspiron 13 7373's best result was a measly 4 hours and 34 minutes. (We thought it might have been a quirk of our test unit, but our sister site Computer Shopper saw only 4:23 from theirs.) Even the HP Spectre x360 13, its battery drained by a 4K display, managed over eight hours, while the Lenovo Yoga 720 lasted for 12 hours.

A Short-Term Solution

A 3-pound convertible isn't meant to be nearly permanently plugged in as a 6- or 7-pound desktop replacement is. It's meant to be taken on the road, on a plane, or on the couch in Tablet mode. Despite its elegant design, swift productivity and multimedia performance, and bright screen, the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1's dismal battery sadly disqualifies it from most users' daily routines. With its lighter weight, superior keyboard, all-day battery life, and impeccable design for the same price, Lenovo's Yoga 720 remains our Editors' Choice for midprice convertibles.

www.pcmag.com

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 (7347) review - an affordable 2-in-1 13 incher

Hey guys, this is my detailed review of the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 series. We have the retail version of the Inspiron 13 7347 model for tests and it is a 13 inch 2-in-1 convertible laptop, Dell’s alternative to the Lenovo Yoga 2 13 or the Asus Transformer Book Flip TP300.

It offers a Full HD IPS touchscreen, Intel Haswell hardware, a backlit keyboard and most of the features you’d expect from a modern 13 inch ultrabook, for between $650 to $900 at the time of this post, based on the configuration you’ll end up choosing.

You should definitely look at this device with the price in mind, because there are overall better 2-in-1s out there (like the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro) and more are going to be available once the first Broadwell laptops pop-out. Next to those, the Dell Inspiron 13 7347 (as well as the Yoga and the Transformer mentioned above) is bulkier, heavier and slower. But it sure offers plenty for the money, especially when your budget is tight. And on top of these, it can be later upgraded and improved, as you’ll see from this post.

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 video review

The specs sheet for the Dell Inspiron 13 7000

	Dell Inspiron 13 7347
Screen	13.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 px resolution, IPS, touchscreen
Processor	Intel Haswell Core i5-4210U CPU
Chipset	Intel HM87
Video	integrated Intel 4400 HD
Memory	8 GB DDR3
Storage	Seagate ST500LM000 500 GB SSHD (with 8 GB flash) – 2.5″ 7 mm drive
ConnectivityS	Wireless N, Bluetooth
Ports	1 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, SD card reader, HDMI, volume rocker, Windows Start button, Noble(?) Lock
Battery	43 Wh
Operating system	Windows 8.1
Size	0.75″ (19mm) / 12.99″ (330mm) / 8.74″ (222mm)
Weight	about 1.66 kg (3.68 pounds)
Extras	stereo speakers, backlit keyboard, 2-in-1 form factor, HD webcam

Design and exterior

All the goodies you’ll get on the Inspiron 13 7000 are tucked inside a nice looking silver case. It’s made from plastic, but it actually feels very strong, as the laptop hardly bulges even when pressing on the lid-cover or in the middle of the keyboard. The entire body has a soft rubbery coating which offers excellent grip and at the same time I believe it should resist scratches quite well.

A simple, beautiful laptop: the Dell Inspiron 13 7347

This Dell has an unique allure as well and I liked it from the moment I got it out of the box. The longer edges are nicely rounded, while the left and right sides are straightly cut, and that makes-up for both a beautiful and a practical design. This aesthetics are actually simple, with just a Dell logo on the hood and some stickers on the palm-rest and the back (which could be easily peeled off).

On the other hand the Inspiron 13 7000 is heavy, tipping up the scales at about 3.7 pounds, and not the slimmest 13 incher out there either. As long as you’ll keep it on a desk, that shouldn’t bother you at all, but once you pick it up or turn it into a tablet, you’ll quickly feel the weight. Regardless, I’d say Dell hit a nice compromise here: they made the laptop a bit heavier, but at the same time built it strong.

As mentioned earlier, this device is a convertible and its screen flips around the back to 360 degrees. Two hinges put it in contact with the body and they are made of metal and able of keeping the display firmly in place exactly how you put it.

Just like on other laptops built on the same form factor, the keyboard remains exposed underneath when having this in stand or tablet mode, but the guys at Dell were careful to minimize the risks here. On one hand, the keys and the trackpad are deactivated once the screen goes past 180 degrees, and on the other the keyboard is recessed and framed by a plastic rim that’s just a bit higher than the keys. So when you’ll put the laptop down as a stand, it will lean on this rim and not on the keys.

At the same time, the rim is less pronounced towards the front of the laptop so it won’t interfere with the typing experience. All these are small details, but they do make a difference in daily use.

As an extra aspect worth mention, there are two magnets on the laptops front edge, meant to prevent the screen from lifting accidentally. And they exceed at their job.

I‘ll also tell a few things about the IO. You’ll find a Lock (Noble Lock, from what the commenters are saying; a Kensington lock won’t fit) on the right edge, next to the PSU, the HDMI port, two USB 3.0 slots, the headset jack and one of the speakers. The other is placed on the left edge, where you’ll also find the power button, a volume rocker, an USB 2.0 port, the card-reader (which can fit an entire SD card) and the stylus I was mentioning earlier. There’s also a battery activity monitor on the front lip.

The laptop’s back is simple, with four well made rubber feet and no cooling cuts. You can take the entire back panel apart by unscrewing the dozen Philips screws holding it in place and that will allow access the internals. But more about that in a sec.

Keyboard and trackpad

Speaking of that keyboard, I can conclude in few words that I like it. Dell went for a simple chiclet layout with black keys, so everything is just how and where you’d expect it to be. The top row defaults in quick toggles for adjusting the sound volume, screen’s brightness and so on, and that took me a bit of time to get used to, but it’s not a deal-breaker by any means.

I had no problems typing several thousand words on this keyboard. The stiff keys offer good feedback and travel deep enough inside the frame for this class, so I can say this Dell is suited for a heavy typist, placing the overall experience next to what you’re getting with Lenovo ThinkPads or the Macbook Airs these days.

Excellent keyboard, unreliable trackpad

The keyboard is also backlit and you can adjust the brightness level manually by hitting the F10 key, or you can turn off the illumination if you want to.

I do have mixed feelings about the trackpad though. Its surface is rough and feels like some sort of sand-paper, which is a lot different than the glass clickpads offered by most modern ultrabooks these days.But that’s OK, one could get used to the feeling. However, while the this trackpad was mostly accurate and responsive, the cursor would occasionally get jumpy and even perform clicks all by itself out of the blue. And that can be really annoying and should be addressed, as it’s probably a drivers glitch.

Screen

Moving on, there’s a very nice screen on this laptop, 13.3 inch in diagonal, with an IPS panel and 1920 x 1080 px resolution. But the panel’s overall quality really makes it stand out, as it delivers solid contrast, wide viewing angles and accurate colors out of the box, as you can see below:

Panel HardwareID: Samsung SDC4C48;
Coverage: 99% SRGB, 72% NTSC, 77% AdobeRGB;
measured gamma: 2.2;
max brightness in the middle of the screen: 289 cd/m2 on power;
contrast at max brightness: 720:1;
white point: 7500 K;
black on max brightness: 0.40 cd/m2;
average DeltaE: 2.48 uncalibrated, 1.06 calibrated .

The Max brightness is just shy of 300 nits, which might not be enough if you plan on using the device outdoors or in bright light, and the brightness distribution isn’t great, with the lower part of the screen dimmer than the rest. The panel also has an overall cool (blue-ish) tint, with its White Point at 7500K, but these aside, there’s not much to complain about this screen.

Dell does include a stylus with the laptop, which can be tucked away in its slot placed on the right edge. Its just a capacitive stylus though and the screen lacks a digitizer, thus cannot be properly used for taking notes and handwriting.

In fact, it can barely be used for drawing unless you make sure to touch the screen with the pen only, as palm-rejection isn’t working as it should, at least not in the apps I’ve tried. So while the stylus is a nice addition in theory, in reality it’s mostly something you can use when you don’t want to touch the screen with your fingers, but not much else.

Update: Many buyers reported ghost touches on this screen. I haven’t encountered the same issue on my test unit, but that’s something to be aware of. It’s a real problem on some models. From what I understand, these might not be visible from the start, but can appear later on, after a few months of use, and there’s no fix. Check out the comments section at the end of the post and Google for “dell inspiron 13 7000 ghost touches” for more details.

Besides that, a few users reported uneven back-lightning, which is noticeably lower towards the corners. This is not a software problem from what I can tell, as the issue persists in BIOS as well. Again, see the comments section for details.

Hardware, performance and upgrade options

Performance wise, this laptop is just like many other Haswell built ultrabooks available right now.

The tested configuration includes an Intel Core i5-4210U processor, 8 GB of RAM and a 500 GB SSHD (with an 8GB flash included). The good news is that both the RAM and the storage are upgradeable. As you can see in the pictures below, there’s a single memory stick on this unit (thus you can only get a maximum of 8 GB of RAM on it) and there’s a 2.5 inch storage bay that houses a Seagate ST500LM000 SSHD. That’s a 9.5 mm drive and can be replaced with any 2.5″ 7 or 9.5 mm HDD, SSH or SSD. Sry for the confusion, I was wrong. There’s also a slim version of the ST500LM000 and it looks like that’s what Dell put on this unit. A few of my readers pointed out a 9.5 mm drive might be difficult (not impossible, but difficult) to get on this unit, so you’d better stick to 7 mm drives.

There no half-size mSATA spare port that some other manufacturers use for small caching SSDs in order to boost performance. That’s why the HDD is a bottleneck on this Dell and causes slow booting and loading times. Replacing the HDD with an SSD should make a big difference and from what I can tell, performing the upgrade yourself is only a matter of unscrewing a few screws and won’t void warranty (there’s no warranty sticker on the HDD cage, unlike on the Transformer Book TP300), although you might want to ask Dell’s support about that before jumping in.

Popping out and replacing the battery and the Wi-Fi is not a complicated procedure, once you get through the 12 Philips screws holding in place the back cover, so when it comes to serviceability, I’d say Dell did a fairly good job with their Inspiron 13 7000. This post looks closely at this Dell’s hardware, and you might want to check it out if you plan on performing any upgrades.

Now, we’re not going to insist on what this this hardware is capable of, but I will tell you that it can easily handle everyday tasks, it can run all sorts of video content (up to 1080p though) and even some light games. I also ran a couple of benchmarks and the results are listed below (nothing spectacular, as expected, given the mid-level processor and 5400 rpm HDD):

3DMark 13: Ice Storm – 34366, Cloud Gate –3985, Sky Driver – 2284, Fire Strike – 505;
PCMark 08: Home Conventional – 2232;
CineBench 11.5: OpenGL 16.13 fps, CPU 2.62 pts;
CineBench R15: OpenGL 20.87 fps, CPU 241 cb.

Noise, Heat, Connectivity and others

The hardware is fan cooled on this Dell, but the fan will remain mostly switched OFF as long as you’re using the computer lightly. It will kick in when needed and it roars up to about 45 dB at 50 cm away from the laptop (mostly where a user’s head would be), so noise is never a major complain here. But keep in mind this laptop is never completely silent, as it comes with a spinning HDD, although that can be addressed if you want to.

Temperatures are also looking really well on this thing. The body remains cool with light use and the air is blown out through the large exhaust on the laptop’s back. Even under load, both the internals and the frame only reach average temperatures, as you can see from the pictures below. So I could summarize this Inspiron 13 is lapable in pretty much everything you’ll throw at it.

The speakers are placed on the sides, as I mentioned before, and they are fairly punchy. Running Pharell – Happy from Youtube at max volume results in readings of up to 91 dB on my iPhone app (Decibel 10th), at 50 cm away from the laptop, and that’s good enough for me. The audio quality is meh though, as these speakers sound tinny and lack any kind of base. But it’s not like you can find significantly better in this class.

*Daily use – light browsing (tlbhd.com, ultrabookreview.com, theverge.com refreshing each 30 seconds, 720P Youtube clip playing); *Load – stress test with Prime 95 and Furmark for 60 minutes.

While performing the stress test, the CPU’s frequency stabilizes at 1100-1200 Mhz (jumps between these two values) and the graphics run at 800 Mhz. There’s no sign of throttling under normal use.

Connectivity wise, there’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi N on this laptop. The included Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 chip is a solid performer and was able to maximize my Internet connection. The speed does drop to about 50% at about 30 feet away from the router, with 2-3 walls in between, but that’s normal.

There’s also a decent HD camera on top of the screen, good enough for Skype calls and Hangouts as long as there’s sufficient lightning.

Battery life

Dell did somewhat cut the corner when it comes to the battery, going for a 43 Wh one, while both Asus and Lenovo pack 50 Wh batteries on their options.

And the energy management isn’t stellar either, as I only got roughly 4 hours of daily use out of this Inspiron and even less when watching 1080p video content (both self-stored or streamed from Youtube), with the screen at 40%, which is about 120 nits, Wi-Fi ON all the time, Dell’s power mode selected and the keyboard’s illumination mostly turned off. Here’s what to expect:

running 1080p mkv , screen at 40%, Dell Mode – average consumption 12.5 Wh;
running 1080p youtube clip, screen at 40%, Dell Mode – average consumption 14.5 Wh;
light browsing (3 Tabs), screen at 40%, Dell Mode – 9 Wh;
idle, min brightness, Dell Mode – 4.5 Wh.

When idle though and with the screen completely dimmed, the laptop will offer about 8, maybe 9 hours of use, so there’s a fair chance you might get more than what I got out of it, if you’ll manage it more carefully. I’ve kept my unit constantly on the Dell Power profile and I haven’t seen any major difference when experimenting with the others.

There’s a 65 Wh power-brick included with this unit, with a long cable. However, you need to be careful when connecting this PSU, make sure you push the tip properly in its place, otherwise you’ll get an annoying message that says that the charger isn’t recognized and the laptop cannot charge. That happened 3 times to me in the last week. If it does to you, just remove the tip, restart the laptop and reconnect the charger, that did the trick for me.

Compact brick with a long cable, but problematic tip

Price and availability

Dell offers this laptop in a bunch of different configurations right now, starting at around $600 for a Core i3 / 4GB RAM, 500 GB HDD model. The tested variant is available for $799 on Dell’s website and even cheaper on some other webstores, and that’s a fair price imh.

Similarly configured Lenovo Yoga 2 13s sell for about $850 to $900 and the Asus Transformer Book Flips TP300 for about $700 (in fact, the Q302LA model available in the US). And it’s not like these two don’t have their own share of minor issues as well.

Wrap-up

At the end of the day, while not without quirks, the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 is a good device and should be on your list if you’re after a 13 inch 2-in-1 convertible and only have about $700 to spend (I’ve also made a list of affordable ultrabooks, in case you’re interested).

My major complains are the unreliable trackpad and the rather short battery life. There’s nothing you can do when it comes to this latter aspect, other from using your laptop carefully when you’ll need to squeeze the most out of it. The trackpad though should be theoretically addressed with some future drivers update, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for that.

There are plenty of reasons why this Dell Inspiron 13 7347 could be your next 2-in-1, but the short battery life and unreliable trackpad might ruin it for some of you

Even so, I really liked this laptop. Aesthetically, I believe it looks and feels overall better than the Lenovo and Asus competitors, although it’s just as heavy as those. Its screen is almost excellent and its keyboard is a strong selling point.

Anyway, that’s about it for now, those were my impressions of the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 series. A good buy, but with a few quirks that could break it for some of you. The comments section below is open if you have any questions or anything to add to this review, and I’ll be around to reply.

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