Dell Laptop Reviews

Shopping for a laptop is like car shopping; if you make a bad decision you are pretty much committed to it for the next three to five years.  I’m a fan of Dell if you steer clear of their less than desirable line of products.  Fortunately, we’ve spent some time playing around creating our own Dell laptop reviews so you don’t have to.  We have five priorities when looking for a laptop:

• Does it feel cheap? Move on…
• How viewable is the screen in outdoor lighting?
  • Check out our post on matte vs glossy.
• Does the track pad work well? Way too many people have RSS and carpal tunnel syndrome due to bad ergonomics and or hardware.  Make sure the laptop works well or at the very least buy an external mouse.
• Does it come with a Solid State Drive with 256 gigs or better? SSD’s are necessary for laptops.  The laptop gets knocked around and you are guaranteed to lose your standard SATA drive.  SSD do not have this problem.   They have no moving parts.
• Is it 16 Gigs of RAM or greater? Every iteration of operating systems requires more RAM.   NOTE:  The smaller lines like the Dell XPS series of laptops solder RAM on.  Check with the manufacturer or get the proper amount before committing to a purchase.

What Computer to Buy:

Google “Dell Outlet store” for purchases based on our recommendations here:

• Laptops (see below)  ProTip! Reference PassMark BenchMark for processor speed comparisons
• Desktops
• Servers (needs to be updated)
  • Synology NAS
  • Dell PowerEdge
  • Enhanced Dell Precision

 

 

 

The rest of the specs depend on your work situation.   We consolidated the top concerns when purchasing into one ten minute video.  Below the video is a nice narrowed down list of laptop options.  All contain solid web reviews.

Where to Buy the Computer:

Dell Outlet Store refurbished products – Network Antics

Where to Buy Accessories:

Bluetooth Travel Mouse

Desktop Dock

Desktop Dock – Mouse & Keyboard

USB A & NIC Adapter

Computer Case

The Road Warrior – Dell XPS 15 – 9500 (2020 product)

NOTE:  The business version of the XPS line is the Dell Latitude 7400 series

• 15” big screen but small everything else, very light and beautiful design.
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4GB GDDR6
• Check out the ports!
  • USB A is a big thing.  This laptop has no USB A but you can’t get an annoying adapter to convert from USB C to A.  Review the illustration to the right for port guidance.  Yes, the USB C and Thunderbolt look the same size but do not produce the same speeds.  Plug in your ThunderBolt dock into the left side of the XPS 15 9500.
    • Bluetooth Mouse
• No touch display. Don’t bother.
  • Anti-Glare InfinityEdge 500-Nits Non-Touch Display.  Read my post on matte vs glossy screens.
• 256 gig SSD
• 6 cell battery.  Works throughout the day on a charge… For now.
  • Note:  130 Watts.  The laptop requires a different AC Adapter and dock than those 4 cell folks.
• Intel Core 10th Generation i7-1065G7 Processor (Quad Core, Up to 3.90Ghz, 8MB Cache, 15W
• 16 Gig RAM
• Backlit keyboard
• Webcam
  • It has facial recognition login.  Pretty cool and creepy at the same time!
• How do I dock my laptop?
  • Check out the Dell Dock compatibility list.
  • The XPS 9500 works with 3rd party replication or the Dell WD19TB (ThunderBolt) Dock so you can connect to a big monitor and external keyboard (view Dell dock AKA replicator below)
• How about a stand for my laptop?
  • There are plenty of options out there.  Here’s what we are recommending for laptop dock stands.
• Do you recommend any carrying case?
  • Check out this one.
• What if I want to hard wire my ethernet network connection?
  • You can use a USB NIC dongle for that or dock with your docking hardware I recommended above.
• Windows 10 Pro
  • Dell XPS 15 9500 Guide
  • Best XPS price seen with these specs is $1520

 

 

 

The Road Warrior – Dell XPS 13 – 7390 with or without 2-in-1 capability ( 2017 product)

  XPS 13 9300 (2020), 9350 (2015) ,9360 (2017), 9370 (2018) 

NOTE:  The business version of the XPS line is the Dell Latitude 7400 series

• 13” screen, small, very light and beautiful design.
  ***I personally love the 15″***
• Intel HD Graphics or better
• No touch display. Don’t bother.
• 256 or 512 gig SSD
• 4 cell battery
• Intel Core 10th Generation i7-1065G7 Processor (Quad Core, Up to 3.90Ghz, 8MB Cache, 15W
• 4 Gig – Make sure it’s possible to upgrade
• Backlit keyboard
• Webcam
• Works with 3rd party replication or docking stations so you can connect to a big monitor and external keyboard (view Dell dock AKA replicator below)
• Windows 10 Pro (Important for corporate use)
  It can be viewed at Costco.  Costco has a good Warranty.  I’m not sure about price.

Resources:

XPS 15 Non-Touch
$1,399.99

XPS 13 Non-Touch
$1,099.99

The Corporate Laptop – Dell Latitude 14″ 7400

Note:  ’21 version of Dell Latitude is 5510 for 15″ or 5410 for 14″

7400 is the newest model for 2019 -2020.   It’s a little lighter than the previous year and the battery performance may have improved.  The 7000 series is equivalent to the popular XPS laptop.  However, the XPS is not a business laptop.

Price:

Dell Outlet store has the 7000 series with 16 gig, 256 SSD drive at $1000 or $800 on Black Friday sale.

Specs:

• ports on 7400: Universal audio port (Headset Jack + microphone-in + line-in support)
  micro-SD 4.0 memory card reader
• SIM card slot
  USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 1 ports (PowerShare capable)
  Noble wedge lock slot
• Power adapter port
  USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2 port (Thunderbolt)
  HDMI 1.4a port
  USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 1 port
  Smart card slot
• Dell Latitude 7400 is a 14 inch clamshell laptop, which offers the following:
  • 8th Gen Intel Core Whiskey Lake processors.
  • 100% Solid-state drive computer.
  • 14 inch FHD wide viewing angle touch display.
  • 1x Thunderbolt 3 with Power Delivery (PD) and DisplayPort (USB Type-C).
  • Bluetooth 4.2LE, 5.0.
  • Optional face IR camera (Windows Hello compliant) with proximity sensor.
  • Adaptive thermal performance.Note:  Dell 452-BCYT D6000 Universal Dock is the most reliable dock for this computer.

Dell Latitude 14″ 7490 (last year’s model)

7490: Headset or mic combo jack
uSD 4.0 Memory card reader
DC-in 7.4 mm barrel, DisplayPort over USB Type–C with optional Thunderbolt™ 3, 3 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (one with PowerShare), HDMI 1.4,RJ-45, external uSIM card tray option
3 x M.2 expansion slots: 1 SSD, 1 WWAN and 1 WLAN
Optional SmartCard Reader and Touch Fingerprint Reader
Noble Wedge Lock slot
Plus ethernet port

 

Dell Latitude E5570 (4 year Old laptop with dock)

NOTE: The E series is no longer being sold.  Carrying the E means it is equipped to dock from the serial base of the computer.  The Lenovo Thinkpad T480 is the only PC manufacture still equipped with a legacy docking feature.

• 15” screen, a little more bulky but definitely not a nuisance
• Intel HD Graphics
• No touch display. Don’t bother.
• 500 gig SSD
• 6 cell battery
• 6^th generation i3 or better processor
• 8 Gig
• Backlit keyboard
• Webcam
• Windows 10 Pro
• Docking Station – See Picture

Best price seen ($540 w/ discount)

 

How do I dock if no manufacturer is making a decent docking station or laptops no longer feature an input for a dock?

The Dell D6000  and Dell Thunderbolt Dock WD19TB  are universal (works with any laptop manufacturer) docks.  The laptop doesn’t really dock though.  The cable from the “dock” plugs into the side of the laptop.  This dock has a significant amount of outputs for multiple displays.  Requirements: You have to go into “personalize” in Windows 10 to tell the laptop to be active when the laptop screen is closed though.  Also, some drivers are required.  It’s a safe bet any laptop will work with this dock that was made within the last two years.

I have a Mac… What’s the recommended port replicator for that?

Mac Port Replicator

 

The 2 in 1 – Dell Inspiron 13 -7352

• 13” screen, very light and great design
• 2 in 1… Can be set to tablet mode.  Note:  The 15”is not practical.  You’re better off getting a Latitude for that size.
• Intel HD Graphics
• No touch display. Don’t bother.
• 500 gig SSD
• 3 cell battery
• 5^th generation i5 or better processor
• 8 Gig – Make sure it’s possible to upgrade
• Backlit keyboard
• Webcam
• Windows 10 Home (need to upgrade for corporate use)
  ***picture can be found as our cover pic or first pic of this blog***

Best Price $700 ($500 w/ discounts)

Dell Laptop Reviews Resources:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2473725,00.asp

Dell Laptop Reviews Additional Notes:

Inspiron 13 7000 2 in 1 $705

Inspiron 15 7000 2 in 1 $830 on display @Costco

Dell Latitude 2021 laptop line – 15″ screen

 

 

 

Dell Laptop Reviews Summary

Hopefully, this decreased this time consuming tasks to under 30 minutes.  The next item is how to set it up for us or your favorite tech to your liking.  Please read our post on Windows 10 support for more information.