Dell Inspiron 15R with i7 and HD 5650

[Savaga]

Hi guys, i have just ordered an inspiron 15r or N5010 with these specs:

Intel Core i7-740QM
ATI HD 5650 1GB
4GB ddr3 Ram
750GB HD

I spoke with the outlet where I have ordered the laptop and they do not know whether it will have a 6 or 9 cell battery but usually they come with a 6 cell, so thats my guess.

I would like to know whether someone has a notebook (Not just a DELL), with similar specifications so that I know the average battery life i would probably be seeing with these specs.

What do you guys think?

[billabong08]

More then likely it should come with a 9 cell.
With a 6 cell you wont get much life. Maybe around 2-3 hours?
It all depends on what you are doing too.

[Savaga]

I would be happy if it does 3 hours with this configuration and specs...

anyone else has any input on this?

ps. thanks for the comment billabong

[daredevil anand]

in my view, you should opt for at least a dell studio laptop if you want to go for the i7-740qm processor. with the inspiron series, you won't be able to fully utilize the power of an i7 processor and you will face the problems of overheating and probably throttling. for an i7-740qm processor, you should always buy a 9-cell battery otherwise the life will be at a maximum of only about 1.5 hrs with normal usage.
again i am saying that buy an i7 series processor only if you really need it otherwise it will be a waste of money.

[Savaga]

Hi daredevil, thanks for the post.

Why are you saying I should buy the studio model instead of inspiron? How come I cannot make full use of the i7 in an inspiron ... it depends on the apps and programs you are running on it no? What does the studio have more than the inspiron? where I live, the studio models have much lower specs unfortunately

Also, what is "throttling"?

Cheers,

Eric

[billabong08]

Also, what is "throttling"?

x2


I always here this term.

[Kaso]

Hi guys, i have just ordered an inspiron 15r or N5010 with these specs:

Intel Core i7-740QM
ATI HD 5650 1GB
4GB ddr3 Ram
750GB HD

I spoke with the outlet where I have ordered the laptop and they do not know whether it will have a 6 or 9 cell battery but usually they come with a 6 cell, so thats my guess.

I would like to know whether someone has a notebook (Not just a DELL), with similar specifications so that I know the average battery life i would probably be seeing with these specs.

What do you guys think?

Most likely a 6-cell battery.

With the i7 740QM and the ATI 5650, you get between 2.5 and 3 hours at the most.

That kind of spec was unheard of for a consumer-grade laptop just a year ago. What do you plan to do with so much capacity packed in an Inspiron 15R?

[Kaso]

... Why are you saying I should buy the studio model instead of inspiron? How come I cannot make full use of the i7 in an inspiron ... it depends on the apps and programs you are running on it no? What does the studio have more than the inspiron? where I live, the studio models have much lower specs unfortunately ...

The Dell "Home" products range from Inspiron, Inspiron R, Studio, to Studio XPS. So, the Studio is a "step up" from the Inspiron R in terms of design and manufacturing. It's hard to tell the differences from just the main components: the CPU, the GPU, the hard drive, the amount of RAM... But that's all one sees - plus some nice photos - when one gets on the Dell website. There is no actual touching, pressing, feeling, weighing, viewing, test running... The display and keyboard qualities vary across the range - but how can one tell by just looking at CPU specs and colorful photos?

At least, the Inspiron R has a numeric keypad whereas the Studio does not. The latter was originally conceived for the "designer" market, to compete with Apple MacBooks. I purchased the Studio with i7 QM because I specifically want to use Adobe CS5 Photoshop and the other applications that take full advantage of quad-core hyperthreading and 64-bit processing. In fact, most systems today are overspec'ed - albeit faster - because the popular applications are still behind the curve, Internet Explorer 9 Beta being an exception.

[Savaga]

Most likely a 6-cell battery.

With the i7 740QM and the ATI 5650, you get between 2.5 and 3 hours at the most.

That kind of spec was unheard of for a consumer-grade laptop just a year ago. What do you plan to do with so much capacity packed in an Inspiron 15R?

2.5 hours would be enough for me, im hoping that it does infact have such battery life.

I use the pc for various things - university, some gaming, and I enjoy using photoshop and photo editing.

No one answered the thing about "throttling" and it seems even billabong would like to know :P

Kaso I hear what you mean with the Inspiron, Studio, etc but as I said the studios available here have lower specs. Sure the Inspiron looks nicer, but in reality I like the studio design too - so its not a matter of just looks for me. I also like the dedicated numeric pad in the inspiron as it is handy for university research inputting. You have a i7 QM you said? How long is the battery life of your laptop?

[Kaso]

1. If you use the laptop for university work, "some" "gaming", and occasional Photoshop editing, I would say the Inspiron and Inspiron R models are suitable. But I also want to be straight about two things: (a) the Inspiron 15R is not light enough to carry around campus comfortably; (b) your spec is way too high. Most people pay high price for top-of-the-line computers, thinking that it will be an investment for future needs: a more reasonable approach is to only buy what you really need now, then shop again in 2-3 years; this is how things are.

2. When I said "quality", I did not mean just "looking nice". Quality overall, in the design, the construction, the weight, the components they use. Consider the LCD: there are different suppliers and product grades they can choose from to stick a 15" screen to your laptop. And so on...

3. CPU throttling. In simplest terms, the Intel Core i7 processor is capable of increasing ("throttle up") and decreasing ("throttle down") the clock speed depending on the workload in order to do its best when required and to reduce power consumption and heat generation in less demanding situations. Do you need this capacity? I doubt it. Not for Word and Excel and the likes.

4. I have a Studio 15 (1558) with i7 740QM CPU and ATI 5650 GPU. I get about 2.5 hours consistently, close to 3 hours occasionally. The 9-cell battery pack can do better, but then it adds to the laptop weight, which makes mobility a real pain.