The Dell Inspiron i7359-6793SLV was released at the beginning of the year as a premium oriented alternative to the standard 2-in-1 notebooks on the market. And while I do appreciate Dell’s willingness to out of their way to outfit this device with the latest technology, it doesn’t come without a few minor drawbacks.
A powerful 2-in-1 laptop
This Dell is one of the most well equipped 2-in-1 laptops on the market. Unlike other, more budget friendly versions, this mobile powerhouse will surprise even the most savvy users who expect nothing but the best from their devices.
A 2-in-1 notebook is basically a touchscreen laptop with 360 degrees rotating hinges. Thus, it can be used as a standalone laptop, as a tent for presentations or as a tablet, making for a versatile machine capable of handling multiple scenarios such as work meetings, team collaborations, screen sharing, interactive website browsing and so on.
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Processor
One of the more impressive parts of the Dell Inspiron i7359-6793SLV is the processor: a dual core Intel Core i7-6500U capable of clock speeds up to 3.1 GHz, with a cache size of 4 megabytes. Benchmark tests rate this Skylake Intel processor to be one of the best mobile CPU’s today, scoring around 4300 points on cpubenchmark.net. With that score in mind, any programs you may feel like using will likely work without glitches.
System memory
The Dell comes with 8 gigabytes of system memory installed, which is enough by any laptop standards, more so for a 2-in-1 convertible. It’s worth noting this is the maximum amount of RAM supported by the system, so you won’t be able to upgrade it even if you wanted to. Still, 8 gigs is enough for some heavy multitasking and other programs that rely on system memory, such as photo editing, illustrating, rendering and compiling software…meaning that for every day use this notebook will fly.
Storage space
I talked earlier about two drawbacks. We’ve reached the first one: the hard drive. Or, to phrase it better: the lack of a solid state drive. The storage capacity is adequate with the standard HDD. However, it’s somewhat disappointing the people at Dell couldn’t mount an SSD inside this beautiful device. The said SSD would have made it more snappy and responsive with blazing fast boot times, and it would have improved battery life (considerably I think).
Display quality
The Dell Inspiron i7359-6793SLV has a 13.3-inch screen with a brightly LED-lit IPS display. Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) on such a compact screen means high pixel density, which in turn means more clarity and higher image quality at the cost of everything on it appearing small-ish. The icons and text may be too small for some people’s tastes and may require some time getting used to the idea of squinting at first. But once you’re acclimatized with this new, more airy environment, you’ll feel claustrophobic just by looking at other small screens with lower resolutions.
The touchscreen is responsive as well and the hinges do a great job at keeping enough tension in order for the screen not to rock back and forth after you’ve touched it.
Interface and connectivity options
This Dell has 3 USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader, one HDMI port and an audio combo jack. Also, on the side of the laptop, near the power button you’ll find a volume button with a + sign and a – sign, something quite useful and pleasant. It’s nice to have something physical to touch in order to change the volume, an action so many of us perform multiple times per day.
It also has a backlit keyboard, useful when working in dim light conditions.
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Now, connectivity was somewhat of an issue in the past with the 7000 series, many users reporting bugs and inconsistencies regarding their wireless signal strength. These problems have been addressed since and there shouldn’t be any issues with this newer model. All that being said, it has a (theoretically) good 802.11 ac wireless card, capable of great download speeds and connection times if paired with an AC supported router.
No Ethernet connection is available on the 7000 series.
Portability and functionality
Although the model is compact enough to carry around in either a backpack or a purse, it’s not that light. I expected it to weigh around 3.2 pounds, half a pound lighter than the real value. It’s not exactly heavy, but considering the form factor, you’d want your device to be as light as possible, which it isn’t. Some weight can be shed by replacing the hard drive with an SSD, but it’s a rather pricey move for a device that already costs around $900 (at the time of this review).
While the aforementioned weight issue isn’t exactly a drawback, battery life is. Dell gives us a grim estimate of just 6 hours of average battery life before needing a wall socket. For this type of device, some may consider this to be a deal breaker. You may want your small factor, lightweight, powerful 2-in-1 convertible laptop around you while you travel around, but even for a full workday you’ll need the charger, adding unnecessary weight to the overall package.
Should you buy it?
If you don’t plan on moving around as much with it, sure! It’s a well-built laptop with impressive specs, great display, versatile functions and a nice design. Using it around the house, around the office or inside a dorm is great. However, if you plan to go to cafes, work in more remote areas or if you like traveling with your notebook around, there are better options serving that purpose.
