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- First reviewMay 6, 2016
- Last reviewMay 6, 2016
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JBuy's Reviews
Dell Inspiron Touch-Screen Laptop: This laptop's impressive 4K Ultra HD touch screen is ideal for editing photos and videos and watching high-definition movies. Dedicated graphics ensure smooth performance for graphics-heavy games and applications, and the large 1TB hard drive features an 8GB cache for fast start-up times and easy access to programs.
Customer Rating
4
Upgraded from a toshiba T135 S1310
on May 6, 2016
Posted by: JBuy
Verified Purchase:Yes
Pros: Fast hybrid drive, even though spins at 5400rpm--but if 1tb ssd comes down in the $200 range, I'll probably upgrade
Gorgeous display. Rich colors
Buy the 8gb ram model and save by upgrading with another 8gb module for less than 30 dollars--easiest memory upgrade I've ever done (one screw for bottom of case). Also a noticeable improvement in speed.
Gorgeous display. Rich colors
Buy the 8gb ram model and save by upgrading with another 8gb module for less than 30 dollars--easiest memory upgrade I've ever done (one screw for bottom of case). Also a noticeable improvement in speed.
There is a battery power indicator light on the front that goes off while plugged in and if the battery is not charging. I thought it was broke at first and so while reading thru the manual, I found out that that's how it's supposed to work. However, I found out a very cool thing--pressing Fn+H will change the light to act as a hard drive activity indicator instead--so very happy about that I can't tell you how much so--I'm addicted to the activity light.
touch screen responsive (but I think unnecessary in a laptop form factor--rarely use it)
Although I normally use a Zalman laptop cooler, the 7559 seems really cool. And quiet. The only time I've heard the fans really kick in is when using Dell's Diagnostic test tool.
While I am concerned about its durability, the keyboard's pressure/action feels good. I'm still trying to get used to having an actual number pad. The layout of the keys are also pretty much where I want things. I normally have to remap my home/end keys because the are in such unusable locations...but these make sense to me. I love having a backlit kb but I do wish the had a more options than the 3 toggled preset states.
Speakers sound good (though a recent update in drivers makes it sound tinny or loose on cbs.com (but not on hulu). The headphones sound night vs day better than in my toshiba--and they are just a cheapie five dollar pair.
All the ports feel "tight"--I had a problem with my usb ports in the toshiba becoming much looser over the six years I've had it. I think these might last a bit longer. Time will tell!
The overall build feels solid and durable.
Cons: The touchpad is the weakest element of this laptop and is mostly what prevents this from being a 5 star review. It just feels flimsy, and is often non-responsive. The settings for it are also limited (can't set up touch/scoll zones for instance). In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't like the touchpad on my last laptop either, so used a logitech M705 mouse. LOVED it. But I don't want to tie up a usb port, so, went with a logitech anywhere 2 mouse. Works great, but constantly have to re-pair it up with bluetooth--and it's not always easy (have to toggle bluetooth on and off, remove old paired device and re-pair it). If anyone knows how to replace the stock touchpad with a (better) 3rd party one, I would love to know!
While it's not a problem yet, the keyboard looks flimsy--but as of now, it feels okay. I'm just worried about durability. And while it's not a loud kb, it certainly isn't one of the quietest out there... Bad if you are taking notes in class or in a meeting.
Weight--it is heavy but then I knew that going in. However, I didn't know the power brick is also a weighty sidekick. But with the right backpack, that shouldn't be a problem. It was my fault, but I did not notice that the battery is not removable (it's inside the case and screwed in).
Unfortunately, the Battery/HD activity light defaults to Battery light on startup. I can't force it to stay in HD activity indicator mode when booting up.
Other Thoughts: Although I thought having a touch screen would be nice, I have to admit that it's a bit of a pain to use in a laptop form factor. I was actually looking at the ASUS ROG 15.6 laptop instead of this one, but the nontouch screen dissuaded me. If you are still looking, you should compare these two--it might be a better deal if you decide that touch isn't as useful for you in this form factor as you may have thought. I know I could live without it now that I have it. That's not to say I don't want touch--I do, and if I could afford a Surface Pro 4 with these kinds of specs, I would get it in a hard beat for the touch on a tablet experience (would make grading essays much easier and convenient).
While the resolution itself is not a con, Dell has a trick to make text bigger even though you're set at the highest resolution (to keep everything from becoming too tiny). In theory this is to make it easier to read things. Unfortunately, not all windows or screens get embiggened with the software (maybe it's a Windows 10 thing). So for instance, and this is a stupid example, but, the MS Word start screen is like 3/4 of an inch on my display. If it were something I actually needed to read, I would have a hard time. For example, I really had a hard time reading the menu that came up when updating the bios of the hybrid drive--the laptop kept rebooting to it until I finally realized it was a menu and not a message--took me a few tries to find the right option to boot successfully back into Windows. But for the most part, Dell's embiggening of everything works pretty well. I suppose, they do it to maintain the higher resolution for graphics and games. Update: Hulu's website kept playing videos much smaller (unless full screen) in latest version of Firefox. I tried going to Dell support but they suggested it was Firefox. However, when I lowered the screen resolution to 1600x1900, it worked fine (but turned off that Embiggening software). I like it but the screen feels less sharp at that resolution (but again, it's better not to rely on tricks like that--no more problems with program controls being too small to read).
I'm not a much of a gamer but did load Civilization V on it (I know, I know) and it rocked (it was very slow and on lowest res on the toshiba). I do a lot of video editing, though and am excited to try it out--the toshiba was much too weak to properly run camtasia (well, it would run, but editing took forever bc I couldn't do it "real time"--slow-mo and stuttered way too much).
I am currently looking for a backpack and sleeve to fit this beast... I used to use a zeroshock in-bag sleeve (awesome btw), but I'm not sure they have one that will fit the 7559. Not sure about Dell backpacks, but like all of them, it really requires a hands-on test.
Overall, for the specs at this price, and the overall quality of the build, I would probably buy this again. I don't know if there's a cheaper nontouch version, but I suspect if they had one, that's the one I would get.
My Best Buy number: 3527715792
My Best Buy number: 3527715792
I would recommend this to a friend!
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