The Inspiron 5548 laptop is one of the newest mid-range releases from Dell and replaces the 2014 Inspiron 5547. It sports a slimmer design compared to the previous Inspirons as well as some impressive specs. If you are looking for a well built laptop with great overall performance then you have found the right system.
Under the hood
- Intel i5 5200U 2.2GHz CPU (2 Cores with Hyper Threading)
- 8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM
- 1 Terabyte Western Digital Blue Hard Drive (5400RPM)
- ATI 2GB R7 M265 Graphics Card
- High Definition 15.6" Non-Touch LED Screen (1366x768)
- Full Numerical Keyboard
- MaxxAudio Speakers
- Multi Gesture Touchpad
- 1 USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, SDCard slot , LAN, Audio Jack and HDMI Connection.
The laptop is sturdy and well built, the screen lid is covered with brushed silver aluminium while the rest of the body is covered in hard matte plastic. Even though it is covered in plastic it does not feel cheap, it is definitely built to last. This system falls inbetween the Regular and Ultrabook range.
I really enjoyed typing on the keyboard as it fell solid and comfortable. My favorite thing about this keyboard is that it is very spacious and gives you plenty of room to type. Another great addition is the new Multi Gesture touchpad which is a first for Dell, it closely resembles the touchpads on Apple Macbooks. It does however not come close to Apple's as it can be unresponsive and sticky at times.
I was completely taken back by the performance of this system, it handled all the games I threw at it and effortlessly handled daily tasks like Word processing, internet browsing and watching movies. I found the battery life to be average at best - it lasted 2 hours when gaming and about 6 hours when performing my daily tasks. If you want great off charge battery time you will need to enable all power saving settings and stay away from the games. If you are going to play games make sure you have the charger plugged in to allow maximum performance.
Hard drive performance is average and is nothing to boast about, but what else would you expect from a 5400RPM drive? I purchased a Samsung EVO 256GB SSD and cloned the system, the difference was night and day. The laptop took 30 seconds to boot with the stock hard drive and only 5 seconds with the SSD. If you want to improve this systems performance by 50% I highly recommend ditching the stock hard drive and installing a SSD.
Windows 8.1 Single Language (64 bit) comes pre-installed as the operating system and supports a upgrade to Windows 8.1 Professional if you purchase a upgrade key. You can compare versions here. Microsoft Office 2013 and McAfee trial software comes re-installed but can be removed or purchased. You will be happy to know that there is no annoying bloatware besides the regular Dell Backup and Registration software.
Good for Gaming?
Being a avid gamer I just had to add this section in. The ATI R7 M265 may be a mobile graphics card but it sure packs some serious punch. I played Battlefield 4, Counter Strike Go, GTA IV, Watch Dogs and Fifa 14 at Medium to High settings with no problems at all.
I have to mention that the laptop did get quite hot after an hour of gameplay, it reached 60-75 Degrees Celcius which according to Dell is safe. I would highly recommend purchasing a cooling pad to provide some extra cooling and ventilation.
Pros
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Cons
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Great gaming performance
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Average Battery Life
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Lightweight and Portable
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No DVD Writer
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Comfortable Keyboard
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LED Screen could be better
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Solid design
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No SSD Hard Drive
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I give this laptop a 7/10.
What do you think of laptop? do you like it do you hate it? Leave your comments in the section below.
