Advice on the Dell Insirion 5521

tomr2992

tomr2992

tomr2992

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Joined
19 Jan 2013
Posts
5
Hi guys and gals,

Recently back to the world of Pc's having been with a iMac for the last 4 years. I've just ordered myself a new Dell Insirion 5521 and I'm expecting its arrival over the next few days.

Having been away from the Pc world for a while I'm just looking for a few opinions and recommendations. The spec of the Pc is as follows:

nspiron 5521 Base 1
Base : Intel Core i7-3517U with 2GB AMD HD 8730M Graphics 1
Display : 15.6in Full HD (1920X1080)WLED with AG 1
LCD Back Cover : Red 1
Software : EBAY-Icon,Favorite,W8 1
Additional Software for 5521 1
Ship Accessory : English Docs 1
Memory : 8192MB (2x4096) 1600MHz DDR3 1
Hard Drive : 1TB Serial ATA (5400RPM) 1
Optical Drive : 8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive 1
Cyber Link Power DVD 1
Power Cord : UK 1M 1
Battery : Primary 6-cell 65W/HR 1
Graphics : AMD Radeon HD 8730M 2G DDR3 1
Wireless : Intel Wireless-N 2230 Card 1
Driver : WLAN Intel 2230 1
Keyboard : Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard 1
Operating System : Windows 8 64 bit, English 1

Antivirus : McAfee Security Centre 15 Month Subscription 1

I believe that she should run ok. I'm not wanting to use it for other than storing photos/films ect. Using for the net and playing the odd game i.e WOW / Star wars ect. How do you think the graphics card will hold up? I'm hoping the i7 helps it along. I managed to get it at what I believe to be a good deal for new hardware and no competitor price hinting.

So what do you guys think? Decent or not?

Lastly, I bought a laptop as I'm out of the house a bit so I don't need telling that if I wanted to play games buy a desktop.

Ta
 
Ah the mobility compromise, i wouldnt expect it to run at full settings but i had SWTOR running 720P medium settings on a 5450. there are no bechmarks i can see for your gpu as yet but looking at the numbers for the previous generation it should be vastly superior to the 5450 in which case playable framerates at 1080p wouldn't be out of the question but the flashy things like AA and bloom effects may be too much. the I7 will do little to help most games as they are bound by the GPU's limitations long before your cpu runs out of steam.

Should be a decent mid range gaming laptop and as long as you happy to turn some of the detail down it should run very nicely.

A small mini-Itx based system would have given you more power for your money but the trade off in mobility is a bit gauling when your out and about a lot. From someone sporting the transportable rather than portable option i can confirm its not that fun when 8-10 Kg of you bagage allowance goes on the PC.
 
Cheers Gav, I've also found information on the system hard to come by. This maybe down to new hardware. No idea. Nice to know that yours was able to run SW on 720p on medium setting. I therefor hold some hope for this new laptop!

I keep nosing around online for reviews but as yet still nothing. I'm surprised really due to the fact I think its very reasonably spec'd.

I looked at Mini's but I can't guarantee that everywhere I go has got the ability to plug into, therefor sort of forced on that front. Carrying around 8-10kg sounds a ball ache!

Thanks again
 
Well the laptop has arrived at long last. I've updated all the windows programs as well as the graphics card. Being new back I'll need a link to a decent benchmark site so I can see how the new computer holds up. I've got to admit that windows 8 is a bit of an odd beast. Can't even create favourites/bookmarks through the app. Right pain in the ass
 
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