The Dell Inspiron i5559-7080SLV is a touchscreen laptop that features Intel’s low-power U series 6th generation Core i7-6500U processor. Now, even though there is a Core i7 dual-core multithreaded processor beating under the hood of this laptop, together with a discrete graphics card from AMD – the Radeon R5 M335 with 4 GB of VRAM, this laptop can in no way be mistaken for a gaming laptop by any means unless you are gunning to play games from at least 2 or more years ago.
Dell Inspiron i5559-7080SLV Review: Technical Specifications
| Storage | 1TB of mechanical HDD with a rotation speed of 5400 RPM |
| Processor | Intel sixth gen Core i7-6500U |
| Display | 15.6 viewable screen with anti-glare coating |
| System Memory | 2 sticks of 4GB for a total of 8GB LPDDR3 RAM |
| Inbuilt Microphone | Yes |
| Webcam | 720p HD |
| Onboard Audio | 2 channel High definition |
| Speakers | Dual speakers |
| GPU Model | AMD Radeon R5 M335 |
| Graphics Video Memory | 4GB VRAM |
| Ram Type | Low power DDR3 RAM |
| Memory Layout | Two sticks of 4GB RAM |
| Ram Bus Rate | 1600Mhz |
| Max Supported RAM | 16 GB |
| Display Type | LED-Backlit with Anti-Glare Coating |
| Display Size | 15.6 Inches of viewable screen |
| Display Resolution | 1920×1080 Pixels |
| Keyboard | Qwerty keyboard with Number pad |
| Pointing Device | Touch sensitive pad without any stylus pen |
| Optical Drive | DVD RW Drive |
| Dimensions W x H x D | 380 x 260 x 23.7 mm |
| Operating System Type | Windows 10 Home 64-bit |
| Weight | 2.3 Kilograms |
| Colors | Black |
| Wireless Lan | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth Version | 4.0 |
| HDD | 1TB mechanical HDD with a rotational speed of 5400 RPM |
| Battery Life | 7 Hours of operation under certain conditions |
| Media Card Reader | 1 |
| USB 3.0 Slots | 1 |
| Microphone Jack | Yes |
| Headphone Jack | Yes |
| USB 2.0 Slots | 2 |
| Warranty | One year’s replacement warranty from the date of purchase |
| Lockport | Lockable with a Kensington lock |
Dell Inspiron i5559-7080SLV Review: General Overview
Processor
The Intel Core i7-6500U processor powers the Dell Inspiron i5559-7080SLV. This Core i7 processor from Intel’s U series is designed to operate at a low power environment and within a total thermal dissipation power of only 15 watts, making it ideal for mobility oriented laptops. The Intel Core i7-6500U processor has a maximum turbo boost frequency of 3.10 GHz as well as a total of 4 MB of Intel’s own proprietary Smart Cache.
The Intel Core i7-6500U processor also comes with its own Intel HD 520 integrated graphics card. This feature’s main benefit is that technologically competent users will disable the discrete AMD Radeon graphics card by entering the laptop’s BIOS and switch on the Intel HD 520 integrated graphics card, further improving the laptop’s battery power consumption and significantly extending its operating time.
RAM
The laptop is shipped by Dell with two 4 GB sticks of low power consuming DDR3L SDRAM. The laptop’s motherboard, however, can support a maximum system RAM of 16 GB. Interested buyers can at the time of purchase swap out the 4 GB RAM sticks with 8 GB sticks to ensure a smooth operation and to future-proof their purchase as much as possible.
Usually, at this price point, laptop manufacturers tend to ship their laptops with the latest DDR4 SDRAM to take advantage of the newer RAM data transfer speeds fully. However, it is not far-fetched to speculate that Dell probably did what it did because it wanted to keep the laptop’s purchase price at the sub $1000 level.
Storage
A storage space of 1 TB is a lot more any average user who has mobility in their mind at the foremost. However, the performance of the laptop might have been trebled if only Dell had the fortitude to replace the mechanical 1 TB hard drive with a solid-state drive of 256 GB or 512 GB, which at this price range is already available with laptop brands such as ASUS or ACER.
Graphics Card
The AMD Radeon R5 M335 discrete GPU is touted as an entry-level gaming graphics processing unit or GPU by Dell. It is furnished with 320 stream-processors, a clock speed of 1 GHz and, a VRAM of 4 GB.
However, all these features are worthless when translated into real-world gaming performance figures when stacked up against integrated graphics cards from Intel; now, that is truly embarrassing! Benchmarks can be found by any diligent laptop purchaser with just the tiniest amount of effort on Google search.
Display
The Dell Inspiron i5559-7080SLV is fitted with a full high-definition 1080p Led-backlit display with anti-glare coating finishing so that purchasers can use their laptops in outdoor environments or places where the lights are out of their control. The 1920*1080p resolution FHD display also comes in handy when playing videos. One feature that stands out is Intel’s new proprietary RealSense technology that makes using gestures easier, just as it is done on our smartphones.
Design
The exterior of the Dell Inspiron i5559-7080SLV is encased in a silver finished shell, whereas the laptop’s interior has a matte grey finish that both looks and feels premium.
Battery Life and Portability
Battery performance figures listed on the laptop’s official website should always be taken with a grain of salt since the official figures are tested in a secured laboratory setting and never include the many varied factors of a real-world setting where most of the laptop’s users will operate the laptop.
hat is why, knowing that the Dell Inspiron i5559-7080SLV has a discrete graphics card, it can be safely inferred that it will not be a power-saving laptop. As for portability, at 5.4 lbs. this laptop is already out of the realm of possibility of being a truly mobile device unless the user is a Rocky or Rambo! Hence, this will be a better fit as a desktop replacement laptop.
Final Thoughts
When you are going to purchase any computer, the first thought that comes into prudent buyers’ minds is how much future-proofing will my device have? Well, the most honest answer is that no matter how expensive your laptop/desktop is, and no matter how powerful the components are, there is NO such thing as future-proofing your computer.
Given this universal truth, the Dell Inspiron i5559-7080SLV is a good but slightly pricier laptop considering its rivals from lesser-known or reputed brands.