Dell is one of the top three PC manufacturers in the world and for good reasons as well. Their devices are well-built and the services offered by Dell are exceptional especially with its on-site support. The Inspiron laptop series has been around for decades now and is used by millions around the world. That is why the Dell Inspiron Q15R Switch is a good choice if you are looking for a 15.6” laptop for less than £500.

The Q15R Switch by Dell has a metal chrome finish which makes it look classy at best. The 15.6-inch screen uses the WLED HD technology: it is backed by LED which also means that it consumes less power as compared with the traditional LCD screens. In addition to that, it is also rather thick with its maximum thickness of 35.3mm. Weight on the other hand stands at a backbreaking 2.65kgs which can be considered the norm amongst 15.6-inch laptops. Portability is lost here though due to both the bulkiness and the weight. Enough with the outside and more to the inside.

Sporting an Intel i3-2310M dual-core processor with 4 threads, it shows that the Dell Inspiron Q15R is geared for the less demanding users. In addition to that, it also features a 3GB RAM and a 500GB hard disk meaning that it is possible to use both 32-bit system and 64-bit system as both are compatible with the amount of RAM given by default. Only if the user wishes to upgrade to a 4GB RAM or higher will they have the need to use a 64-bit system but for most users, 3GB RAM would be sufficient for most tasks.

As far as graphics card is concerned, like most devices at its price range, the DELL Inspiron Q15R has an integrated Intel graphic card instead of a dedicated one. Don’t be disappointed though as the laptop is still capable of rendering HD videos and a few other media tasks that aren’t too resource demanding.

The operating system for the Inspiron Q15R is the standard Windows 7 Home Premium edition. There are also a few software included with this laptop which is McAfee Security Centre 30 days trial as well as the Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Pack which isn’t usable to many though. Battery on the other hand stands at roughly 4 hours at most while the Dell Inspiron Q15R AC adapter takes 5 hours to charge it up fully. Other standard things include a HDMI and VGA port and 3 USB ports as well. The Q15R comes with Dell’s swappable SWITCH lid, where you have a choice of a few dozens designs. If you are bored with the original colour, you can order a more colourful lid from the Dell website.

The Inspiron Q15R is as mentioned before, for the casual users. Due to its lack of graphic processing capability, it may not be the best of device for tasks such as video editing or high quality gaming. Nevertheless, for its price and the service that Dell provides, it is a great laptop to have.