Dell Inspiron 14-7437 Pro Reviews

The Dell Inspiron 14 (7437) is a midrange ultrabook that delivers almost nine hours of battery life and speedy performance. But it's a bit pricey compared with the competition, and it suffers from some minor design flaws.

I’m a sucker for thin, pretty laptops that deliver great battery life, and the Dell Inspiron 14 7000 Series certainly fits that bill (although it’s not particularly light, weighing in at 4.4 pounds). Since my computer life revolves around word processing, browsing the web, and watching the occasional online video, this model’s mediocre benchmark performance isn’t a showstopper.

Dell's Inspiron 14 is an interesting ultrabook with prices starting at 799 Euros (999 Euros for the reviewed configuration with a 256 GB SSD and a Core i7-4500U CPU; ~$1099 and $1374 respectively). Weight and size are reasonable, the aluminum case leaves a high-quality impression and the touchscreen completes the feature list. The runtimes of the - unfortunately non-removable - battery are also very good. The performance of the ULV processor is sufficient for the usual office tasks as well as web browsing and Dell fortunately did not save money in regard to the storage equipment. The 256 GB SSD improves the system performance as well as the system and application launches. Only the display cannot keep up with the other components. The Inspiron 14-7437 can also be equipped with a Full HD display, but this option is limited to the United States. However, the SSD is unfortunately not available in the United States. Dell should improve the brightness, the contrast and the viewing angle stability of the touchscreen, because it does not work really well outdoors. Another drawback is the limited port selection - two USB ports are just not enough if you are not using the touchpad only. The system noise could be lower as well - at least you cannot hear the notebook with light workloads.

The Dell Inspiron 14 7000 hits a few high notes with its gleaming and thin aluminum chassis, high-resolution display, and first-rate battery life. Unfortunately, a handful of design flaws reduce its luster. The display, while crisp, is a bit dull, and the keyboard backlighting is inconsistent, which detracts from the laptop's handsome appearance. Our biggest problem with the 7000, however, is the knife-sharp edges along the bottom of the system.Though it doesn't offer quite the battery life or as thin an aluminum enclosure, the Lenovo IdeaPad U430 Touch is the more well-rounded of the two 14-inch contenders. It remains our Editors' Choice and Top 100 Products of 2013 pick.

Superthin, aluminum-clad laptops tend to be up around the $1,000 mark right now. The Dell Inspirion 14 7000 comes in a bit under that while giving you a 1080p touch screen, backlit keyboard, and good performance and battery life. All things considered, it's well priced for what you're getting, I enjoyed using it, and it's small enough for travel, even with its larger screen size.

With its nice full-HD screen and slim, solid aluminum shell, Dell’s Inspiron 14 7000 Series looks much nicer than many laptops that cost more than its $849 starting price. It’s certainly a more premium-looking device than the similarly sized Lenovo U430 Touch. But while the Lenovo system has an uglier screen, it also costs $150 less than the Inspiron with the same CPU and storage space. The Lenovo U430 has solid-state cache, which the Dell system lacks. That can make a big difference in the overall responsiveness of the system. We wouldn’t say the Inspiron feels sluggish, but it certainly doesn’t feel as snappy as its premium Ultrabook looks imply. While its design is attractive, the Inspiron 14 is quite literally a bit rough around the (bottom) edges. Every time you pick up the system from the bottom, you’ll be reminded that the Inspiron 14 isn’t quite as sleekly designed as it looks as the chassis digs into your hands. Still, with a nice-enough keyboard and a great touchpad, combined with pretty good battery life and a pleasing screen, the Inspiron 14 7000 Series is a solid almost-Ultrabook for those who don’t want to spend more on a pricier premium system like Apple’s MacBook Pro or Dell’s own upcoming XPS 15. With a more comfortable backside and some solid-state storage, the Inspiron 14 7000 Series could be a great mid-range Ultrabook. As it stands, it’s just a pretty good thin laptop.