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Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Inspiron line of laptops by Dell underwent a huge transformation in 2021. With an all-new design, improved keyboard, and a thin-bezel display, the Inspiron gained the look and feel of a premium laptop but without the typically steep asking price of one. That said, while the Inspiron 15 already represents great value, an extra $219 off makes it a tough deal to turn down if you’re on the hunt for a capable all-purpose laptop.
Dell is offering big discounts through their homepage on two of the most high-performance models of the Inspiron 15, with the cheaper of the two costing just $685.99.
That’s an attractive price tag when you consider what you’re getting: a surprisingly powerful laptop wrapped in a classy metallic chassis. It’s a solid workhorse if you need a laptop that can handle all of your daily computing tasks, serve as a fast home-office PC, or a capable media device for watching your favorite TV show between long study sessions.
There are two models on sale, but you needn’t fret over which to buy. I’ll walk you through the best features of the Inspiron 15 and help you decide which model is best for you.
Why Buy an Inspiron 15?
Credit: Dell
Dell has crafted the Inspiron as a value-oriented line of laptops next to the more high-end XPS devices that sit at the very premium end of the scale. An Inspiron offers big performance like some higher-end laptops but with a more focused feature set that helps deliver the best utility possible.
And now, with the 2021 refresh of the Inspiron line, this budget-friendly device carries the look and feel of a more premium offering than its price would suggest. The Inspiron 15 sports a slick, all-metal aesthetic and a 15.6-inch FHD display that covers almost the entire span of the upper shell, thanks to its four-sided thin bezels.
Inside, a fast Intel Core i7 CPU and 16GBs of RAM give you enough performance for study, work, or play (or all at the same time, if you like). And while powerful laptops can often mean hot running temperatures and a short battery life, Dell has tackled this problem with a redesigned thermal system. It packs a dual-heat-pipe configuration and an innovative, intelligent thermal management system that can scale both performance and cooling to suit any given situation.
Meanwhile, the extensive selection of ports makes the Inspiron 15 an exceptionally accommodating laptop in an age of increasingly pared-back, USB-C–only devices. The full-size HDMI port makes connecting to an external display as simple as plugging in a regular HDMI cable, and the SD Card Slot is very useful for transferring files between devices—like cameras, phones, game consoles, and more.
Wireless internet on the Inspiron 15 is cutting-edge, providing full support for Wi-Fi 6 that promises the fastest and stablest connections with the best possible range.
All of these features—the boosted cooling, the port selection, and the fast Wi-Fi—make the Inspiron 15 a great choice for those who regularly need to work on the go, or for students constantly shuffling between home, their campus, and the local library or coffee shop.
Which Inspiron 15 Is for You?
Credit: Dell
There are two models on sale. Let’s take a look at them both so you can pick the best one for you.
Inspiron 15 (512GB SSD)
Sale Price: $685.99 ($218.99 off)
The only difference between this model and the one below is storage. This one comes with a 512GB NVMe SSD, which is plenty for common office use, homework, and all the web browsing you can handle.
In this day and age, one where most of us use subscription services to stream both movies and music and keep all our photos on our cell phones or in “the cloud,” there simply isn’t as big a demand for huge amounts of on-board storage. So you can save money with this model, which is likely to be extra advantageous for the budget-conscientious, like students.
Inspiron 15 (1TB SSD)
Sale Price: $832.99 ($171.99 off)
As aforementioned, besides the bump in on-board storage up to 1TB (roughly 1024GB), this model is identical to the cheaper option. This is the model to get if you’re a content creator and need the space to store and edit video files and photos on the move, especially if you work with 4K-quality video.
This kind of content production runs much smoother when all your files are stored internally, and the extra storage in the super-fast NVMe SSD in the Inspiron 15 helps make loading and editing files as seamless as possible.
Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson has been writing for high-profile publications for 16 years, primarily in the video game industry, but also covering tech. Mike is an obsessed video game hoarder with hundreds of games spanning a 30-year collection. An entire room in his house is dedicated to Super Mario, and he thinks the Nintendo Switch is “the best invention in human history.” Counseling may be necessary.