If you're in the market for a laptop, you have a plethora of alternatives to select from, including lightweight mobile devices, heavy, durable notebooks, and a wide range of possibilities in between. Where do I even begin? Occasionally, it's simplest to eliminate choices based on what you already know. Sometimes that brand is one you've used and trusted for a long time.
If you are familiar with Dell, it's likely that you have opinions on the company's reliability, the effectiveness of its customer care, and the overall standard of the user experience that these goods and services provide. It's a sensible strategy to narrow your alternatives if you're brand loyal while nevertheless assisting you in selecting a top-notch goods. select a brandyou trust does half the deciding for you.
The 3000, 5000, and 7000 series represent the three grades or levels of Dell's Inspiron line. The premium features and relative pricing increase as you move up the stack. The laptop's screen size is often indicated by the number following the word "Inspiron" and the series number; an Inspiron 13 5000, for instance, would have a 13-inch screen and middle-field specifications.
The Power-User Class, or XPS
For a while now, the different iterations of the Dell XPS 13 have served as our "near-ideal" power and mainstream laptops. After each refresh, Dell makes adjustments to maintain this tenacious computer at the top. On both the desktop and laptop sides of the fence, the term "XPS" denotes a high-end, fully loaded device that caters to both discerning consumers and corporate customers. Power tools from Dell are suitable for use in a home office, coffee shop, conference room, or important business meeting.
XPS-class laptops can also act as test subjects for cutting-edge technologies. One example is the new XPS 13 Plus, which does away with a conventional touchpad in favour of a haptic feedback system built into the palm rest. With the exception of these trials, the XPS laptop line only offers customisable versions of the 13-inch XPS 13 and 15-inch XPS 15, which are both clamshell and 2-in-1 laptops with swivelling screens. The largest variant, the XPS 17, features a 17-inch screen and is exclusively offered in clamshell style.
G Series and Alienware: Full-Spectrum Gaming
If you're looking for a real, blinged-out gaming cruiser and gaming is more your thing, Dell's Alienware brand provides. Alienware has a well-deserved reputation as an aspirational brand among PC gamers because to the newest components combined with excellent construction and design. Although the firm is most known for its iconic Area-51m bruiser, Alienware has made excursions into some leaner machines with its m15 and m17 series models and the even leaner Alienware X-Series. The Alienware machines tend to be big, brawny models with significant graphics firepower and pricing to match.
Dell offers gaming laptops under its 2018-launched G Series label. This aggressively priced, lower-end series was formerly a member of the Inspiron family before the launch of this new sub-brand. With more modest designs than the Alienwares and component loadouts that are more modest but still functional for the newest games, the G Series is now targeted at mainstream and budget-constrained gamers after Dell separated it out as its own beast.
The Alienwares start above that price point, while the G Series models oscillate between that and the $1,000 threshold. Similar to Inspirons, the G Series models are divided into G3, G5, and G7 classes, with higher numbers denoting higher-grade construction and feature sets.
Latitude: The Business Machines' Parasol
Next comes business. In competition with Lenovo's ThinkPad T series and HP's business laptops, Dell's Latitude brand is its major offering (the various EliteBook lines). Latitude provides solutions for office and mobile professionals with a selection of lightweight yet powerful laptops and tough devices that can withstand abuse.
The Latitudes employ the same 3000, 5000, and 7000 nomenclature as the Inspirons and the G Series, with the addition of a top-of-the-line 9000 series. The screen size is indicated by the second digit of the four-digit model number. A Latitude 9500 would be a top-tier computer with a 17.3-inch screen, while a Dell Latitude 7390 is in the second from the top of the four lines.a 15.6-inch screen.
In addition to the "simple" resilient units, the Latitude range also includes a few pricey, highly ruggedized models that are intended to be used in harsh conditions like being submerged in water, attached to an ATV, exposed to cold and wind, etc. These have the Latitude Rugged Extreme logo on them.
Workstation laptops for discerning professionals, precision
Mobile workstations are a type of computer that resembles business models in some ways but differs due to Independent Software Vendor (ISV) certifications, specific CPU and GPU options, and support for extremely accurate error-correcting-code (ECC) memory in some circumstances. ISV certifications provide reassurance to users of demanding professional business apps (in fields like scientific computing, architecture, and engineering) that the workstation will function properly with a certain programme. The ISVs engaged are frequently businesses like Adobe, Autodesk, Avid, Dassault Systemés, and Siemens.
The Precision range of mobile workstations from Dell includes both laptop and desktop variants. On the laptop side, Precision uses the same terminology as the other lines' 3000, 5000, and 7000 series, with the model number including the screen size.