Jul 10, 2016 06:59 PM
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Just bought this May 2016. I'm giving it an initial 5 star review to offset the numerous and unfair 1 star reviews. It might drop down to 4 stars with time and usage. I bought the i5-6200 skylake with 500 GB HDD/8 GB SSD and 8 GB RAM.
THE GOOD
1) Excellent build quality. Yeah it's not brushed aluminum, big whoop. My last laptop was aluminum and dented very easily. It's a high quality, possibly polycarbonate, plastic, like the kind for football helmets. And the hinges feel very secure.
2) Included stylus pen, with special slot, which is nice for not getting smudges on the screen.
3) I strongly recommend you splurge for the FHD 1920 x 1080 version. It really makes the laptop feel premium. The screen on 1366 resolution just doesn't cut it, in my opinion.
4) Excellent peripherals. Three USB 3.0 slots. Good sound quality from built-in speakers.
5) Very little bloatware. The ones that come included are surprisingly useful.
6) The IPS wide-viewing angle is a definite plus. Dell didn't sell no tall tales with that feature.
THE BAD
1) I'm not a fan of Windows 10. Maybe it'll grow on me, but I still think Windows 7 is the pinnacle of Microsoft OS. But, it's understandable for when the laptop is in tablet mode.
2) Battery life not stellar. If you're doing some heavy duty stuff(transferring data from an external HDD for example), expect 3 hours tops. Otherwise, 5-6 is expected.
3) Trackpad is a bit finnicky. Needs some adjustment.
4) Screen glare is pretty annoying, especially when using low-brightness to save battery life. Probably going to invest in an anti-glare protector.
