Dell Inspiron 13 7359 review – Dell is beating Lenovo at its own game of 2-in-1 convertibles

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Somehow the European market of 2-in-1 devices isn’t as successful like on the other side of the Pacific but more and more users realize the benefits of such devices. And the new Dell Inspiron 7359 is here to show the way. In fact, the laptop can go even further and possibly beat Lenovo at its own game. This device is a direct competitor to the Lenovo Yoga 500 series notebooks, which offer a wide variety of hardware choices while the Inspiron 7359 focuses only on Pentium, Core i3 and Core i5 processors.

The Inspiron 7359 is actually a pretty solid machine and can surely give a run for the Yoga 500’s money. For around $500-600, depending on the configuration, the notebook offers the latest Core i3 and i5 processors paired with HD IPS touchscreen and impeccable build quality. You can also go as high as Full HD resolution on the $799 model or as low as $529 for the Pentium-powered notebook. We are currently reviewing the Core i3 configuration with HD screen so let’s see what else it can offer.

You can find the model and all of its available configurations here: http://amzn.to/24KFeIs

Contents


Retail package

The device comes in a relatively small box with the usual AC adapter, charging cable and user manuals.

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Design and construction

As we already stated, the notebook has really good design and excellent choice of materials. It’s mainly built from plastic but that doesn’t take away the sturdiness at all. Actually, Dell claims it can survive harsh conditions and they tested the device by pressing the power button 40 000 times, closing and opening the lid 20 000 time and even twisting the whole chassis 25 000 times. And to be honest, by the looks and feels of it, the notebook might actually be future-proof.


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Probably the only thing that made a not so good impression was the back of the lid. In the center, where Dell’s logo is placed, gives in under pressure and it’s even easy to touch the panel on the other side of the lid causing ripples if it’s turned on. But we’ve really seen worse and besides, how much pressure would you apply on the lid? It’s a compact 13-inch laptop it doesn’t serve as a good table so much. Anyway, the hinges feel pretty tight and they are made of metal. Opening the notebook isn’t as easy and you will need both hands, but this reduces the screen wobbling to some extent. It may not seem so prominent, but it’s still there and it’s annoying. Well, almost all 2-in-1 PCs we’ve tested so far have this issue. As for the bottom panel, you will only find the silicone legs supporting the machine and the main exhaust vent near the back of the machine.


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Unlike most machines, the Inspiron 7359 has differently shaped edges. The front side of the base and the lid are curved and the same goes for the back side of the machine. While the usual silicone stripes are missing for better tent mode positioning, the curved edges take their job. The ergonomics allow the notebook to be placed in whatever position. But the left and right side are absolutely flat and accommodate the usual set of ports. The left side goes with the DC charging port, HDMI, two USB 3.0 ports, 3.5 mm audio combo jack and a small grill for the left loudspeaker. While the right side has only one USB 2.0 port and an SD card reader. You will also find Dell’s stylus hidden in a small hole next to the card reader and since this is a convertible, the power and volume rocker are placed near the front right edge so you can easily reach them in tablet or tent mode. There’s also the right loudspeaker next to them. The overall port distribution, the design of the stylus and buttons are great and doesn’t even require so much time to adjust to.


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When opening the notebook you will easily notice the silicone bars placed around the edges of the screen and around the keyboard tray. They are both placed there to elevate the machine when placed on flat surfaces and thus protecting the finish and the screen. You will also notice that the interior is a little elevated and there are small curves on the left and right side. It feels a bit strange when typing but you will get used to it easy. Speaking of typing, the keyboard adopts reasonably sized keys, which are well-separated and provide long key travel. You can also take advantage of the LED backlight and the fact that the most commonly used function keys are placed near to the Fn button – volume control, media player buttons and lock key. We were mostly surprised by the touchpad, though. It’s pretty big for a 13-incher and that’s a huge advantage to consider. This way you will have the comfort of using a bigger working space on a 13-inch device. More importantly, though, the touchpad feels great – it’s responsive, accurate, and responds to light clicks across the whole trackpad area.


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We are only at the start of the review and we can say the notebook has a set of pretty good features – stable 360-degree rotating hinge, awesome input devices (keyboard and touchpad), solid construction, all the needed set of ports and relatively thin (19.41 mm) and light (1.67 kg). The latter, however, might not be true depending from which angle you look at it. For a mid-range 13-inch laptop, the device is pretty low on weight, but it’s a bit on the hefty side when you turn around the screen and start using it as a tablet.

Display quality

The device uses a WXGA IPS panel with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution with a 13.3-inch diagonal. The pixel density for the screen is 118 ppi and the pixel pitch is 0.215 x 0.215mm so it can be considered as “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal or greater than 74 cm.

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Viewing angles are good thanks to the IPS technology.

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The maximum brightness we were able to record is 291 cd/m2 with a maximum deviation of just 13% while the color temperature appears to be pretty close to the optimal – 6610K.

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Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. Starting with the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy. Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that has been used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used by professional cameras, monitors and etc. for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

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As you can see on the image above, the screen covers just 60% of the sRGB gamut and it’s kind of normal for this price range. Some colors, however, are missing and will aid for a bit washed up image.

We generated three separate profiles of the display using X-Rite i1Display Pro and the first one is for watching movies – Rec.709, ITU-R BT 1886 – with white point D65 and 140 cd/m2 luminance. The contrast ratio at this point is 835:1 (870:1 before calibration).

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The second profile is intended for general browsing and office work – again white point D65, luminance 140 cd/m2 and gamma 2.20. The contrast ratio here is 850:1.
And finally, the third profile aims to decrease the negative impact from the measured PWM and blue light emissions inherent to the LED backlight. You can read more about blue light emissions here. Anyway, the last profile also has D65 as white point but also limits the maximum brightness at 160 cd/m2 in order to eliminate the pulsations from the backlight.


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Here’s the sRGB coverage after calibration and when the first profile (for watching videos) is active.
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Below you will see practically the same image but with color circles representing the reference colors and white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut.

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Below you can see the results from the accuracy color checker with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. The results are before and after calibration.


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Pulse-width modulation (PWM, Screen flickering)

Our oscilloscope detected PWM across all brightness levels, except 100%, of course, but at high frequency – 20.3 kHz. This means that the pulsations aren’t aggressive and may cause eye strain only to users with extra sensitive eyes.

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Conclusion

We are really satisfied by the properties of this budget IPS panel. The 768p resolution isn’t the highest but it sure does the job well on the 13.3-inch diagonal while the rest of the properties like contrast ratio, brightness and sRGB coverage compensate for the latter. And let’s not forget the fact that this notebook sells for around €550 so let’s not get too picky. In fact, from user’s standpoint, the Inspiron 7359’s screen looks so much better than most of its competitors on the market with Full HD resolution. The only drawback, in this case, is the recorded PWM but since the frequency of the emitted light is pretty high, only some users will feel the negative effects.

Buy our display profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for Dell Inspiron 13 7359 configurations with 13.3″ W6TN0-133WH2 (HD, 1366 × 768) IPS screen, which can be found at Amazon.com: Dell Inspiron 13 7359

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

[edd_item edd_id_1=’63540′ edd_id_2=’63543′ edd_id_3=’63546′ edd_id_4=’63550′]

Sound

The sound appears to be clear and crisp enough for general multimedia like listening to music, watching movies etc.

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Specs sheet

The specs sheet provided below is for the model used in this review. Hardware specification may vary depending on your region.

CPUIntel Core i3-6100U (2-core, 2.30 GHz, 3MB cache)
RAM4GB (1x 4096MB) DDR3L
GPUIntel HD Graphics 520
HDD/SSD500GB HDD (5400 rpm)
Display13.3-inch (33.78 cm) – HD (1366×768), IPS touchscreen
Optical Drive
ConnectivityLAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11ac 1×1, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features
  • 2x USB 3.0
  • 1x USB 2.0
  • webcam
  • microphone
  • HDMI
  • 3.5 mm combo audio jack
  • 2-1 card reader (SD, MMC)
  • LED keyboard backlight
Battery3-cell, 43Wh
Thickness19.41 mm (0.75″)
Weight1.67 kg (3.68 lbs)


Software

The notebook came with pre-installed Windows 10 (64-bit) but if you are willing to perform a clean install by yourself, make sure you download the latest drivers from Dell’s official support page: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/inspiron-13-7359-laptop/drivers

Battery

Unsurprisingly, the device offers excellent battery performance and why the hell not? It has big 43Wh unit crammed up inside, which appears to be enough to power up the 13-inch HD IPS panel and ultra-low voltage processor for extended periods. The methods we used for measuring the battery runtimes are the same as always – Wi-Fi turned on, battery saver switched on and screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2.

Web browsing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

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Excellent result – 473 minutes (7 hours and 53 minutes).

Video playback

For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.

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Considerably lower but still excellent reading – 390 minutes (6 hours and 30 minutes).

Gaming

We recently started using F1 2015’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.

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Even when it comes to gaming, the laptop is durable – 156 minutes (2 hours and 36 minutes)

CPU – Intel Core i3-6100U

csm_4th_Generation_Intel___CoreOE_i3_Processor_Badge_11_2535ceb74fThe Intel Core i3-6100U is part of the Skylake generation processors from Intel and also representing the ULV (ultra low voltage) series. The chip doesn’t support the Turbo Boost feature for dynamic frequency adjustment but has the important Hyper-Threading feature that emulates one virtual core for each physical one and thus establishing up to four threads. The two clocks run at 2.3 GHz and they are manufactured using the 14nm FinFET process.

The CPU also includes the Intel HD Graphics 520 iGPU and GT2 being its code name. It has 24 EUs (Execution Units) and are clocked at 300 MHz and can go up to 1000 MHz. The whole SoC draws approximately 15W at full throttle and that includes the memory controller (DDR4-2133/DDR3L-1600), the CPU and the iGPU. The chip also supports cTDP down so the TDP can go as low as 7.5W but that depends on the OEM and it affects heat dispersion and performance.

You can browse through our top CPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook we’ve tested with this processor: http://laptopmedia.com/processor/intel-core-i3-6100u/

Fritz

Fritz is a chess benchmark that tests the computing capabilities of the CPU with various chess moves. The Intel Core i3-6100U reached 4.704 million moves per second. By comparison, one of the most powerful PCs, Deep(er) Blue, was able to squeeze out 200 million moves per second. In 1997 Deep(er) Blue even beat the famous Garry Kasparov with 3.5 to 2.5.

GPU – Intel HD Graphics 520

intel_hd_graphicsIntel HD Graphics or also known as GT2 is an integrated graphics processor used in ULV (Ultra-low voltage) chips from intel that are part of the Skylake generation processors. The GT2 core boasts 24 Execution Units (EUs) that are clocked up to 1050 MHz, but the latter can be changed depending on the CPU that’s used in. The graphics processor supports up to DDR3L-1600 or DDR4-2133 RAM and uses two channels for reaching maximum bandwidth.

The revised GPU now supports H.265/HEVC hardware decoding but the most notable feature here is that the chip supports DisplayPort 1.2 while the HDMI support is limited to the older 1.4a. The GPU can support up to three displays simultaneously. The power consumption of the whole chip (along with the CPU and memory controller) is 15W.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook with this GPU that we’ve tested: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/intel-hd-graphics-520/


Temperatures

This two-staged test doesn’t represent real-life situations but it can give us a good grasp of the how much beating the whole system can take. And, of course, how the cooling design handles temperatures and will it be stable in the long run.

We start off with 100% CPU load but since the processor isn’t exactly a powerhouse, but instead an energy-efficient 2-core unit, the cooling system does its job just fine. The silicon was running stable at 2.3 GHz while temperatures were around 76 °C.

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After we turned on the GPU stress test as well, things didn’t change as the silicon kept running at 2.3 GHz without any signs of thermal throttling. The interesting thing here, however, is that the chip was able to give enough headroom for the integrated GPU to take care of its workload without affecting the clock speeds of the CPU cores.

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Temperatures on the surface are more than decent even during extremely heavy and long workload.

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Verdict

editor-choiceThe Inspiron 7359 is both affordable and appears to be an excellent mobile solution with features inherent to a higher-end device. It has a bit washed out design, which is, of course, pretty subjective but the construction is impeccable. It’s solid as hell but that has also reflected on the weight of the device, which brings us to one of the few drawbacks of this device. As a 13-inch device that aims to be comfortable for use even in tablet mode, the device weighs a bit more than it should and feels a bit tiring at some point. The thickness is also relatively high, although this doesn’t pose as a big problem.

Aside from the sturdy design, the Inspiron 7359 also has to offer excellent keyboard and touchpad experience. The device feels like a normal 15-inch notebook when using it in normal laptop mode and all the connectivity options usually found on full-sized notebooks make it more than great mobile solution. The added stylus in the package is a huge bonus as well – as long as you are a fan of those and use it frequently.

Finally, the hardware seals the deal for a great all-rounder with excellent value. The HD IPS panel is more than we can ask for, given the price of course. Still, we should mention that the screen uses PWM from 0 to 99% screen brightness and some users may feel the eyestrain after long hours of work, unless you use our custom Health Guard profile, of course. Also, battery life seems great but it might go down drastically when moving up the configurations featuring more powerful CPUs and the Full HD IPS panel that comes with them. So keep that in mind when opting for the Full HD version.

Basically, the Inspiron 7359 is a clamshell for a high-end 2-in-1 device and it’s a great bargain if you go with the mid-range and entry-level configurations. We are keen on testing the Full HD variant with Core i7-6500U because it has the potential of being a bang for the bucks as well.

You can find the model and all of its available configurations here: http://amzn.to/24KFeIs

Pros

  • Exceptionally sturdy design
  • Good keyboard and touchpad
  • IPS panel with overall good properties
  • Excellent battery runtimes
  • Good value (price/features, hardware)
  • Stylus and LED-backlit keyboard in a $500 device


Cons

  • A bit hefty for use in tablet mode, for example
  • PWM from 0 to 99% screen brightness

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