Dell Inspiron 17 5000 Series (5758)

Editor's Notes

Dell Inspiron 17 5758 is company's cheapest 17-inch laptop. The entry-level model starts at £329 and packs an Intel Pentium processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, integrated Intel HD Graphics and a glossy 1600x900px screen. Don't get to discouraged with the Intel Pentium processor as this is not the Intel Atom based N-series that can be found in the budget laptops found these days. This is the U-series Pentium that is close to Intel's Core i3 models; therefore it should sufficient for basic entertainment tasks.

If you are after a more capable notebook Dell luckily offers multiple configurations. The next one up is the £399 model with Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, Intel HD Graphics 4400. If your budget allows you, I would suggest taking this model over the Intel Pentium. The extra RAM, hard drive and performance is well worth the additional £70 Dell is asking for.

In my opinion, the £499 model represents the best one of the series. It adds a faster Intel Core i5 processor and integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500. I wouldn't recommend spending more on other models in this series as other models retailing at £579, £649 and £779 don't add enough to the table to justify such a steep price increase.

They do add more RAM - 12GB, switchable nVidia GeForce 920 graphics card, Intel Core i7 and an full HD (1920x1080px) matte anti-glare screen. Honestly, all these performance boosts will not make much difference for average multimedia consumption. The graphics chip is not powerful enough for proper gaming, the difference in RAM will make virtually no difference and the same goes for the Intel Core i7 processor. The only real benefit is the full HD anti-glare screen that comes with the 2 most expensive models only but at that price you are already entering the premium entertainment notebook category. If you have that kind of money to spend your are better of looking elsewhere.