A stylish thin-and-light for the budget

A stylish thin-and-light for the budget
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Dell's current Inspiron lineup -- regardless of series -- has been very consistent at offering above average looks and features for what you're paying. There may be a disappointing spec here and there, but there's typically some other feature to sweeten the deal in some other way.
For the Inspiron 14 5000 series it's 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a backlit keyboard, and the fact that the laptop is a bit more travel-friendly than you might expect given its pricing.
The 14 5000 starts at $550 and comes in three configurations; we tested the midpriced version, which retails for about $700. The 14 5000 isn't available in the UK or Australia, however the 15 5000 is, which has the same overall design but a larger 15.6-inch screen (touch optional), a keyboard with number pad, and configurations that include discrete graphics and, in Australia, solid-state hybrid drives and full-HD IPS touchscreens with battery like dell F339N battery, Dell J022M Battery, Dell Adamo XPS Battery, Dell Adamo XPS P02S Battery, canon NB-11L battery, canon IXUS 125HS battery, canon PowerShot A1200 battery, canon PowerShot A4000 battery, FUJIFILM NP-W126 Battery, FUJIFILM FinePix HS30EXR Battery, FUJIFILM FinePix HS33EXR Battery, FUJIFILM X-Pro1 Battery. Prices for the 15 5000 start £480 or AU$945.
The 14 7000 series is a step up in almost every way, but it's just more than $1,000. If you can't stretch your budget, the 14 5000 series is a compromise that doesn't necessarily feel like one. Well, at least not too much of one.
What's best about the design of the 14 5000 series is that it looks better than you might be used to from a laptop that starts at $550. While the chassis is most definitely polycarbonate, the lid is finished with brushed metal with a small, simple Dell logo in the middle.
Mainstream laptops can be thick and heavy, but that's not the case here. It's not necessarily the thinnest or lightest 14-inch laptop, but you shouldn't have trouble slipping it into a shoulder bag or backpack. The whole thing measures 0.9-inch thick (22mm) with a width and depth of 13.5 by 9.7 inches (342x246mm) and weighs in at 4.8 pounds (2.2kg).
The 14 5000's keyboard is spill-resistant and backlit, and those are standard features even on the $550 entry configuration. There is a fair amount of flex in the keyboard deck, so if that's something that really bothers you, you may want to hit up a Best Buy to type on it for a bit.
I also found the keys to be a bit spongy feeling, perhaps caused by whatever makes it spill-resistant. Still, it's not a bad typing experience: the keys have good travel so that you don't feel like you're typing on a tabletop and there are no odd placements or awkwardly small keys.
The touchpad is large and supports multitouch gestures up to four fingers, though you'll have to enable many of them. It's a decent touchpad, but if you tend to type with your hands on the palm rests, you'll want to bump up the palm-rejection setting. Even with it turned all the way up I still experienced the occasional cursor jump.
The laptop's 14-inch touchscreen has a 1,366x768-pixel resolution, something that's still pretty common on midrange models. It's fine, all things considered, but it doesn't get very bright so working outside in bright daylight might prove problematic and color and contrast aren't great either. Basically, you get a touchscreen that's nice to have for Windows 8.1, but it's not a particularly good one.
Sound quality from the front-firing stereo speakers is good for casual listening, and they get fairly loud without distorting. You'll probably want to connect some decent desktop speakers or headphones when you can, though.
Ports and connections are nothing out of the ordinary. You get two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 ports; a full-size HDMI output; Ethernet; a headphone and mic jack; and an SD memory card slot.
Wireless features include newer 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which oddly isn't available in the pricier 14 7000 series, and Bluetooth 4.0.