For many households, there's only room in the budget for a mainstream laptop with basic amenities. Dell laptops, in general, are available in many configurations, some faster than others. The Inspiron 14R-1440PBL ($649.99 list, at Best Buy) is easily the slow-poke in Dell's 14-inch laptop line, although you couldn't tell from the bright blue, lively-looking chassis. The Intel Pentium processor isn't particularly fast and it's the reason why it's priced less than its Core i3-equipped sibling—the Dell Inspiron 14R ($820 direct, 3 stars). It is a decent system, but if you look around you can find laptops with more power for less money.

Design
For those who haven't owned an Inspiron laptop in the past year, the new designs might have gone unnoticed. The hinges have been moved forward, creating a lip in the back of the system, which is a play taken from the Dell Adamo ($899 direct, 3.5 stars) and Mini Inpiron 10s ($425 direct, 3.5 stars). The 14R-1440PBL is, to some degree, boxy; where if you tore off its lid, it would measure as thick as the Apple MacBook (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz) ($999 direct, 3.5 stars). It stands taller than the Asus U45Jc-A1 ($867 street, 4.5 stars) and HP Pavilion dm4-1160us ($850 street, 4 stars), more so towards the front bezel, since the other two have sloping designs. The 14R isn't cut from the same aluminum metal as the Asus U45Jc-A1 and HP dm4; its plastics glimmer in royal blue (other colors are available as well), ingrained with faint brush strokes. At 4.9 pounds, it's heavier than the Asus U45Jc-A1 (4.7 lbs) and HP dm4 (4.4 lbs).

The 14-inch widescreen is one size smaller than the Acer AS5745's 15.6-inch one, but both are stuck with a 1,366 by 768 resolution. A higher 1,600-by-900 resolution is available in premium mainstream laptops like the HP Envy 14 ($1,286 direct, 4 stars). That, or go with a business laptop. While just about every other laptop sports a chiclet-style keyboards it's nice to see a traditional one once in a while. The 14R-1440PBL retains the fabulous traditional keyboard that has made other Inspiron typing experiences so delightful. Furthermore, its wide touchpad and soft mouse buttons are as responsive as those of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y460 ($1,049 direct, 4 stars) and Asus U45Jc-A1.

Features
Dell shuffled a few ports around since revamping the Inspiron line. A VGA port and one of the 3 USB ports are now situated in the back of the system. A second USB port (left side) doubles as an eSATA port, which, tethered to an external SATA hard drive, can take advantage of SATA's blazing speeds. Internally, it ships with a 500GB, 5,400rpm hard drive, matching the capacities found in the Asus U45Jc-A1 and HP dm4-1160us. It doesn't come with cutting-edge wireless features like WiMax and Wireless Display (WiDi), but there is 802.11n Wi-Fi built-in. For a slight premium, you can get WiMax and WiDi in the Asus K52F-A1 ($680). An HDMI port is included, as well as a multimedia card reader, VGA, Ethernet, and a 1.3 Megapixel webcam.

Performance
The 2GHz Intel Pentium P6100 processor is exceedingly underwhelming compared with the 2.4GHz Core i3-370M processors found in the Acer AS5745 and Asus U45Jc-A1. Although its sluggish speeds were tempered by 4GB of DDR3 memory (Web surfing and office productivity tasks weren't lagging), Handbrake (3:42) and Cinebench R11.5 (1.33) results still came in dead last. In fact, the 14R-1440PBL finished in the bottom in every performance test, whether it was a cumulative performance test like PCMark Vantage (4,101) or a gaming one like 3DMark06 (1,841). If you want to play the latest 3D games, the HP Envy 14, Y460, and U45Jc-A1 have good midrange graphics chips.

Good battery life is the result of energy-efficient components and a big battery. The 14R, unfortunately, fell short in both areas. Its 48WH battery yielded a paltry 3 hours 16 minutes MobileMark 2007 score, a far cry from the 9:27 the Asus U45Jc-A1 got with its 84Wh battery. Systems like the HP dm4-1160us and Acer AS5745 didn't do too bad themselves, scoring 4:49 and 5:30, respectively.

The Dell Inspiron is a reputable product line that has produced great systems, but all it takes is one misstep, one component, to compromise the appeal of what is an otherwise good laptop. The Intel Pentium P6100 processor is a good choice, only if the price of the system reflects its entry-level performance scores. Alas, the Dell Inspiron 14R-1440PBL did not perform as well as systems that cost about the same or less. Your money is better spent on Editors' Choice laptops like the Asus U45Jc-A1 or Acer Aspire AS5745-7247.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
Check out the test scores for the Dell Inspiron 14R-1440PBL

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell Inspiron 14R-1440PBL with several other laptops side by side.