The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series (7559) is a gaming laptop that offers solid performance at a very reasonable price. This $799.99 system is powerful enough to provide a smooth gaming experience on all but the highest settings with its full HD display and discrete Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M graphics card, and it can efficiently perform daily work and media tasks when you're not playing. The Alienware 15, our former Editors' Choice, is at the very top of the price range for the category, and doesn't offer a significant enough increase in performance for the price. As such, the Inspiron 15 7000 Series (7559) is our new Editors' Choice for entry-level gaming laptops.

Design and Features

The Inspiron 15 7559 is hefty, and seems larger than its 15-inch size, perhaps due to its angular design. It's not the most portable system, but feels sturdy and well built at 0.98 by 15 by 10.4 inches (HWD) and 5.88 pounds. The build is similar to the Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro (VN7-591G-75S2), which measures 0.9 by 15.3 by 10.1 inches and weighs 5.29 pounds. The exterior is almost entirely black plastic, with red flourishes on the Dell logo on the lid, the trim around the touchpad, the speaker, the fan vents, and on the rubber feet. The top lid and the keyboard deck are rubberized, which feels nice, while the bottom of the laptop and the bezel are hard plastic.

The 15.6-inch display has a 1,920-by-1,080 resolution, and has an anti-glare coating that cuts reflections to a minimum. The 1080p resolution is now basically a minimum for gaming systems, and matches that of the Acer V 15 Nitro and the Dell Inspiron 14 (5447). Pricier gaming laptops such as the MSI GE62 Apache and the MSI PE70 2QD-062US also use 1080p screens. Although some of the more expensive machines now have 3K or higher displays, this resolution works well for an entry-level system, since the hardware would have a difficult time smoothly playing with high settings on a higher-resolution screen.

The keyboard is backlit with white light, unlike the Acer V 15 Nitro's red lighting. Not all systems in this range include backlighting, such as the Acer Aspire E (E5-771G-51T2). The keys themselves are of good quality, but the key travel feels a little short. The touchpad feels very smooth and sturdy. The speakers provide decent sound quality, though they sound a tinny at maximum volume.

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There are two USB 3.0 ports and a headphone jack on the left of the laptop, while the right side holds another USB 3.0 port, an HDMI port, a 2-in-1 SD card reader, an Ethernet port, and a Kensington lock slot. For storage, there's a 5,400rpm 1TB hard drive; in contrast the Acer V 15 Nitro offers both a 1TB hard drive and a 128GB solid-state drive. The system includes a 720p front-facing webcam above the display, and wireless connectivity comes by way of Bluetooth 4.0, and dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Dell supports the laptop with a one-year limited warranty, and offers a one-year McAfee LiveSafe subscription.

Performance

Our review unit has a 2.3GHz sixth-generation Intel Core i5-6300HQ processor and 8GB of memory. Combined with the discrete Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M graphics card, this system is well-equipped for most work and entertainment tasks. It scored 2,833 points on the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test, not too far behind the Acer V 15 Nitro, which $400 more expensive (3,160 points), and ahead of the Dell Inspiron 14 (2,732 points).

The main consideration, of course, is gaming performance, and the Inspiron 15 7000 Series performs admirably in that regard. It scored 12,950 points on the 3DMark Cloud Gate test and 1,992 on the more demanding Fire Strike Extreme. Its Cloud Gate score compares well to the much pricier Alienware 15 (12,382 points), though the latter's Fire Strike Extreme score (3,128) demonstrates the gulf between the two in terms of hardware. Still, the Inspiron 15 came close to the Acer V 15 Nitro on Cloud Gate (15,727) and beat it on Fire Strike Extreme (1,796).

Performance was equally good on the Heaven and Valley gaming tests, achieving 74 frames per second (fps) on both at Medium-quality settings. It still fared well on the Ultra-quality settings tests, scoring 24fps on Heaven and 19fps on Valley. The Acer V 15 Nitro scored 21fps and 24fps, respectively, on the Ultra-quality settings, while the Alienware 15 managed 38fps and 44fps on the same tests. We consider 30fps as smooth gameplay, so you might have to lower a few settings to medium or high in some games. Generally, the Inspiron 15 can run games on all but the highest settings, and is more than capable for an entry-level gaming laptop, hanging closely with more expensive laptops.