**REVIEW** Dell Inspiron 15" 2-in-1 Laptop

 Well, it's only been about 10 days since I was crying over the 14-inch Inspiron. Ten days without a computer felt like a year in time-out. That whole "saga" of the computer hunt just got worse. I don't even want to revisit it so I will just tell you that this finally arrived:

I am happy with this 15.5-inch device but I gotta tell ya... the keyboard is not much bigger than on the 14-inch laptop. The thing is, I discovered that, although the Dell keyboards look so tiny compared to the Asus, they are almost the same. When I overlay the Dell keyboard cover, the only reason the Asus seems so much bigger is because of the numeric keypad. The other keys are about the same size. Weird.

This is the keyboard on the 14-inch device that I returned:

And this is the size of the Asus keyboard cover compared to the 15-inch device I am keeping (and using at the moment).

And this is what my fairly small hands look like on the keyboard for the 15-inch device:

The best way to compare the keyboards (Asus vs this 15 5000) is to show the keyboard covers for each:

I think I got way too obsessed with the keyboard issue... Still, I am happy that I got this computer. I call her Dot. Yes, I named her. Shut up.

I will quickly go over the positives and negatives that I've decided on after using Dot for the past almost-30 hours (at the time I am typing this).

The Good:

• The build of the laptop is thin and lightweight. My 
• This keyboard was made for typing. I freaking love the tension and spring of the keys. There's none of the cheap, loose feeling of some keyboards. The Asus keyboard wasn't horrible but the Dell keyboard is amazing. And it's backlit. Hallelujah. 
• Another thing about the keyboard is that it doesn't have the slick texture of the Asus. There is a slightly rough-but-buffed matte feel to the keys and I don't think that the letters will rub off like they eventually did on the Asus.
• There is a wide palm-rest area that I really like. It makes typing so much more comfortable. This feature helps me forgive one of the negatives I'll soon mention.

This is rather comfy

• There is a fingerprint scanner that I wasn't sure I would like. Uh, I don't like it - I LOVE it, bigtime. It is so nice to be able to unlock the computer (and some of my apps and programs) just with a touch. Yes, I am too lazy and too forgetful to deal with passwords when I don't have to.
• The graphics (?) are pretty sweet. And when I say 'graphics', I'm talking about the still-picture quality and the quality of videos. I had read some reviews that bad-mouthed this function. Though I now have a television, I use my computer to watch a lot of videos and movies. I was kind of worried that I was going to go blind watching muddy-looking shows. Nope. The screen is just as vibrant as the Asus. And I have not yet explored the Dell Cinema features. Also, I have not played with the settings for brightness, color, etc. It's just not that big of a deal to me. I am more interested in sound and that leads me to...
• I didn't understand what "narrow borders" meant until I saw this screen. This laptop makes the most of the surface for display. (Did that sentence make sense?) When you have a less than 17-inch laptop, you want to get as much screen size out of it as you can.

• The sound quality is awesome. My old Toshiba had great sound but, after using the Asus for the past few years, I forgot how nice it is to listen to music and hear all the various nuances of the bass and treble and vocals. The sound is also better when looking at movies and shows.  For the first time in forever, I got to enjoy some jazz and classical yesterday. I'm not crazy about jazz unless the sound quality is great.
• The overall aesthetics are nice. I mean, that may not be the most important thing in choosing a device but it doesn't hurt. Everything about the layout of this laptop looks clean and uncluttered. It looks sleek and businesslike. (I did like the charcoal grey of the 14-inch device but this platinum-colored one is not bad.) Again, this is where the palm-rest comes into play. It adds so much to the overall sleek, clean look of this laptop.
• It runs very quietly. I don't hear a lot of fan noise like I did with the Asus.
• It stays cool. As soon as I got it set up, I used it for about 3 straight hours to pay bills, catch up on email, etc. It never got even a little bit warm. If the fan was keeping it cool, I couldn't hear it working. I am still thinking of getting a cooling lap fan for it. This one is small enough that I can sit with it on my lap more easily than I could with the Asus or the Toshiba. I don't want to run the risk of burning it out.
• I like that Dell has a lot of Dell contact and Device Helps built right in. I am pretty much linked right into my Dell support and protections contacts. That's nice because I don't have to go looking all over the web for help and info when something goes wrong. It's me, folks, so something is bound to go wrong at some point.
• And, of course, this is a 2-in-1 so that means I can use it as a tablet or as a laptop. A lot of people don't care about this feature in a device because they rarely use it. I do. This is of the things I loved about the Asus. I can fold this back and go right into Tablet Mode. I can tent it and prop it v-shaped to watch videos will I am cooking. I often use this to watch shows while I am cooking or cleaning because I can prop it on the counter and out of the way of water and other hazards. Because I can't remember even basic recipes sometimes (even my own recipes), I almost always use Tablet Mode to read recipes or watch a demonstration of a recipe.

In full tablet mode,
laying flat

In half-tablet mode
the way I use in the kitchen

• Finally, the 5000 series supports the use of an active pen. I got my laptop on a special promotion and was given a pen for free after I had to contact customer services about something. Not all of the 2-in-1 models support active pens and not all pens are created equal. By the way, this pen is very smooth and I love the thick nib. It holds very much like a regular pen or pencil.

• With the active pen feature, I get access to Windows Workspace and Windows Ink. Good thing too because, with the new Windows Edge Browser, all the functions for writing on webpages are gone. I'd have to uninstall the new Edge and reinstall the old Edge to get that back. 

The Not-So-Good:

I had to scratch my complaints about the keyboard once I realized Dell's is not really much smaller than Asus. That's easy to see because the Asus cover almost worked for the Dell keyboard. And you've heard me raving my love for the keys on the Dell.

The one gripe I have is more of a personal, I'm-weird-like-this kind of thing. I am having to get used to all new shortcuts and using the top row of numbers keys. Remember that the keyboard layout is different and so not all the keys are where I'm used to. Yeah, so that's just me.

And that's pretty much it (so far) for anything less than positive. Seriously, once I got over the smaller keyboard and the missing numeric keypad, I was fine.  I find it kind of funny that while the keyboard looks so small next to the Asus, the screen really is just about the same size.

 Here's something kind of off-subject. I am kind of in love with the new Edge browser. I have long been a Chrome-only gal but Google is really starting to bug me. I've had a lot of problems with Chrome and Chrome extensions for a minute now. I really only meant to use Edge to see what all the fuss is about. Let me tell you, Edge looks so much like Chrome that I can't tell that I'm not using Chrome. I never thought I would be so enamored of a Microsoft browser but... here I am. I am using it right now.

So, that's my take on this Inspiron device. I am sure that I will have to update this more than once as time goes by. For now, I am happy.

Peace
--Free

NOTE: When I say 15.6, I am talking about the viewable area of the screens. The computers are listed as being 14-inch or 15-inch. Sorry about any confusion.