Convertibles are all the rage right now and if there are two companies that know about this it's Dell and HP. Both companies keep launching attractive convertibles that deliver a great balance between price and performance. Today we'd like to tackle the review of the Dell i5368-8833GRY, one of Dell's most attractive up and coming convertibles.
Dell's new proposal comes packed with the latest generation Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, amongst a broad range of other virtues. Now, without further ado, let's get to it.
Pros: 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 6th generation Core i7, 13 inch FHD touchscreen, USB type C port, long lasting battery life.
Cons: Mechanical hard drive instead of SSD.
Dell i5368-8833GRY In depth review of a triple threat
A premium laptop with a 360 format
Convertibles have managed to catch our attention thanks to their seamless transition between a standard laptop and an oversized tablet. They offer up the best of both worlds with high end specs for a formidable laptop and an even greater tablet.
Design is a big part of this equation and that's why the Dell i5368-8833GRY comes with an aluminum body that let's you know right off the bat that you're dealing with a high end laptop.
Also, it wouldn't be a convertible if it didn't have a touchscreen and in this case it's a very formidable one. Specifically, we've got a 13.3 inch IPS Full HD display packed with WLED-backlit technology. This makes for a great experience when watching movies, skyping with friends or just lying on the couch using it on its "tablet mode". Details are crisp and viewing angles are quite good, allowing you to share the experience with your friends and family.
It should be noted though, that being in the "13 inch club" also means that there's no room for a dedicated numeric pad, something you might want to consider if you're big on number crunching.
Grade A performance
Though many convertibles opt for a more conservative set of specs that typically end with a Core i5 processor, the Dell i5368-8833GRY went all out and implemented a 6th generation Intel Core i7 6500U dual core processor clocking in at 2.5 GHz and reaching a maximum speed of 3.1 GHz.
The CPU at hand comes with 4 megabytes of Intel's smart cache and delivers a solid performance on anything from video editing to working with virtual machines. We're not gonna talk benchmarks here because they're rarely a reflection of real world usage. However, it should be noted that this is one of the best consumer CPU's in the market and there's not much that this model can't do.
That said, the CPU is only as good as it's available RAM and in this case we've got 8GB of DDR4 SDRAM. This is excellent, not only because 8GB hits the sweet spot in terms of being able to run several apps at a time but also because it's the latest generation RAM to hit the market, a rare commodity that most laptops don't feature, even within the high end models.
Currently, most laptops operate with DDR3 RAM whilst DDR4 RAM offers a significant upgrade in terms of speed and efficiency allowing hardcore software to work seamlessly in conjunction with the Core i7 in place.
Overall, this is an excellent set of specs that's hard to beat, especially when you consider that we're still talking about a relatively affordable laptop and not a "super high end model"(in terms of pricing at least).
No gaming on this laptop
As expected given that we're talking about a convertible in this review of the Dell i5368-8833GRY, this laptop is hardly suited for gaming. With an Intel HD 520 graphics chip there's not much of an option for this, unless you're into 2D games or games that aren't very demanding like Fifa 16 or SIMS 4. However, anything that goes into the AAA segment will be a pretty big disappointment.
That said, the drawback is limited to gaming since stuff like editing video and streaming Full HD movies should be more than fine with this GPU.
Battery life and Storage options
Battery life is a pretty big deal when it comes to convertibles. I mean; what's the point of using it in tablet mode if it's got a 2 hour battery life? That said, this particular model packs a 3 cell battery that should be enough to deliver around 6-7 hours of battery life in real life usage.
Of course these numbers vary depending on what you do but if you're going to surf the web, watch a few videos and edit a few docs you should expect battery life to move within those margins.
As for storage, we've got a 1TB mechanical hard drive operating at your standard 5400 rpm. Honestly, we would rather have an SSD, even if it was limited to 256GB since it would greatly improve bootup time as well as general performance speed.
However, we understand that most people would still opt for the storage option that offers them 1TB instead of compromising towards what's barely a 4th of that capacity. Also, when you're dealing with a laptop that has such high end components such as this one we really doubt that speed is going to be much of an issue.
What's connectivity like?
As you would expect there's no DVD drive, however we do have a USB Type C port, USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port in case you'd like to plug in a mouse or something. There's also an ethernet port, HDMI output to plug the convertible to a monitor as well as your typical SD card reader.
WiFi is pretty good thanks to the latest generation WiFi ac antenna within the i5368-8833GRY and obviously we've got Bluetooth support for anything from external speakers to an external keyboard.
There's also an HD webcam and Maxxaudio speakers, very handy when watching the latest season of House of Cards with the convertible set to tablet mode.
Wrapping things up...
Our review of the Dell i5368-8833GRY has come to an end and honestly we're quite happy with it. Sure, an SSD unit instead of a hard drive would've convinced us 100% but considering the fact that this convertible packs a 6th generation i7 and the latest generation RAM we're actually quite surprised at all that Dell managed to cram within such a tight price point.
Overall, if you're looking to buy a very portable convertible with high end specs and would rather have a fully fledged 1TB hard drive than a fraction of that capacity in an SSD format then this is a great choice that will work wonders either way.