Dell Inspiron 15 5000 5548 Mainstream 15.6″ Laptop

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The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 5548 is the latest series of the popular Inspiron 5000 15.6-inch mainstream notebook PC. In fact, it is just a refreshed version of the 5547. As the main difference, Dell’s 5548 features the recently released 5th Generation Intel Core “Broadwell” series processors instead of the 4th Gen Core “Haswell”. Broadwell brings a lower power consumption, and somewhat better performance of the CPU itself and its Intel HD (5500) integrated graphics.

At the time of this writing, the Dell Inspiron 5000 5548 is available only with the 5th Gen Intel i5-5200U processor with the HD 5500 integrated GPU. The laptop is also expected to be available with a faster Core i7 chip and optional AMD Radeon M265 and M275 mid-range dedicated graphics. Another upgrade is inclusion of the new Intel RealSense 3D camera technology. Touchscreen is an optional feature.

Dell Inspiron 15 5000 5548 1

The rest of the notebook remained the same. The 0.9″ thin chassis with a black plastic keyboard deck and sivlerish aluminum lid is unchanged, as well as screen resolution which is either 1366-by-768 or 1920-by-1080 pixels. Sadly, IPS wide viewing angle display technology is missing. System memory support goes up to 16 Gigabytes, while hard drive storage is 1 Terabyte large. Both RAM and HDD are user upgradeable via doors on the bottom of the casing. The Chiclet style keyboard provides key backlight as an option and is spill-resistant. The 5548 has stereo speakers, a 2-megapixel webcam with built-in RealSense3D on the front bezel, two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI video connector, multiformat media card reader, Wi-Fi and Ethernet LAN network connection, and Bluetooth. Intel’s Wireless Display technology is optionally available.

Lid of Dell 5548

The laptop comes with either 3‑cell 43.50 WHr or 4‑cell 58 WHr battery. There is no info on battery life, but a good indicator of it could be the battery life of the previous version. It lasted more than seven hours with the 58 WHr unit.

Dell’s 5548 weighs in at 5.3 pounds, which is a usual weight for a mainstream notebook with a 15.6-inch display.

Here are the specs of the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 5548 with descriptions of its features. For comparison against other laptops, you can use the "Compare Specs" button.

Brand Dell
Screen Size 15.6-inch

This is by far the most popular laptop screen size. It provides a lot of screen real estate, while avoiding bulkiness of the 17.3" laptops.
Screen Resolution 1366x768 pixels HD

This is an entry-level screen resolution, oftentimes found on budget laptops. It doesn't deliver picture sharpness and space on the screen like the Full HD or higher resolution laptop displays do.

1920x1080 pixels Full HD

Full HD is the most common laptop screen resolution today. It provides a good image sharpness and a decent amount of space on the display for the user interface and programs. However, it isn't as good as the top-tier 4K Ultra HD.
Touchscreen Finger multi-touch input (optional)

The device optionally comes with touchscreen capability.
Other Display Specs TN type

Displays based on the old TN technology lack wide viewing angles you can find on IPS screens. The colors may look washed out or inverted at certain viewing angles.
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i5-5200U 5th Gen dual-core 2.2-2.7GHz 3MB cache (User Benchmark CPU score: 37)

Intel Core i7-5500U 5th Gen dual-core 2.4-3.GHz 4MB cache (User Benchmark CPU score: 42)
Graphics (GPU) AMD Radeon R7 M265 2GB DDR3 dedicated video card (User Benchmark GPU score: 8)

AMD Radeon R7 M270 4GB DDR3 dedicated video card (User Benchmark GPU score: 7)

Intel HD 5500 integrated graphics (good only for the lightest gaming)
System Memory (RAM) Size 4GB RAM

4GB is a small RAM size for computing in 2023. For smooth operation of a laptop during everyday tasks, at least 8GB is recommended.

6GB RAM

6GB RAM is enough for moderate multitasking. However, at least 8GB is recommended for flawless multitasking in everyday computing in 2023.

8GB RAM

The 8GB RAM size is the standard one in 2023. It provides comfortable multi-tasking for the most home and office users.

12GB RAM

12GB is greater than the recommended minimum of 8GB and enables very comfortable multitasking during everyday tasks. However, many games and professional software may require 16GB or more.

16GB RAM

16GB and greater RAM sizes are recommended for heavy multitasking, gaming, and specialized programs that require a lot of RAM.
Data Storage 1000GB (1TB) HDD

1TB is an excellent storage capacity, but HDD is a slow type of storage.
DVD Optical Drive None
Keyboard & Input Backlit keyboard with dedicated number pad

The keyboard has backlit keys and a separate numeric pad on the right side of the keyboard.

Non-backlit keyboard with dedicated number pad

The keyboard has a separate numeric pad on the right side of the keyboard, but it has no keyboard backlight.

Touchpad with click buttons built into the surface

The left and right click buttons are built into the surface of the touchpad, as opposed to separate physical buttons.

Touchscreen
Speakers & Audio Stereo speakers

As usual, the device features a pair of built-in stereo speakers.
Camera Front-facing web camera

Laptops usually feature a frontal webcam located on the display bezel. This laptop is no exception.
Wi-Fi Wireless 802.11N

802.11N is an old Wi-Fi standard, precursor of the 802.11AC and the latest 802.11AX with improved data transfer speeds and connectivity. 802.11N is rarely used in modern laptops.
Ethernet Network Port Yes

This laptop has an Ethernet LAN port for wired internet and networking connectivity.
Mobile broadband (4G LTE) No
Bluetooth Yes

This laptop has a built-in Bluetooth module. It enables you to connect the computer to Bluetooth mice and other Bluetooth peripherals, smartphones, and other Bluetooth-equipped devices.
USB Ports 2 x USB 3.0 + 1 x USB 2.0

A total of three full-size Type A USB ports.
Video Output Ports 1 x HDMI

HDMI is a widely used digital video output port. You can find HDMI-in ports on most computer monitors and TVs.
Media Card Reader SD card reader

The laptop has a slot for full-size SD memory cards, used in many digital cameras. You can also use microSD cards with a card adapter.
Other Features Intel Wireless Display (Wi-Di)

RealSense 3D Camera

Spill-resistant keyboard
Battery 3‑cell li-ion 43.50 WHr

58 WHr capacity
Weight 5.3 pounds
Height 0.9"
Width 15"
Depth 10.2"
Windows Version Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 is eligible for free upgrade to Windows 10 Home. Check Windows.com for more info.
Warranty 1-year

A typical laptop warranty.

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User Reviews and Q&A

Below you can read and submit user reviews, questions, and answers about the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 5548. Thank you for your contribution.

Current rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  1. Saurabh patil

    is Dell i7 5548 is suitable for mechanical design?
    can i purchase it for the same ?

  2. 4 out of 5

    Karl

    I have heard that dell 5548 i7 model has loud noise fan problem … to what extend is it true?..

  3. Anu

    For inspiron 5548 dell, do we need an external dvd? Do we need to have a dell external dvd?

    • Danijel Z

      It doesn’t have a built in DVD. So, yes, you’ll need an external DVD drive if you want to read and write DVDs and CDs.

  4. 5 out of 5

    Matko

    Hello.I’m probably going to buy the 5548 but still haven’t decided between buying the touchscreen version or not. Can anyone tell me what is the battery life like on the touchscreen version and is it much shorter than the non touch.

  5. Kaviarasu

    Planing to buy 5548 – i5 with 8gb ram , Will this support virtualization ? I would like to run 4 vm’s with server 2008 and 2012 os . will this support please help me to choose a laptop which can support these requirements.. Thanks 🙂

    • Danijel Z

      I think you’ll be able to run 4 Windows server virtual machine simultaneously if you upgrade RAM to 12GB or even better 16GB. Basically, I wouldn’t run a Windows vm on less than 2GB of assigned RAM. 8GB seems too small for 4 Windows vms and the host OS. On the other hand, I don’t see the i5 processor as a bottleneck for 4 vms, although getting a laptop with a quad-core i7 CPU will provide smoother experience.

  6. 4 out of 5

    Vikalp

    Is there any touch pen give us company with lapy?

  7. kashish

    Can Any body help me to find Which is best laptop from these two Dell inspiron 3548 &5548
    & Dell Inspiron 5548 have dvd player or not

    • Danijel Z

      The 3548 doesn’t exist, you probably wanted to type 3543. Anyway, the 5548 is generally a better laptop. It’s belongs to the Inspiron 5000 series, while the 3543 is from the budget 3000 series. The 5000 has a better build quality, with aluminum display lid. Other specs vary, depending on a configuration. It’s important to note the 5548 is optionally available with Full HD display as the main advantage specs-wise.

  8. kashish

    Can Any body help me to find Which is best laptop from these two Dell inspiron 3548 &5548

  9. Xhai

    Does anyone tried to play witcher 3 on dell 15 5548?

  10. 5 out of 5

    Piyush Arora

    I have a question. Does the i7 model have a dual core or a quad core processor?

  11. 4 out of 5

    aditya

    Hi, I’m planning to buy this, can some one tell the -ves, since i gone through the +ves. One more thing buying a laptop in online is it safer? can i get the un used one?

  12. vishal

    Am planning to go for 5548. What specifications I should keep in mind specifically before buying and should one go for touchscreen or not, is it good enough?

    • Danijel Z

      The difference between the available i5 and i7 processor options isn’t big, so you’ll be fine with the i5 if you want to achieve a lower price. Also, 4GB of RAM is enough for the majority of users and getting 8GB or more doesn’t always makes sense. Touchscreen or not really depends on you. If you’re a traditional keyboard / trackpad, mouse user, you’ll be fine without it I assume…

  13. Wazeem

    HI,

    I am planning to buy a Dell Insipron I7 5th gen with 16Gig memory. I have some doubts and questions. could anyone help me?

    Does this Laptop worth the money paid?

    How about the cooling system? as this has the specs close to gaming PC’s, not frequent but light gaming of some heavy games. Will this lead the PC to abnormal heat?

    Is there any problem with the Wireless network card?

    How is the display and battery life?

  14. charan

    Can it be converted to a tablet

    • Danijel Z

      No, it can’t. But it does have a touchscreen…

  15. 5 out of 5

    Keith Flannigan

    Have the 5548 for a couple of months now and so far so good. I was in the market for a cheap gaming laptop or expensive student laptop (same thing really). I found it hard not to choose a more recognisable gaming brand like PC specialist or alienware but they where just outside my price range.

    When I started using the laptop I was absolutely stunned with the smoothness it could run games including skyrim, Minecraft and all the borderlands collection.
    The specs I’m running are the 8gigs of ram and 4gigs of video ram and its perfect. I honestly believe its a hidden gem considering its price.

    Only downside would be the lack of an IPS display if you where a avid YouTube browser.

  16. lala

    How long does the 3cell battery last for normal use?

  17. prakash

    I have few questions:
    1. Is it a glossy/reflective screen?
    2. Does this model still have any touchpad issues (unresponsiveness) like its predecessor Dell Inspiron 15 5547?
    3. Does the 1TB HDD have 8GB SSD/Cache like in 5547? (1TB 5400 rpm SATA Hybrid Hard Drive with 8GB Cache)

    I guess they went back to TN panel screen instead of IPS panel because they targeted this laptop for gaming use also. That is the reason they used AMD 4GB graphics card instead of 2GB used in previous model (Dell Inspiron 15 5547).

    I don’t intend to use my laptop for gaming so I am torn between 5547 & 5548. 5547 because it has IPS & 5548 because it is latest and may not have touchpad and other issues of 5547. 5547 also has glossy IPS, which I don’t like.

    • 1 out of 5

      g

      Have the 5547 which seems to be identical. In addition to the touchpad issues I experienced, the screen separated from the keyboard – the plastic gave in on the right as you are looking at the laptop. I searched online and am not the only one. Love the laptop but cannot use it anymore…

  18. Audum

    Hi,

    Anyone facing wireless adaptor connection issues with this model?

    • Evan Fletcher

      IU get the same error @ every other time it comes out of hibernation. And the trackpad buttons are awful.

    • Danijel Z

      Have you tried to go to Device Manger / Network adapters / {your wireless adapter model} / Properties / Power Management and uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”? This helped me on other notebook models, but keep in mind it can decrease your battery life.

  19. 4 out of 5

    Xdye

    Men, you made a mistake.

    The graphic of the most expensive one is not a R9 M270. It is R7 M270, a custom display made for Dell reengineering AMD’s 8750M HD, wich is slightly more powerful than the M265 and doubles the memory.

    • Danijel Z

      Thanks, Xdye. I’ve corrected it.

    • Xdye

      😉

  20. Joaquín Segovia

    I have a question:
    Is the lid made out of real metal or plastic? and the bottom base?

    • Danijel Z

      The Dell 5548 has an aluminum display lid, while the display bezel and base of the laptop are made of plastics.

    • Xdye

      Yes, the lid is made of very clean brushed and polished aluminium (with horizontal stripes).

      Bottom base is made of black thermoplastic. The screen frame and keyboard frame is made of “high quality” plastic, wich merely means it has a more aesthetic aspect than bottom base.

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