Dell Inspiron G5 (15 5500) review

Inspiron G5 15 5500: the only priced machine in the batch — and its best sheet

The Inspiron G5 15 5500 (2018) is the outlier of this entire batch: the one entry with a listing price attached ($245), and by a wide margin the best-measured sheet here — the batch's highest office index (84.69, high band), its highest performance reading (58.9, mid-band) and its highest composite score (26). The gaming-branded chassis, ironically, is scored with no GPU entry at all.

Where it holds up

The office index of 84.69 stands in the high band — sole owner of that level in this batch, and 25 points clear of the comfortable 58.9 baseline the 32 GB generation carries. Overall performance of 58.9 is mid-band and likewise the batch's best, backed by a 32 GB memory pool on the class median. The 68 Wh battery is promoted as the strength: 41.7 percent above the class median, third-largest in this batch behind only the two legacy giants (96 and 72 Wh). At $245, that is a genuinely usable office machine at a genuinely low price.

Where it falls short

The gaming name meets an empty graphics column: the reading is zero, a coverage gap rather than a measured zero — no discrete GPU entry was captured, so no gaming claim can be made in either direction. In step, all four task axes read zero (gaming, modeling, engineering CAD, photo work) — coverage gaps rather than measured verdicts. The mobility of 13 against a class median of 50 is the flagged weakness, a 74 percent shortfall, portability of 20.5 agrees in the low band, and reliability of 20 trails its median by 63 percent — the used-market asterisk worth weighing most carefully at this price.

Price and depreciation

The listing records $245, and the depreciation model carries a 9.1 percent annual rate for this class with no base price to project from — so the honest math is the rate alone: at 9.1 percent a year, today's $245 implies roughly $202 after two years. Treat that as a class-average trajectory, not a promise for this unit.

Alternatives to consider

Nothing in this batch competes on the sheet: the nearest measured entries are the 32 GB Inspirons (7570/7580/7590) at office 58.9 with blanks or floor task axes, unpriced. A buyer weighing the G5 should shop it against priced gaming-chassis listings elsewhere in the catalog — this batch offers no like-for-like rival.

Bottom line

Fairly priced for the class — arguably the value pick of the batch at $245 — the Inspiron G5 15 5500 pairs the best office and performance readings here with a big battery, provided the buyer accepts floor-level mobility, a below-median reliability reading, and a graphics column that promises nothing.