 You guys loved our review of the Dell Inspiron 7559 from last year, where I gave it a solid recommendation for its wolf in sheep's clothing, wicked gaming performance, and its understated looks, not to mention price. Now over the last year, Dell has been hard at work tweaking that formula, and they've even gone as far this time as to include gaming in the product name. But have those tweaks actually added up to anything substantial? Let's check it out. Browse privately and securely with TunnelBear, the simple VPN app. Try TunnelBear for free at the link in the video description. The Inspiron gaming has a red matte finish with mean looking triangles on the front and the back. Hexagons are very 2016 as I've been recently informed. It mostly avoids an over-the-top look like some gaming laptops, but it is red, though if that's too shouty for you, there's a black version available as well. It's clear that thinness wasn't a top priority for Dell here, with lesser specs than the latest MacBook Pro, it's nearly double the thickness. But assuming they use the extra space for cooling, I can't be too critical, especially if the intent is for users to game on it for long periods at a time. The build quality is great for a budget segment laptop, the chassis feels solid and the screen flex is about what you'd expect, opening the lid is easy and the hinge moves smoothly. If you took this thing ten years back in time and told someone it costs less than a thousand dollars, they wouldn't believe you, we've come a long way. The I.O. is more traditional than most laptops these days as well. It's unlikely that you'll have to reach for a dongle, though I will say at least having the option for a Type-C or Thunderbolt port on a premium config would have been welcome. Our model is not the cheapest, but it hits a really nice sweet spot. With just enough of pretty much everything for gaming, and without spending extra money on an i7 for example, that doesn't make games run faster. I mean that money could go towards buying books or beer. And gaming performance is really solid. The included 60Hz TN panel looks pretty good for a TN, with above average viewing angles from side to side, again for a TN, and on high settings at 1080p, which happens to be its native resolution, this laptop plowed through our test lineup comfortably, meaning that in between homework and Facebook, you should be able to run modern AAA titles without issue. Thanks in no small part to the strong performance of the Inspiron Gaming's cooling system. During our i-64 stress test, it was not only able to keep the CPU at a relatively comfortable 80 degrees, but the i5 was able to use its turbo boost the whole time too, meaning performance won't dip after a couple of minutes of gaming. It was far from silent, but wasn't disruptive, and it's much quieter than a thin and light gaming machine like a razor blade. And if that sounds good to you, you'll be happy to know the speakers are better than you might expect as well. The internal subwoofer doesn't add as much depth to the sound as the subs in their XPS laptops several years ago did, but overall clarity is good, until some distortion creeps in at nearly full volume, as long as you're right in front. They're highly directional, so if a diminished off-axis movie watching experience is a real turnoff for your friend, you might not be doing any chilling while you Netflix. Though, even if you have to be by yourself, at least you'll be doing it for a long time. Battery life came in at a very impressive 6 hours and 48 minutes, one of the best results we've ever seen in our PCMark work benchmark. And, more good news, just like its predecessor, it's easy to get inside. All it takes is one screw. Okay, I'll stop that now. And, as an SSD-only model, ours has a completely free hard drive bay, with mounting hardware and a cable included, as well as an empty RAM slot. Dell really couldn't make this any easier. Moving back to the outside, the keyboard feels very similar to previous Inspiron models, but nicer. The keystrokes are short, with a pleasant click, and avoid being mushy. Spacing is a strong point, and there's a full numpad with appropriately laid out arrow keys. The red backlighting isn't bright enough to be having an Inspiron-inspired dance party with it or anything, but it's functional, and if you're actually in the dark, you'll be able to read the keys. Can't complain. The trackpad is also quite good. The feel of the click isn't super consistent from the top to the bottom, but it performs accurately at high sensitivity settings, and it does a great job of figuring out when I have my thumb at the bottom for clicking, as opposed to when I'm trying to use multitouch. Now let's talk about what you are not getting with a value model like this. The first unfortunate compromise is the 1x1 Wi-Fi, giving me a maximum speed of around 20 megabytes per second in my data transfer test. So if you want fast downloads, you will have to wire in. The storage is also rather slow. It is an M.2 drive, and it is an SSD, but it runs at SATA speeds, not PCIe speeds. And finally, the screen is far from the most vibrant and high contrast that I've seen. Now that IPS is the standard, even a decent TN looks washed out by comparison. So who is this laptop for then? Well, unsurprisingly, the Dell Inspiron Gaming is a great value laptop for people who want to game and need the portability of a laptop. For 850 bucks, you could build a better performing desktop that is more upgradeable, but you can't exactly take that to class or wherever it is that you might need it. So if you're looking for something to buy that's inexpensive and works well before heading off to university or college, the Inspiron Gaming packs everything that you're likely to need into a pretty nice little container... or box. Fresh books. These guys are awesome. But it's not about how they're awesome. It's about how you're awesome. If you're running a business, whether it's, you know, a dance studio out of your garage, or plumbing, or a small-time computer repair, you probably would like to be spending your time being awesome, teaching people to dance, fixing computers, and not spending your time tooling around with complicated accounting software. Fresh books lets you organize your time by allowing you to track expenses, track work hours, send out invoices, accept payments through the platform, and even see when a client has seen your invoice putting an end to guessing games. So check it out with an unrestricted 30-day free trial by going to freshbooks.com slash tech tips and enter Linus Tech Tips in the How Did You Hear About Us section. Thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit the like button, check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description, and also down there you can check out our merch store and our community forum. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering what to watch next, so watch another one of our videos! Maybe another Linus Tech Tips, or Tech Quickie, or Channel Super Fun. We have so many channels. Just whatever you do, don't watch Cat Tips.