Buying new laptop: Vostro 15 7000 or Inspiron 15 7000?

@Verttx The Vostro models sometimes are essentially rebadged Inspirons, just as the XPS 15 and Precision 5000 Series systems are the same chassis.  And looking at these two systems, they seem to have the exact same port layout, so I wouldn't be surprised if they shared a common chassis as well with the only differences being color and such.

In terms of upgrading RAM, I would recommend checking support.dell.com, searching each system model, going to the Documentation section, and looking at the Service Manual (or User Guide if there isn't a separate Service Manual).  Either way you'll see step-by-step instructions for removing and installing all components.  See if there are memory slots in there.  Some systems have a certain amount of memory soldered to the motherboard but also have one or more slots to add more, while other systems only offer onboard memory, in which case whatever you get when you order the system is all you'll ever be able to have.

As for cooling, looking at the two systems I would expect them to be identical or close to it.  The GTX 1650 Ti would be somewhat faster at max performance, which could go either way, i.e. if it's faster but it also generates more heat that causes the system to throttle sooner, then it might not be a better choice.  This happens on some laptops if you choose the "fastest" CPU.  It doesn't always work out that way.  Unfortunately I have no way of knowing whether that will be a concern here.

As for pricing, Dell sites sometimes have weird situations like this.  The Inspiron is technically a consumer-targeted system while the Vostro is a business-targeted system, so sometimes Dell will run promos in one segment and not another, which can create strange pricing situations if there are identical or near-identical systems in the other segment.  But make sure that you compare the baseline system warranty.  That might not be the same.  The Vostro might have a better warranty as standard, i.e. either longer and/or at-home service rather than mail-in, though both should offer upgrade options.

If I were buying at those prices, I'd get the Inspiron in a heartbeat.  I do like the Vostro's styling better, but not enough to justify spending $930 to get a slower GPU and a smaller SSD.  But the performance under sustained load concern is an issue on thin and light systems, even high-end systems like the XPS line.  The only way around that is to get a much chunkier laptop that can fit a bulkier cooling system, like an Alienware or a Precision 15 7000 Series, but those are obviously bigger, heavier, and more expensive.  But if that's not a practical solution for your overall needs, then that's completely understandable.  Just understand that as with most things in life, there are trade-offs to be made here, so you might experience throttling under sustained load, especially if both the CPU and GPU are working.

@jphughan Thank you for putting your time in and responding to my discussion. Your reply on Dell selling products for business and home users at different prices has helped me heaps. Originally, I was thinking about buying the GTX 1050 Vostro model (which is extremely inferior and entry level nowadays, but far more cheaper). Since you have explained that products targeted at businesses are sometimes priced differently, I will not hesitate to snatch the Inspiron model. As for thermal throttling and pricing, I really do need a bigger SSD and surely the CPU and GPU won’t pass 80 Celcius, right?

I would review jphugan's last paragraph carefully.  Either the Vostro or Inspiron system is built to a price, with cheaper materials, less robust construction -- and they're not designed for sustained high speed operation.

Your applications -- and gaming aspirations - suggest you may be in for a short lifespan with either system, and for disappointment with the thermal throttling and construction quality of an Inspiron or Vostro.

The Alienware or Precision advice is quite sound.  Yes, they cost more -- but if you're planning to pull that 5,000 pound trailer, you buy the $40,000 F-150 -- not the Honda Civic.

@Verttx  Happy to help.  I don't have a way to know what the temperatures would be on those systems, but you might see if you can find reviews from sites known to go in-depth in their reviews, such as NotebookCheck.

Building on ejn63's comments above, one option between what you're looking at and what I suggested that I forgot to mention earlier would be the Inspiron G(aming) Series systems.  The G5 5500 in the Dell Australia store here has a variety of GPU options available, including a 1650 Ti like the Inspiron you're looking at as well as some higher-end options, but it's also larger and will be more likely to handle sustained loads since it's specifically designed for gaming.  The XPS line has more premium materials like aluminum and carbon fiber that can make it more durable and lighter, and it has high-end components, but it's not necessarily more immune to throttling.  It's more if you want a more premium laptop in terms of build quality.  The Alienware and Precision models give you higher build quality and higher performance, but of course they're even larger AND more expensive.  But if you can swing it, the G Series system might be worth looking into.  Again I don't know for sure what its thermal characteristics are like, but you might be able to find some reviews to give you some insight there.  I just wanted to put it onto your radar.

All that said, I wouldn't necessarily say that you'd be in for a short lifespan with either system, at least if you're with it.  Then again, the laptops my younger sisters have had looked worse after 3 years than mine ever did after twice that long.  But that was probably because I kept my system on my desk most of the time and often worked with external peripherals attached, while they were lugging it around school all day every day and using it directly rather than via external peripherals.

@ejn63 @jphughan I like your humour, ejn63. So like you said, my gaming aspirations, programs and tasks are very likely going to reduce the lifespan of both systems. I did some research and found out that the Vostro is somewhat more quieter and less hot when under load due to the lower configuration (GTX 1650 + i5-10300H), unlike the Inspiron with the 1650 Ti. However, hear this, the RAM and storage are both upgradable on the Inspiron (I’m not sure about the Vostro). Which means I can add another slot of 8GB RAM so the system isn’t bottlenecked. Now, CPU-wise, I’ve discovered that the Inspiron reaches 50 degrees Celsius when on idle, and 100 degrees Celsius when on heavy loads. A common way to solve this problem would be to turn off turbo boost and undervolt the CPU. Surprisingly, the benchmark showed that the laptop ran cooler (78 degrees C) and faster when undervolted. The chassis on both laptops are the same, and they are also equipped with the same ports, the only difference is that the Inspiron model is silver. So I have come to the conclusion that the Inspiron 15 7000 2020 model is better overall in terms of price and performance.

About what you were saying earlier, ejn83 and jphughan, I did take a look at the systems that were suggested. Alienware, Precision and G series devices are all indeed quite sound. But unfortunately, they are over my budget, which is about $1500 to $1700. Plus, I don’t really want a gaming laptop, because they are all pretty bulky and heavy, and they stand out too much. And I won’t be getting a Razer Blade 15, even though it meets my requirements in all areas (except for budget because it costs $2799).

I want to thank both of you for replying to my post and helping me out. I have decided to buy the Inspiron 15 7000.

One last question though, is it worth $1624 to buy the Inspiron equipped with Windows 10 Pro instead of the $1558 Inspiron with Windows 10 Home? Are there any big differences apart from the Ultimate Performance power option?

@Verttx  Sounds like you've made a well reasoned decision.  As for Win10 Home vs. Pro, I'll list the reasons that I get Pro in a moment, but I really wouldn't worry about the Ultimate Performance power profile too much, because you'd need to have a pretty specialized use case for that to make a difference.  Real-time audio capture would be a good example, where even the tiniest amount of latency can affect the end result and it's not like you can just capture the exact same thing over again to fix the problem.  But for what you're doing, Ultimate Performance would probably just increase your power consumption while delivering no meaningful benefit.  You can try it for yourself by running the same task on that profile vs. the standard High Performance if you want, but I can almost guarantee that it won't make a difference, so I absolutely wouldn't consider that a good reason to spend more money on Pro.

The main reasons I get Pro are for the following features:

• BitLocker, both for the system drive and any additional partitions or flash drives I might want to encrypt (although you can use VeraCrypt on Home instead for basically the same thing)
• Remote Desktop host, i.e. the ability to Remote Desktop to my system from another one. Win10 Home only allows you to initiate a Remote Desktop connection to another system.  And I like being able to RDP into my laptop from other systems on my network.  There are certainly alternatives here, but RDP is actually quite useful in terms of its feature set and its bandwidth efficiency compared to something like VNC, and when it's built into Windows it's one less extra thing to have to deal with.
• Hyper-V in order to run VMs.  I do this partly for testing and such since I work in IT.  May or may not be useful to you, and here again there are alternatives like the free and excellent VirtualBox.

The other big feature of Win10 Pro is the ability to join an Active Directory domain, but that's not relevant for personal systems.

Obviously none of the items in the bullet points I listed are irreplaceable, but typically the Win10 Pro upgrade is only $50 when I buy a new laptop, and for me $50 to have those features built into Windows over the lifetime of my laptop is a trivial amount of money, so I go for it.

The other thing you may want to investigate is whether your university provides Windows and Office to its students for no or low cost.   Many provide Windows 10 Education (which is Pro) and Office as part of a technology fee - if so, you can avail yourself of a license key for that and save a bit.

The other thing not to go without is a 3-year warranty, preferably on-site if you can't afford to be without the system for up to two weeks.  Notebook failures are still common -- probably these are among the least reliable devices sold to consumers -- and repair costs are high.  

@ejn63 @jphughan Thank you guys for helping me out. I have not been on my socials lately so I apologise for not replying sooner. My school, unfortunately, does not provide Windows 10 Education. However, they do provide Adobe Creative Suite, Office 365 full version, McAfee, Visual Studio and Unity 3D. For the VM feature, I actually do need it for Android emulation so I will be getting the device with Windows 10 Pro. Thank you guys for replying to my post.

Btw, here is my other post I created recently: https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/RAM-upgrade-on-new-Inspiron-15-7501-2020/m-p/7648242#M90400

Kind regards,

Verttx

Hello, ive had my dell inspiron 15 7000 gamin for over 3 years now and it has played Apex legends great. Im currently selling mine on ebay beacuse i recently built a new PC and im selling my inspiron for about $150 less than if you were to buy it new. It played Apex great and other games like rainbow six seige, gta 5, and even Call of Duty Warzone/ Modern Warfare. heres the link to the inspiron im selling on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/dell-inspiron-15-7000-gaming-laptop-and-Charger/133400782469?hash=item1f0f4e6685:g:ezsAAOSw0eRerdkS 

You may need to lower your expectations - the system is worth about half what you have it listed for.

Vostro and Inspiron are similar in most aspects.

But, here is the basic difference between them:

Both Inspiron and Vostro laptops are exceptional in their ways. When it comes to word processing and multitasking, Vostro is suitable because of its long battery life. However, Inspiron is tougher with more color options and more pre-installed software.