Dell recently announced updates to its budget laptop lineup to include a new G series that replaces the previous generation Inspiron Gaming branded products. (We are happy to see Dell move away from using the Inspiron name when comes to PCs)
The new brand comes in three tiers and two form factors that include the 15.6″ G3, G5, and G7 and the 17″ G3 all of which utilize various levels of 8th Generation Core Intel CPUs and mid-range 1000 series NVIDIA mobile GPUs. There is a lot of overlap in hardware, build, and pricing depending on the specific configuration you build.
These budget gaming laptops areon the thin, from 22.7mm on the G3 15 to 25mm on the G3 17 and G5 15 and G7 15. Unlike the higher end and priced Alienware models, the bodies are a plastic-based matte exterior finish rather than metal. Dell has good amount of vents both front and rear along with dual fans to keep the cooling going and the CPU throttling to a minimum. The G series also all feature dual drive bays, backlit spill-resistant keyboards, dual Waves MaxxAudio Pro speakers, webcams and fingerprint sensors.
The G3 series features up to an 8th Generation Core i7 processor and either a GTX 1050, GTX 1050 Ti, or GTX 1060 Max Q graphics card along with a full HD (1920×1080) anti-glare display. The G3 15 comes in black, recon blue, or alpine white while the G3 17 comes in either black or recon blue. Three USB 3.1, USB-C / Thunderbolt 3, SD, HDMI, Ethernet, and one audio jack account for the external I/O ports that line the edges of the notebook. Note that the G3 15 has a normal hinge while the higher end models have a smaller centered hinge that leaves gaps on either side presumably for larger vents.
The G5 15 comes in Licorice Black or Beijing Red and features a quad or hexacore Coffee Lake H processor and up to a GTX 1060 Max Q 6GB and two drive bays for up to two SSDs much like the G3 but adds Killer Networking 1×1 (up to 2×2 Wi-Fi supported) and the option for a 4K UHD IPS panel.
Stepping up to the G7 15 you can configure the Licorice Black or Alpine White laptop with a Core i9 Coffee Lake H processor, 32GB RAM, GTX 1060 Max Q, and dual SSDs in addition to the 4K display and Killer networking options of the G5 15. The G7 15 further has a larger 56 Whr 4-cell battery.
The G3 series starts at $749, the G5 starts at $799, and the G7 starts at $849. Limited configurations of the G3 15, G3 17, G5 15, and G7 15 are set to be available later this month!
