Dell 15 15.6" LDC15250-5434BLK-PUS Carbon Black 2025

The Dell 15 is a budget-friendly workhorse for basic tasks, with a handy touchscreen and great battery life. Its 8GB of RAM and dim screen are the biggest letdowns. It's a good buy if you can find it for around $500, but don't pay a penny more than that.

The 13th Gen Core i5 and 8GB of RAM handle the basics fine. You can juggle a dozen browser tabs, a Zoom call, and Office apps without much fuss. But that 8GB of memory is a real bottleneck. It's in the 23rd percentile for RAM in our database, which means it's behind most modern laptops. The integrated Intel UHD graphics are also a weak spot, landing in the 46th percentile. Don't even think about gaming, our numbers put it at a 13.8 out of 100 for that. The 512GB SSD is solid for storage, but the 220-nit screen is just average and will struggle outdoors.

Stacked against something like the Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 Gen 1, the Dell feels cheap and underpowered. The ThinkPad has a vastly superior build and screen. The HP OmniBook X Flip is in a different league entirely with its premium 2-in-1 design. Even the MSI Prestige will run circles around this for creative work. The Dell's only real win is price. It's for someone who needs a functional computer and doesn't want to spend MacBook Air money, and that's a perfectly fine niche.

Pricing is all over the place, ranging from $500 to $800 across vendors. At the $500 end, this is a solid deal for a basic home or office laptop. You're getting a touchscreen, a recent processor, and decent battery life. At $800, you should walk away. For that money, you can find machines with 16GB of RAM and much better screens. If you can snag it closer to the low end, the value is there.

The Dell 15 is a straightforward laptop for straightforward people. It's not trying to be a MacBook killer or a gaming rig. It's a 15.6-inch Windows machine built for spreadsheets, streaming, and getting through the day without a charger. The touchscreen is a nice bonus at this price, and the full keyboard with a number pad will make data-entry folks happy. Just don't expect it to do anything flashy.

If you need to run demanding software, edit photos, or keep 30 browser tabs open, look elsewhere. The 8GB of non-upgradeable RAM will frustrate you quickly. Also, anyone who works outside or in bright spaces should skip this because the dim, 220-nit screen is hard to see in sunlight.

This is a laptop for students on a strict budget, or anyone who needs a simple Windows machine for web browsing, email, and office work. The touchscreen and number pad are genuinely useful features you don't always get at this price. Just know what you're signing up for: a dim screen and limited multitasking muscle. If your needs are basic, it'll serve you well.