Dell Inspiron 14 3000 Series i3451-1001BLK Review

Dell Inspiron i3451-1001BLK
via Amazon

Dell Inspiron i3451-1001BLK is a new 14 inch low cost laptop as part of the 3000 Series with a dual core Intel Celeron processor that is faster than the previous generation Intel Atom’s and the dual core AMD A6 processors, long battery life, slim and neat design for simple everyday things like Word, Excel, web browsing, chatting on Skype, video streaming and browser gaming but not for any of the very complex or demanding programs or current games.

Dell Inspiron comes with the entry level dual core Intel Celeron N2840 processor (1 MB Cache) at 2.16 GHz base speed and 2.58GHz burst frequency but no hyper threading (so two cores and two threads), 2 GB single channel DDR3L memory at 1600MHz for simple multitasking (may appear small but should be sufficient for what this laptop is designed to be), 500GB SATA hard drive at 5400 rpm spindle speed to save your common and multimedia files and 64-bit English Windows 8.1 operating system with Bing search engine that you’ll be able to upgrade to Windows 10 some time in 2015 if you’re not a big fan. Thermal Design Power for the entire system is only 7.5 watts and this contributes to the longer battery life.

14 inch non-touch high definition Truelife Active Matrix TFT Color LCD LED backlit display with 1366 x 768 pixel max screen resolution and 16:9 image aspect ratio seems adequate for the smaller 14 inch screen and the price range but obviously will not be as sharp or clear as a FHD display (and no IPS here as both would add quite a bit to the price of the PC) and Intel HD Graphics Bay Trail that should let you play games like Half Life-2 or Minecraft properly with around 20 to 30 frames per second at low settings but almost none of those demanding modern day titles. You have the WavesMaxx Audio and stereo speakers for clear sound although we haven’t had a chance to test the computer but judging by the info online the sound quality should be more than adequate for listening to music, watching videos and dialogues should be clear enough for chatting with friends and family on Skype- it comes with a 720p video resolution and 0.92MP for still image webcam.

Black Dell Inspiron weighs 4.4 pounds with measurements of 1 x 9.70 x 13.60 inches- quite a portable machine as it is lightweight, has a thin design and a smaller 14 inch display so it will fit in your travel or laptop bag conveniently and a battery life up to 6 hours from its 40 WHr 4-cell lithium ion battery on the paper would mean you can be away from power outlets for most of the day. It has a standard American non-backlit keyboard without a numpad on the side but with black keys that are nicely spaced out and a good size responsive touchpad without separate left and right keys. Optical Drive and wired Ethernet connectivity are not included but 2.4 GHz 802.11bgn wireless + Bluetooth 4.0 tied to wireless card, an HDMI port to connect to a large screen HDTV, 3-in-1 Media Card Reader, 1 x USB 3.0 port, 2 x USB 2.0 ports and Biometrics- FastAccess Facial Recognition.

Conclusion: Texas based Dell is one of the biggest computer manufacturers in the world and the Dell Inspiron i3451-1001BLK is a basic notebook for those on a budget or anyone that doesn’t want to spend a lot on a computer yet want to perform their simple everyday tasks. The Intel Celeron N2840 is a modern CPU but has a Passmark benchmark score of 1074 as of this review day and the memory is only 2GB (which you can of course expand it to 4GB) so you’re not getting this computer for any of the complex software or games- this is by no means a power laptop. The Celeron CPU is clocked at up to 2.58 GHz and both the overall performance and energy efficiency are better than the previous generation Intel Atom’s and some AMD processors. There is no anti-virus software pre-installed and you may want to get free Avast or AVG online, but you have a trial version of Microsoft Office which we assume would be for a month and 1 year Mail-In warranty for the unit. Dell claims that their laptops are very durable and reliable- they are tested for hinge durability, resistance to heat, keys and buttons, reinstalling of battery and how base and lid protects the internal components (twisting test) and you have the Dell Back-up and Recovery for protecting your files (accessed through the My Dell interface). At this price level it appears to be a good choice if you prefer the Windows OS to Chrome OS and an SSD would be nice like on a Chromebook for speed but if you prefer the large storage space then this is better.

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