Dell's Vostro 3300 inherits its svelte layout and thin esthetic in the authentic Dell Adamo layout, however the 3300 is not fairly as skinny or light because the Adamo. Even so, Dell's new small-business notebook offers mix of hardware and assist alternatives well tuned to its goal marketplace. With Dell's current discounts, the Vostro 3300 commences at $599 (as of 6/18/10). The value of the configuration we tested is $913.
At just a little above four kilos with all the bulkier 8-cell battery (five.2 pounds with all the energy brick), the Vostro 3300 will not likely strain your shoulder while you lug it along on your own day-to-day travels. That fat features a tray-loading DVD recordable drive, so you're not sacrificing optical storage just for thinness. The thirteen.3-inch, LED-backlit display screen gives a matte finish, something we would want to see a lot more of, because the glossy screens that appear so typical these days can be annoying to work with in most normal lights conditions.
Our examination unit included a dual-core Intel Core i5-520M CPU working at two.4GHz, although it could push as higher as two.93GHz when jogging in turbo mode (with a single CPU core energetic). And nVidia's discrete GeForce 310M graphics processor is really a welcome addition. The 310M gives minimal 3D functionality and is not properly suited for gaming, but it will offload other graphics chores in the CPU, like Windows Aero and DVD playback. It is may possibly also confirm valuable with all the emerging generation of GPU-accelerated programs. Alas, the Vostro isn't going to take advantage of nVidia's Optimus automated GPU-switching technology.
Efficiency is about what you'd anticipate, submitting a score of 112 on WorldBench 6--slightly previously mentioned average, but not exceptional for this course of laptop computer. It is possible to operate some game titles within the Vostro, but I advise you steer absent from leading-edge titles, and stick to DirectX 9 mode in whichever game you run. Even then, you are going to need to dial down the game's graphics characteristics to acquire great performance.
The screen offers very good color rendition and, even with the lack of glossy complete, is more than bright enough for everyday use. DVD upscaling was fine with the DVDs we examined, like HBO's Band of Brothers DVD set and Serenity. We also checked out several 1080p WMV Hi-def files, and, as expected, these looked pretty very good as well.
I can't say significantly great concerning the audio, nonetheless. The Vostro seems to get only a single speaker, around the left aspect of the unit, and its tonal harmony is far from exact. It is way far better to only bite the bullet and use a great set of headphones or in-ear telephones for listening to audio or videos.
The port selection is nice, with 3 USB 2.0 ports--two within the right and a single around the left. One of the right-side ports is really a combo USB/eSATA port. The 3300 lacks FireWire capability, but that's progressively much less essential. A 5-in-1 flash memory card reader is developed to the front, next to your audio input and output jacks.
Network connectivity was trouble-free within our network surroundings, which is created close to a Netgear WNDR 3700 wireless router. The Vostro also happens equipped with a now-familiar gigabit ethernet port. Our examination unit lacked wireless broadband capability, but Dell does provide a wireless 3G card as a choice.
The Vostro 3300's overall performance also appeared great subjectively. We opened the most up-to-date version of Google's Chrome browser with 31 energetic tabs (such as quite a few flash-heavy web sites) and ran Windows Are living Author concurrently. Typing nonetheless appeared responsive, and searching functionality was snappy. Documentation is sparse, restricted to on-line assist which is not specially strong.
Overall, the Vostro 3300 hits a strong mixture of attributes within a sleek, compact bundle. Dell has managed to produce an ultrathin small-business notebook that's merely a minor alluring, but additionally just dull adequate not to attract too much attention.
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