Dell Chromebook 11 3180: At First Glance
As most people are aware, Chromebooks are getting really popular daily. This is because they are very affordable and offer adequate performance for day-to-day computing tasks.
As a Chromebook itself, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 isn’t any different from other Chromebooks out there. To give more details, this laptop comes with decent specs that are only capable of handling basic tasks.
Moreover, as one would expect, the laptop is very affordable. Specifically, when I wrote this review in February 2022, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 had a starting price tag of $76.00.
Now, the question is can a laptop with less than a $100 price tag provide satisfactory performance? You will get an answer to that question in the remainder of this review.
Dell Chromebook 11 3180: Design, Dimension, and Weight
To start with, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 comes with a black plastic chassis. Despite being made of plastic, this laptop is robust and sturdy enough to handle rough handling.
However, this laptop doesn’t come with enough design aesthetics which makes it less attractive. To give more details, the only area you will find a few design aesthetics is on the lid.
Specifically, the laptop’s lid features a shiny “Dell” logo finely placed in the center of the lid. Also, on this lid, you will see a colorful chrome logo at the top left corner of the laptop’s lid.
Uniquely, at the top right corner of this lid, there is an LED that emits three colors. These colors include red, yellow, and white.
Moreover, this three-color LED can be used to notify someone or call for attention in a classroom or anywhere. Impressively, apart from this unique LED, this Chromebook comes with rubber-bumpers at the bottom that help reduce bumps and drops.
Also, there are two stereo speakers at the bottom of this Chromebook that produce average sound quality. Basically, the speakers are averagely-loud and offer a decent performance of casual video streaming.
Moving on, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 offers an 11.6-inch display that features an HD (1366 x 768) resolution. Impressively, this display screen has an anti-glare coating and a maximum brightness of 200 nits.
Thanks to the display’s anti-glare coating and its maximum brightness of 200 nits, this Chromebook is suitable for use outdoors or in bright areas. However, the Chromebook’s display is framed by thick bezels.
On the bright side, the bottom bezel features a shiny “Dell” logo at the center. Also, at the center of the top bezel, there is a 1 MP webcam.
However, this webcam isn’t good for either taking pictures or video calls. Therefore, if you know you will be conducting video calls often with this Chromebook, it is ideal that you purchase an external webcam.
Moving on to the keyboard, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 comes with a non-backlit island-style keyboard. This keyboard should offer an adequate typing experience thanks to its well-spaced and noiseless keys.
To top that up, this keyboard is spill-resistant, making it immune to accidental liquid spills. Moreover, beneath this keyboard, there is a huge touchpad with two integrated click buttons.
Furthermore, the touchpad is very sensitive and supports multi-touch gestures such as two-finger scrolling. Moreover, just like the keyboard’s keys, this touchpad’s integrated click buttons are adequate and noiseless.
When it comes to the port selection, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 features 2 USB 3.1, one HDMI, a microSD card slot, and a power port. These ports are on the left side of the laptop.
However, the right side of the laptop houses a headphone/microphone jack, a lock slot, and an indicator LED.
For the dimensions and weight, the Dell Chromebook 11 measures 303.3 x 206.0 x 20.7 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1270 g. With this amount of weight, this laptop is quite light and can be carried around easily.
However, the laptop is heavier than one of its competitors, the ASUS Chromebook C202. To give more details, the ASUS Chromebook C202 measures 294 x 200 x 22.4 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1200 g.
In conclusion, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 is a robustly-made laptop that, unfortunately, features a boring design. Moreover, this laptop comes with an impressive keyboard and touchpad.
Hence, in this design review section, I will rate the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 an eight out of ten.
Dell Chromebook 11 3180: Processor (CPU) Performance
Impressively, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 offers multiple processor options. Specifically, you can purchase the laptop with either a dual-core Intel Celeron N3060 or a quad-core Intel Pentium N3710 processor.
In terms of the specs, both processor options come with a cache memory of 2 MB as well as a base frequency of 1.60 GHz. However, the Intel Celeron N3060 processor features a maximum frequency of 2.48 GHz.
The Intel Pentium N3710 processor, on the other hand, features a maximum frequency of 2.56 GHz. In terms of performance, both processor options are best-suited for handling basic computing tasks like word processing and web surfing.
However, this review is based on the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 with the Intel Pentium N3710 processor. Therefore, to determine the laptop’s performance with this processor, we will now discuss the laptop’s result on a JetStream benchmark test.
Briefly, the JetStream benchmark test is a web-based JavaScript benchmark that measures how quickly a Chromebook’s processor executes tasks. Moreover, the higher the score on the JetStream benchmark test, the better the Chromebook’s performance.
So, according to the test result, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 scored 49.9 points. Comparatively, this Chromebook’s score is almost identical to the ASUS Chromebook C202.
To give more details, the ASUS Chromebook C202 that uses an Intel Celeron N3060 processor scored 48.85 points. However, both laptops fell short of the category average of 166.06 points.
Therefore, in this processor review section, I will rate the Dell Chromebook 11 processor a seven out of ten.
Dell Chromebook 11 3180: Memory (RAM) Performance
The Dell Chromebook 11 3180 offers only a single memory slot. Moreover, this laptop comes with a standard memory of 2 GB 1600 MHz LPDDR3 and supports a max memory of 4 GB.
I know a single memory slot and a max memory of 4 GB are quite limited. However, what else could you expect from a laptop that costs less than $100?
Besides, apart from the 4 GB max memory, the standard memory of 2 GB is enough for the Dell Chromebook 11 3180. This is because Chromebooks are designed to handle less-intensive computing tasks.
Therefore, with 2 GB, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 should be able to smoothly handle word processing, web browsing, and light multitasking. Speaking of multitasking, this Chromebook with 2 GB should be able to run about 10 chrome tabs simultaneously without lagging.
However, any Chrome tabs above that might make the laptop slow down. Also, with too many tabs, the Chromebook may struggle while switching between the chrome tabs.
As it is our custom at www.itechguides.com, I am supposed to include a PCMark 10 benchmark test result based on the Chromebook’s performance. Unfortunately, due to the fact that Chromebooks don’t support most benchmark tests, I was unable to obtain this Chromebook’s PCMark 10 results.
In case you are wondering, PCMark 10 is an app-based benchmark that measures the memory performance of a computer. It does this by simulating basic computing tasks such as web browsing, word processing, and video calling.
In conclusion, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 offers a single RAM slot and a limited memory capacity. However, considering the Chromebook’s price, I believe the laptop delivered a decent memory performance.
Therefore, I will be rating the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 a seven out of ten in this memory review section.
Dell Chromebook 11 3180: Storage Options and Performance
The Dell Chromebook 11 3180, like most Chromebooks, features an eMMC drive for storage. For capacity, this laptop comes with a standard storage size of 32 GB, which is also the maximum storage that it supports.
I know most people will agree with me when I say 32 GB of storage space might be insufficient for most users. However, before getting too disappointed, I need you to be aware that Chromebooks aren’t particularly meant to store files on their local eMMC storage.
Instead, Chromebooks come with free 15 GB and additional 100 GB of Google cloud storage and the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 is no exception.
By default, you get the free 15 GB Google Drive. However, if you need to activate the additional free 100 GB of Google Drive storage, follow the step-by-step instructions via this link – Check out How to activate 100 GB of free Google Drive storage on a Chromebook.
Impressively, asides from the free 100 GB Google Drive storage, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 comes with a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Therefore, you have three storage options on this Chromebook – 100 GB cloud storage, 32 GB eMMC storage, and a microSD card slot.
I would have provided a storage performance benchmark test result for the Dell Chromebook 11 3180. Chromebooks, however, do not support most benchmark tests, as previously stated.
Therefore, offering this Chromebook’s storage benchmark test result is nearly impossible. As a result, I will be rating the Chromebook based on the number of storage options it offers.
Hence, in this storage review section, I will rate the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 an eight out of ten.
Dell Chromebook 11 3180: Graphics Card Performance
For the GPU, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 comes with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 500. This graphics card features a base frequency of 400 MHz and a boost frequency of 700 MHz.
Moreover, as an integrated graphics card, this Intel HD Graphics 500 is embedded into the Chromebook’s processor. Therefore, to be able to perform graphics-related tasks, this GPU shares memory with the processor.
As a result, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 might not be able to handle graphics-demanding applications and games. Notwithstanding, with this GPU, this Chromebook is enough for video streaming and light gaming.
Speaking of gaming, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 should be able to smoothly run less-demanding games like Candy Crush. Besides, most games on the Google Play Store should run smoothly on the Chromebook.
We’ll now discuss the results of the Dell Chromebook 11 3180’s WebGL Aquarium Graphic test to further determine its graphics performance. For clarity, WebGL Aquarium is a web-based benchmark test that measures a computer’s graphics rendering ability using the Javascript API.
Moreover, on this web-based benchmark, the higher the “fps”, the better the computer’s graphics performance. So, on this test, the Chromebook 11 3180 was able to render 3,000 fish at a frame rate of 26 fps.
Comparatively, this Chromebook’s 26 fps is almost on par with the ASUS Chromebook C202’s 27 fps. It is worth mentioning that this ASUS Chromebook uses an Intel HD Graphics 400.
All things considered, I will rate the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 a seven out of ten in this GPU review section.
Dell Chromebook 11 3180: Battery Life and Performance
For the battery, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 uses a 3-cell 42 Whr lithium-ion battery. This battery was advertised by Dell to last up to 10 hours.
Wondering if this battery can actually last up to what Dell claims? Well, to confirm, I will now be providing the Chromebook’s battery rundown test result.
This battery test involves continuous web browsing over a Wi-Fi connection while the laptop’s brightness is at 50%. At the end of this test, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 delivered a battery life of 8 hours and 55 minutes.
Although this battery life isn’t up to what Dell claims, it is very impressive. Besides, this Chromebook’s battery life beats the category average of 8 hours and 10 minutes.
However, the battery life is shorter than the ASUS Chromebook C202’s 12 hours and 28 minutes battery life. Therefore, I will be rating the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 an eight out of ten in this battery review section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it does. The Dell Chromebook 11 3180 features a 1 MP webcam at the center of its top bezel.
The Dell Chromebook 11 3180 was released in 2017.
No, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 isn’t a touchscreen laptop.
Yes, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 comes with an HDMI port.
When this review was published in February 2022, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 had a starting price of $76.00.
Conclusion
The Dell Chromebook 11 3180 is a robust Chromebook fit for school work and basic computing tasks like word processing. Moreover, this affordable Chromebook comes with an impressive keyboard and responsive touchpad.
Also, the Dell Chromebook 11 3180 features three storage options including 100 GB cloud storage and 32 GB eMMC storage. However, just like most Chromebooks out there, this Dell Chromebook is only capable of handling simple tasks.
Therefore, if you need a laptop for your kid or for basic computing tasks, you should consider the Dell Chromebook 11 3180.
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