Dell Inspiron 17 3000 Review: A Big Laptop for Multimedia Lovers

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Dell Inspiron 17 3000: At First Glance

Since the birth of the first Inspiron (Inspiron 7500) prior to 1999, many hardware cloning and upgrades have changed the face of this laptop lineup.

As a result, we have seen different Dell Inspiron models with their unique strengths and weaknesses. Such models with great potential include convertibles like the Inspiron 13 5000 and non-convertibles like the Inspiron 17 3793.

Well, in the midst of these and other powerful models stands the Dell Inspiron 17 3790, which I am reviewing today. Now, the question is, what’s the performance of this laptop like among its competitors?

To find out, read the remaining sections of this review.

Dell Inspiron 17 3000: Design, Dimension, and Weight

The Dell Inspiron 17 3790 is a large plastic-built laptop with smooth curves on the edges and vertices. In other words, this laptop is aesthetically appealing.

The plastic chassis comes in a matte finish which gives it good resistance against fingerprints. Overall, the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 feels solid despite being plastic which means that with this laptop, you will get a respectable level of durability.

Regarding color, this plastic chassis comes mainly in dark-gray color. You can also find this laptop in silver color, which has a smoother and more slippery surface than the dark-gray color options.

Also, if you are conversant with Dell laptops, the sight of a silver Dell logo at the center of the lid should not surprise you. As a matter of fact, the Dell logo is the only thing on the lid.

The lid is carried gracefully by a single hinge which is wide and noticeably tough. Yet, the hinge allows you to open the lid with ease.

Now, when you open the lid, this laptop’s 17.3-inch display welcomes you first. Thankfully, the display is wide enough for a whole family to watch movies on it.

Talking about display features, this display can have either an HD+ (1600 x 900 pixels) resolution or FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution. This implies that two display options are available for the Dell Inspiron 17 3790.

Regarding the first display option, it employs a TN (Twisted Nematic) panel with a maximum brightness level of 220 nits. For your information, TN displays are very responsive which makes them good for gaming.

However, they have poor viewing angles, which implies that watching such a display from corners makes graphics look washed out. Another property of the first display option that is worth mentioning is its contrast ratio of 400:1.

Simply put, a display’s contrast ratio refers to how well it can express the white and black colors in graphics. Thus, a higher contrast ratio makes graphics look crisp and real; it also makes the display produce true blacks.

In this context, the 400:1 contrast ratio is not the best; hence, colors will not look as crisp as you will get on displays with higher contrast ratios. In addition to that, black colors might be displayed as a shade of gray rather than true black.

Having said much about the first display option, let me talk about the second option. Unlike the first display, the second option has a wide viewing angle (WVA) with 300 nits of maximum brightness.

Thanks to its wide viewing angle, watching the display from a corner does not affect the clarity of its contents. Moreover, the second display option has a 500:1 contrast ratio which implies a more vivid display than the first option.

So far, we have seen the differences between the two display options; therefore, it will be nice to talk about their similarities as well. Firstly, both displays have an anti-glare coating which prevents issues with light reflection when using the laptop in well-lit areas.

In addition to that, the two display options are also not touch-enabled. However, that is not totally a drawback, as a touchscreen would only increase the laptop’s cost and accumulate fingerprints on the display.

Moving on, the Inspiron 17 3790’s display is surrounded by very wide bezels. At the center of the top bezel is a 720p camera that captures images well, provided the place is well-lit.

Meanwhile, on the bottom bezel, you will see the usual Dell logo at the center, adding a bit of glamour to this laptop.

Away from the upper part of the laptop, let us now move down to the laptop’s base. The plastic laptop’s deck has a pattern of lines that feel much like a wire gauze reinforcement.

Also, the deck is very wide, leaving many spaces around the full-sized keyboard. Speaking of the keyboard, this looks good with black keys and white text on them.

However, both the alphanumeric keys and the separate number pad keys are a bit rigid to press. Also, the keys have a relatively short travel distance which gives it soft feedback.

Note that by key travel distance, I am referring to how deep down the keys can depress. That said, the keyboard also disappointed me with the small sizes of its arrow keys and the lack of a backlight.

Nevertheless, the keyboard is still a bit comfortable to use.

Moreover, the laptop’s power button sits far above the keyboard at the top right corner. Thus, this cancels the possibility of accidentally shutting down the laptop while typing.

Meanwhile, as expected, there is a touchpad below the keyboard. However, the touchpad is very small, with only a dimension of 105 x 80 mm.

It is quite disappointing to see such a small touchpad on this laptop when there is enough space for a larger one. On a better note, the entire space available on the touchpad is used for gliding with the fingers because the mouse buttons are integrated.

Thankfully, the touchpad offers a smooth cursor movement, and the integrated buttons are responsive.

That said, there are two down-firing stereo speakers located below the palm rest on each side. Thankfully, the speakers produce clear and loud sounds.

As a matter of fact, the produced sound is so loud that it causes the palm rest to vibrate at a high volume.

At this point, let us talk about the port selection on the Dell Inspiron 17 3790. Specifically, on the left side, there is a charging port, one USB 3.1 (Type-C) port, one HDMI 1.4b port, and two USB 3.1 ports.

On that same side, you will also get an Ethernet port and an audio jack. Then, to the right-hand side, you will get an SD card slot, one USB 2.0 port, a DVD RW drive, and a K-slot.

Overall, these ports should be enough for your wired connectivities regardless that a Thunderbolt port is absent.

For wireless connectivity, this laptop features Bluetooth 5.0 and one out of three WiFi options. The WiFi card could be Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/a, WiFi 802.11n, or WiFi 802.11ac.

In case you don’t know, the second and third WiFi options are more powerful and most powerful, respectively. Thus, for faster video streaming on the internet, make sure you buy this laptop with the third WiFi option.

Now, let me quickly talk about the dimensions and weight of this laptop. The Dell Inspiron 17 3790 measures 415.40 x 279.20 x 21.9 mm – 25 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 3030 g.

From the dimension above, you should be aware that the laptop’s thickness can vary from 21.9 mm to 25 mm. Consequently, the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 is a thick and heavy laptop.

In comparison, the HP 17-ca0013ng has a similar dimension of 415 x 278 x 25 mm (W x D x H). However, the HP 17-ca0013ng is lighter; it weighs 2453 g.

This brings me to the end of the design section of this review. In conclusion, this laptop offers two display options with decent qualities as well as sufficient connectivity options.

Therefore, I will conclude this section by rating the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 an eight out of ten.

Dell Inspiron 17 3000: Processor (CPU) Performance

The Dell Inspiron 17 3790 has three Intel Core CPU options. The first one is a 2-core Intel Core i3-10110U CPU which has 4 MB of cache memory.

Additionally, the processor has a base frequency of 2.1 GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.10 GHz.

Secondly, you can get this laptop with a 4-core Intel Core i5-10210U CPU, which has 6 MB of cache memory. Also, it has a base frequency of 1.60 GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.20 GHz.

Meanwhile, the highest processor configuration for this laptop is a 4-core Intel Core i7-10510U with 8 MB of cache memory. The Core i7-10510U has a base frequency of 1.80 GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.90 GHz.

For the purpose of our benchmark test performance, I will consider a model of this laptop with the Intel Core i7-10510U CPU. To do that, we will look at the result of this laptop in a Cinbench R15 test.

Before we do that, you should know that a Cinebench test is an application that evaluates a processor’s power by giving its cores some difficult work to perform. Therefore, the Cinebench test involves single-core and multi-core.

On a single-core test, only one processor core is used to execute these difficult tasks. Meanwhile, in a multi-core test, all the processor cores are utilized.

You should also be informed that a higher value in these tests means better performance. Therefore, the laptop scored a total of 182 points on the single-core test and 681 points on the multi-core test.

Meanwhile, the ASUS VivoBook S15 with Intel Core i7-8550U recorded 172 points single-core score and 729 points multi-core score.

Thus, the Inspiron 17 3790’s CPU produces a better result than its competitor above when only one processor core is in use. Meanwhile, the VivoBook S115’s CPU performs better when all its cores are in use.

Therefore, the bottom line is that the Inspiron 17 3790 is not as ideal as the competitor above in performing multi-threaded jobs. Based on this result, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 an eight out of ten in this section.

Dell Inspiron 17 3000: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Dell Inspiron 17 3790 has two RAM slots for a DDR4 2600 MHz RAM. The laptop comes with a 4 GB standard RAM capacity and supports a maximum of 16 GB RAM.

Therefore, you can upgrade this laptop’s RAM further using either the second slot or both slots. Certainly, upgrading the RAM to 16 GB will boost the performance of this laptop.

For example, the Inspiron 17 3790 model with 8 GB RAM is capable of opening 20 Chrome tabs simultaneously. At the same time, the laptop can still stream an HD video on YouTube without lagging.

As proof of performance, let us look at the result of this laptop in a PCMark 10 test. In a few words, PCMark 10 productivity benchmark evaluates the overall laptop’s performance in office-related tasks.

These tasks are majorly dependent on the laptop’s RAM; therefore, a higher score denotes better performance. Let me also inform you that the model reviewed in this section is an Inspiron 17 3790 with 8 GB of RAM.

Appreciably, the laptop recorded 3746 points. Meanwhile, the ASUS VivoBook S15 with the same RAM scored 3769 points which is a bit better.

Another competitor – the HP Envy 17 – performed better than the two laptops above. Precisely, the HP Envy 17 got 3908 points.

However, the Envy 17’s better result is due to its 16 GB RAM capacity as opposed to the 8 GB of its counterparts.

In conclusion, the Inspiron 17 3790 fell below the 4000 points average score in the PCMark 10 test. Nevertheless, you should not forget that you can still get better memory performance if you increase the RAM capacity.

All things considered, I will be rating the Dell Inspiron 13 5378 an eight out of ten in this section.

Dell Inspiron 17 3000: Storage Options and Performance

The Dell Inspiron 17 3790 offers two storage options. Firstly, you can get this laptop with 2.5-inch SATA HDD storage with a maximum supported size of 2 TB.

Secondly, you can get this laptop with M.2 NVMe SSD storage which uses a PCIe interface. The PCIe interface makes upgrading easier and makes data transfer faster.

Speaking of upgrading, you can increase the storage capacity of the SSD storage to 512 GB.

Therefore, you can choose between the first and second storage options. However, before you do that, there are a few things to bear in mind.

The first thing is that SSD storages are faster than HDDs. In fact, laptops with SSD storage can boot within 20 or even 15 seconds if you have good RAM and CPU.

Meanwhile, HDDs will take about 45 to 50 seconds of boot time, especially on a Windows 10 laptop like the Inspiron 17 3790. Nevertheless, HDDs are usually less expensive than SSDs and also offer more storage space.

That said, in addition to the respective maximum storage sizes, this laptop also features a 3-in-1 card reader. Hence, you can use SD, SDHC, or SDXC memory cards for storage expansion if you feel a need for that.

For performance evaluation, we will use a model of the Inspiron 17 3790 with 512 GB SSD storage. To deliver on that, we will use a subset of the PCMark test, which focuses on storage performance only.

Similar to other benchmarks discussed in this review, a high score denotes better performance. Therefore, from the PCMark 8 storage test, this laptop scored 4,956 points.

Meanwhile, the ASUS VivoBook S15 with the same storage size and type scored 4,948 points.

Also, the HP Envy 17 with the same storage configuration scored 4,979 points. Thus, the Inspiron 17 3790’s storage performance lies between that of the two competitors above.

In summary, this laptop offers two storage configuration options and the possibility of further expansion. Also, its performance in the PCMark 8 storage test is satisfactory.

Therefore, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 17 3790’s storage an eight out of ten.

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Dell Inspiron 17 3000: Graphics Card Performance

Graphics is another area where the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 offers two options. The options are either an Intel HD Graphics 620 or AMD Radeon 610 Graphics card.

The Intel HD Graphics 620 has an integrated interface that limits its graphics performance. The reason for this is that it shares the computer RAM with the processor.

Hence, only a little memory space is assigned for graphics tasks on an integrated GPU like the Intel HD Graphics 620. As for speed, the Intel HD Graphics 620 has a base speed of 300 MHz and a boost speed of 1150 MHz.

Meanwhile, this laptop is also available in an AMD Radeon 620, which has a dedicated interface. As a dedicated GPU, the AMD Radeon 620 has 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM (Video RAM).

While the base frequency of the AMD Radeon 620 was not stated by Dell, the boost frequency is 1030 MHz. Therefore, the AMD Radeon 620 GPU will do better in performing graphics tasks than the first option.

Nonetheless, the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 is not a gaming laptop. Therefore, even its dedicated GPU option is only powerful enough to play lightweight games.

For more insight into the graphics performance of this laptop, let us consider its performance in a 3DMark 11 test. For your information, the 3DMark test measures how smoothly a GPU can trace the shape of a 3D object in 3D games.

Just like other tests discussed in this review, achieving a high score in the 3DMark test indicates a better performance.

From the test, a model of this laptop with an AMD Radeon 620 GPU scored 1508.5 points which is below some of its competitor’s scores. Of course, that is not much of a surprise, as this GPU is not meant for such complex tasks.

Meanwhile, the HP Envy 17 performed better by scoring 3,538 points on the same test. That is because HP equipped the Envy 17 with a more powerful AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 GPU.

Considering all that, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 an eight out of ten in this section.

Dell Inspiron 17 3000: Battery Life and Performance

The Dell Inspiron 17 3790 features a 3-cell, 42 WHr Li-Ion battery. However, there is no information from Dell regarding how long the battery lasts on a full charge.

Now, the question is, can a 42 WHr battery really last long on such a big laptop? To find out, let us consider the battery rundown test result of this laptop.

This test measures how long the laptop can keep playing an HD video before its battery completely runs out of charge. During the test, wireless connections are turned off, the screen brightness is set to 50%, and the speaker volume to 100%.

According to the test results, the Inspiron 17 3793’s battery lasted for 7 hours and 27 minutes.

Meanwhile, the HP Envy 17 lasted 8 hours and 52 minutes in the same test. Also, the ASUS VivoBook S15 lasted longer than the two laptops above.

Specifically, the ASUS VivoBook S15 lasted 15 hours and 45 minutes.

Looking at the result of the test, I have decided to rate the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 a seven out of ten in this section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

If you love watching movies on a large screen but don’t want to go for expensive laptops, the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 is for you. Its display looks sharp, and it works well for video production as well.

Moreover, despite not being a gaming laptop, the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 offers multiple configuration options in many areas. These areas include a display, CPU, GPU, and storage.

Thus, depending on your budget, you can get this laptop with the exact configuration you need. Therefore, why not give the Dell Inspiron 17 3790 a try?

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