Inspiron Micro Desktop Review: A Desktop for Basic Tasks

Inspiron Micro Desktop: At First Glance

Nowadays, people try to avoid traditional desktops due to their enormous sizes and the amount of office space they consume. Due to that, manufacturers nowadays put more effort into the production of desktops with smaller form factors called “micro desktops.”

One of these micro desktops is the Inspiron Micro Desktop, which was manufactured by Dell and is the focus of this review. Even though this desktop is considerably small and lightweight, it comes packed with adequate specs for handling basic computing tasks.

As a matter of fact, the desktop offers multiple processor options. However, this desktop comes with some disappointing flaws, such as limited storage space.

With that being said, move on to the other sections below to find out more about the Inspiron Micro Desktop.

Inspiron Micro Desktop: Design, Display, Ports, and Connectivity

This Inspiron Micro Desktop does not have any special look or features an elaborating design. Yet, the desktop isn’t ugly.

To give more details, this desktop has a box-shaped chassis that is made of sturdy plastic material. Furthermore, the entire chassis of the desktop has a matte-black finish except for the top.

Specifically, the top of the desktop chassis has a glossy-black finish. Also, it features a reflective Dell logo at the center.

Similarly, you will find an “Inspiron” inscription on the front side of the desktop. The desktop’s front side also features an indicator light and a power button.

Honestly, the design of the Inspiron Micro Desktop will make it blend with your other devices when put together on the desk. Besides, the bottom of the desktop features four rubber grips that prevent it from falling off easily from a desk.

That being said, the rear of the desktop accommodates most of its ports. These include an Ethernet port and two USB 2.0 ports for connecting the keyboard and mouse that comes with the desktop.

You will also find an HDMI port, DisplayPort, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the desktop’s rear. Meanwhile, the right side of the desktop features another USB 2.0 port, a Kensington lock, and one USB 3.0 port.

Finally, you will find an SD card slot on the left side of the desktop. Truthfully, for a desktop computer this small, the amount of ports that it offers is pretty outstanding.

In terms of wireless connectivity, the Inspiron Micro Desktop comes with Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0.

Sadly, this desktop doesn’t come with a monitor – it only comes with a keyboard and mouse. Hence, you will have to purchase a monitor separately when buying the Inspiron Micro Desktop.

Moving to the weight and dimension, this desktop weighs just 590 g and measures 131 x 131 x 52.5 mm (W x D x H). With this dimension and weight, you can easily lift this desktop and move it around without any problem.

In comparison, this Dell Inspiron desktop is way lighter than the Apple Mac mini (2020), which weighs 1179.34 g.

As a result, I will rate the Inspiron Micro Desktop an eight out of ten in this design review section.

Inspiron Micro Desktop: Processor (CPU) Performance

As hinted earlier, the Inspiron Micro Desktop offers two processor options. You can either get the desktop with an Intel Celeron J1800 or an Intel Pentium J2900 processor.

The Intel Celeron J1800 processor option has a base frequency of 2.41 GHz and a boost frequency of 2.58 GHz. Furthermore, this processor is a dual-core processor that features a 1 MB cache memory.

Meanwhile, the Intel Pentium J2900 processor option is a quad-core processor that comes with a cache memory of 2 MB. Also, this processor has a base frequency of 2.41 GHz and a boost frequency of 2.66 GHz.

Hence, considering the specs of these processor options, it is obvious that the Intel Pentium CPU option is better than the Intel Celeron CPU option. Therefore, the former will be able to handle tasks better and faster than the latter.

Nonetheless, both processor options aren’t powerful enough to handle demanding tasks like video editing, especially the Intel Celeron CPU option. Regardless, they are suitable for performing basic computing tasks like word processing and web browsing.

However, for better processing performance, I will suggest you purchase the Inspiron Micro Desktop with the Intel Pentium CPU option. Nevertheless, this review is based on the Inspiron Micro Desktop with the Intel Celeron processor option.

To find out how well the desktop can perform with this CPU, I will be offering its results on the Cinebench R11.5 test. This test evaluates how well a computer’s processor can perform when its cores are handling real-world workloads.

Thus, this test is divided into two parts – the single-core and multi-core tests. The single-core test measures the processor’s performance when one of its cores is in use.

On the other hand, the multi-core Cinebench R11.5 test evaluates the CPU’s performance when all of its cores are being utilized.

Notably, a high score on the single-core and multi-core tests equates to good processor performance. Sadly, the Inspiron Micro Desktop only scored 0.47 points and 0.92 points on the Cinebench R11.5 single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

Comparatively, this desktop was outperformed by the Dell OptiPlex 780, which uses an Intel Celeron 3300 processor. To be more specific, this desktop scored 0.72 points and 1.54 points on the Cinebench R11.5 single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

In conclusion, the Inspiron Micro Desktop offers multiple CPU options that are powerful enough to handle basic computing tasks. However, the desktop with the Intel Celeron option was beaten by one of its closest rivals in a CPU benchmark test.

Hence, I will be rating the Inspiron Micro Desktop a seven out of ten in this processor review section.

Inspiron Micro Desktop: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Inspiron Micro Desktop comes with a standard memory of 2 GB DDR3L 1600 MHz RAM. However, the desktop has a single SO-DIMM slot and supports a max memory capacity of 8 GB RAM.

Honestly, a maximum memory of 8 GB will be quite limited for most people nowadays. As a matter of fact, most computers nowadays come with a standard memory of 8 GB RAM.

Nonetheless, since this desktop isn’t designed for handling demanding workloads, this amount of max memory is enough. In fact, the standard memory of 2 GB should be enough for the desktop to carry out basic computing tasks like video streaming and web browsing.

Also, you should be able to perform light multitasking on the desktop with 2 GB RAM. Specifically, you should be able to open up to 5 Chrome tabs simultaneously on the desktop without experiencing any severe lag.

However, switching between the Chrome tabs will cause the desktop to lag seriously. To further assess the Inspiron Micro Desktop performance with 2 GB RAM, let us discuss its performance on the PCMark 10 test.

This test measures the performance of a computer’s RAM when handling day-to-day productivity tasks. Furthermore, a high score on the test means a good memory performance.

So, based on the benchmark test result, the Inspiron Micro Desktop scored 3922 points. Unfortunately, this desktop was beaten by the Lenovo ThinkCentre M58p, which scored 5083 points on the same benchmark test.

Therefore, this Inspiron Micro Desktop deserves a rating of seven out of ten in this memory review section.

Inspiron Micro Desktop: Storage Options and Performance

In terms of storage, the Inspiron Micro Desktop comes with an SSD that supports a maximum storage capacity of 32 GB. Apparently, this amount of maximum storage capacity is small and won’t be sufficient for most users to save their files.

Besides, most smartphones nowadays offer a storage capacity of more than 32 GB. Fortunately, this Dell desktop comes with an SD card reader for storage expansion.

With that being said, let us discuss the desktop’s result on the CrystalDiskMark test to assess its storage performance further. For your information, the CrystalDiskMark test measures the read and write speed of a computer’s storage drive.

For clarity, read speed is how fast it takes a storage drive to open a file. Write speed, however, is how fast it takes the storage drive to save a file.

Notably, the higher the MBps value on the CyrstalDiskMark test, the faster the read and write speed of the computer’s storage drive. So, from the test results, the Inspiron Micro Desktop recorded a read speed of 2350 MBps and a write speed of 1030 MBps.

Comparatively, the Dell Inspiron 3880 recorded a read speed of 3350 MBps and a write speed of 1930 MBps. Hence, this desktop will open and save files faster than the Inspiron Micro Desktop.

All things considered, I will rate the Inspiron Micro Desktop a seven out of ten in this storage review section.

Inspiron Micro Desktop: Graphics Card Performance

For the graphics card, the Inspiron Micro Desktop comes with Intel HD Graphics. This graphics card has a base frequency of 688 MHz and a boost frequency of 896 MHz.

However, the graphics card is an integrated graphics card, meaning it is embedded into the CPU of the computer. As a result, the GPU will have to share the system memory with the CPU in order to perform graphics-related tasks.

Due to that, the Inspiron Micro Desktop won’t be able to handle demanding graphics-related tasks like video editing. As a matter of fact, the desktop won’t be able to run any title AAA games smoothly, even in low graphics settings.

For instance, the desktop only delivered a frame rate of 20.1 fps while playing Dirt Rally (2015) in low graphics settings. Also, while playing Tomb Raider (2013) in low graphics settings, the desktop produced a disappointing frame rate of 19.7 fps.

Nonetheless, the Inspiron Micro Desktop should be able to play low-end games like Candy Crush or Chess smoothly.

Let us now examine the 3DMark result of the desktop to know more about its graphics performance. Just to be clear, 3DMark is a test tool that evaluates how well a computer can render 3D graphics.

Furthermore, a high score on the benchmark test equates to good 3D graphics rendering ability. So, the Inspiron Micro Desktop scored 390.4 points on the benchmark test.

In comparison, the Dell Inspiron 3847 with Intel HD Graphics 4600 graphics card was able to score 706 points on the test. Clearly, the Inspiron Micro Desktop isn’t a computer for intensive graphics tasks.

Thus, I will rate the desktop a seven out of ten to conclude this graphics review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Overall, the Inspiron Micro Desktop is a compact desktop computer for handling nothing more than basic computer tasks. Moreover, the desktop comes with a decent amount of ports despite its portable form factor.

Speaking of portability, this desktop is small enough to fit into a backpack. However, the Inspiron Micro Desktop has limited storage space as well as limited memory.

Also, it doesn’t come with a monitor. Nevertheless, if you need a portable desktop for simple computing tasks, you should consider the Inspiron Micro Desktop.

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