Dell has been leading the charge in the convertible space along with HP and both companies have managed to launch to market exceptional products at exceptional prices. Today we're gonna talk to you guys about a very interesting 11 inch convertible under the name of Dell i3169-0010BLU.
This new convertible stands out thanks to its colorful design, Core M3 processor, 500GB of storage, entry level price and attractive display. Without further ado, let's get on with our review of the Dell i3169-0010BLU.
A colorful design and a flippable display
Dell made a bold choice with this model by launching a fully energetic blue design. This is rather unconventional in the portable space yet not unprecedented, especially when a laptop is geared mainly towards a young user base. That said, reports point towards the Dell i3169-0010BLU not being the most sturdy of models, with many users saying that the chassis feels "plasticky".
Personally, I don't care all that much what pertains to the overall design and measure a laptop mainly by its components. However, many people might find this to be a turnoff so we thought it important to get it out of the way.
The screen in this convertible is an 11.6 inch HD display with an LED-backlit display and a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Being a convertible it's obvious that we're talking about a touchscreen that you can easily flip so that the device takes on a tablet appearance instead of a notebook appearance.
We should also point out that the size of this device is perfect for tablet mode, something we can't always say when looking at its 13 and 15 inch counterparts.
Mid range performance with a powerful CPU
Though it's true that Core M CPU's didn't get the best reputation when they first came out, they've gone through great advancements since then. Right now, many compare a Core M7 performance to an i7 performance and most of the times the "m" model will end up winning.
That said, performance on the Dell i3169-0010BLU is powered by the very popular Intel Core M3 6Y30 clocking at a base speed of 0.9GHz and reaching a maximum boost of 2.2GHz with more intensive tasks.
This is a fanless dual core CPU that works with 3MB of cache and could be comparable in performance to a 4th generation Core i5 which is actually a very good processor in terms of performance and overall efficiency.
What does this mean? Well, it means that you'll be pretty free to do both light computing tasks as well as more intensive work to the tune of video editing and image editing. Due to the fact that this convertible lacks a dedicated graphics chip (like all convertibles to date) we don't recommend it as professional video editing hardware but for your random video editing once in awhile you should be just fine.
It goes without saying that tasks such as browsing the web, watching movies and so forth will be a breeze.
As for the system memory, the i3169-0010BLU houses 4GB of DDR3L RAM with a 1600MHz base speed. Obviously this means that intensive hardcore multitasking is out of the question. That said, average users won't see this as much of an obstacle at this juncture as it mostly affects power users who need to use several apps (think 5-7) at any given time. If that's not really you then you need not worry.
Hard drive and battery life
There are two variants to this model; one with a low end 32GB SSD (at a much lower price) and one with a mid range hard drive. Fortunately for us, this particular model is the one that boosts the 500GB mechanical hard drive. Sure, a decent SSD would've been nice as well but when faced with the decision of a low end SSD and a 500GB hard drive we'd pick the hard drive any day of the week.
Battery life is conformed by a two cell battery which, according to the specs listed should deliver a little over 6 hours of mixed usage. That's not that bad considering most of its competitors still move within the 3-5 hour margin.
Additional stuff worth knowing
We can't wrap up this review of the Dell i3169-0010BLU and not take a quick look at stuff like ports and whatnot. To this point we've got 3 USB ports, an HDMI output and an SD card reader, as well as your traditional audio jack.
As for the wireless segment of connectivity we've got WiFi b/g/n support as well as Bluetooth support in case you wanted to connect some peripherals through that route. There's also an HD webcam as well as a set of stereo speakers with MaxxAudio technology.
Closing arguments: Is it worth buying?
After checking out all relevant segments on our review of the Dell i3169-0010BLU we can safely say that it's a pretty good overall convertible. As far as laptops go we would recommend other options that move in the same price range but offer better storage capacity, a more efficient CPU and a nicer display such as the HP 15-ay013nr
.However, if what you're looking for is a portable convertible with a solid performance across the board then this is an excellent option that delivers a good balance of specs and the best of both worlds at a very convenient price.