Dell Vostro 3550 New Owner Mini Review

Hi I'm new to these forums but have some experience with laptops. I have mainly stuck with desktops but am hoping to replace my desktop with this Dell that I have bought. My main intentions for this laptop are for gaming and work purposes. When I was looking for reviews for this laptop I only found one that was informative enough but it was for a completely different spec. Hopefully this review will help others that are looking for a used Vostro 3550 with a similar spec to mine.

Spec:
-Intel i5 2nd Gen 2450m @ 2.5GHz with Turbo @ 3.1GHz (HD3000)
-AMD Radeon HD 7650m @ Stock clocks
-8GB DDR3 @1333MHz
-320GB Generic HDD
-15.6 inch matte LCD @ 1366x768
-2x USB 3.0 + 2x USB 2.0
-34mm Express Card Slot
-3-in-1 Card Reader
-2MP Webcam
-Windows 7 Pro x64

Design:

The laptop has a clean high spec look to it that screams luxury. The lid and edges of the base are made out of aluminium which means there are no finger prints left. The frame around the keyboard is a matte plastic that feels smooth but when the laptop gets hot, it can feel a bit uncomfortable. The keyboard is well laid out and the keys feel solid as you type. My only complaint is the arrow keys feel a bit weak and noisy but this is minor. The mousepad is of the same matte design as the frame and feels very comfortable to use. The silver edges that go around the keyboard and mousepad add for a very classy and professional look. I didn't like how flimsy the optical drive felt when it is ejected. It feels as if it is about to fall out completely if too much pressure is applied.

Performance:

As this is a desktop replacement, it needs to perform as well as my aging gaming PC in-order to be a feasible purchase. My current desktop has an AMD Phenom B25 x4 @2.7GHz (Unlocked Athlon 425), an AMD Radeon 4890 Sapphire Edition, and 2GB DDR3 @1066MHz. The Athlon is pretty much ancient and only score 2374 on passmark. Only in its unlocked form does it come close to the i5 which performs really well for a dual-core. It can out perform 1st gen i7 CPU's and use far less power doing so.

The 4890 is a giant fire breathing monster that hasn't aged a bit. The 7650m has no chance of performing on the same level. However it does perform really well at the 2 games that I have played so far. I can max out The Sims 3 at 1366x768 at a capped 60fps and SimCity will run at high settings at 1366x768 capped at 30fps.I am yet to benchmark any other games but I will put up some more once install some more games. When comparing it to a desktop card, it surpasses the 5570 and 9800GT.

Heat, Noise, and battery life:

I wont be using the laptop outside too often so battery life doesn't really affect me but I have tested it I'm personally not impressed. On maximum load (Playing SimCity) with low brightness it managed 1 hour and 10 mins which isn't too bad. However under normal usage ( browsing the web, listening to music) it only managed about 3 hours. If you set the laptop to maximum power saving for editing word documents then you may be able to reach 3 and a half hours to 4 hours. If you compare that with ultrabooks of a similar spec then it wont stand a chance. The heat level form the laptop is reasonable and is comfortable when kept on my lap. The fan rarely turns on and even when engaged, it is fairly quiet. Under load the laptop does get hot but it doesn't burn my lap and the fan does a decent job of exhausting the heat.