Latitude 15 3000 - Gaming system for $780? Too good to be true?

Hi all,
I'm from Italy. I have to buy a laptop and I'm undecided between Dell 3540 and 5540. The second one has cpu i5 4300U (instead of i5 4200U) and GeForce GT 720M 2GB Graphics instead of AMD Venus Pro 2GB GDDR5. Dell 3540 costs about 950USD, Dell 5540 costs about 1045USD (discounted prices from Dell). Do you think that 5540 has appreciable superior performance? Or for the higher cost 5540 is not a convenient choice?

For me it is very important the viewing angle. It is the main reason I decided for one of above models. For the FHD display (1920x1080) Dell declares a wide view angle. Can you confirm? I know it hasn't an IPS panel, but I hope it can be good anyway. I would have preferred a laptop with 15" IPS panel, but it is almost impossible to find it at human prices.

I am sorry for the lack of HDMI port. I hope to can use VGA port to connect the projector.

Thanks and bye.

 

On that note, has anyone heard anything about the 3440? I'm interested but can't find a word. Doesn't seem like a good sign.

 

It looks very similar to the 15 3000 (3540), but with a lower res screen and crappy graphics. I was only interested in the 3540 because it came with a decent GPU. I never even looked at the 3440 for that reason.

 

Hello Lacel,

I've checked out both the US and the Italian web pages for Latitude 5540. They both declare the "wide-view " angle feature for not just the FHD screen but the regular HD screen as well. In fact, I cannot find a single web site from different country markets that suggests anything else. All Dell sites from countries like South Africa, Canada, etc, all list the wide-view feature. This feature is consistently listed and published. However, I cannot confirm to what degree the wide-view angle screen is able to be viewed.

I'd reckon the extra price of the 5540 compared to the 3540 can be justified for some people because of the wide-view display, the higher-clocked CPU, and the solid state hybrid drive. I've read that hybrid drives are definitely more responsive compared to a normal spinning hard drive. The 5540 also a bit more durable - it is tested to the standard of MIL-STD-810G so it can take a drop or 2. It also seems that the 5540 comes with extra security features, such as a fingerprint scanner.

EDIT: It looks like the 5540 comes with both a VGA and a HDMI port. It says so under the Tech Specs on the Dell US site.

One stark comparison is the GPU. The GT 720m on the 5540 isn't all that capable compared to the HD 8850m on the 3540. It's a pretty large difference. The 8850m definitely handles higher-resolution gaming. I've used the same GPU as the GT 720m (a GT 540m - same gpu, but different clocks), and it struggled at times to deliver at high resolutions.

I'm afraid that I can't offer any more input other than this. These are some pretty big tradeoffs and it would seem like it would be a tough decision to choose between the 5540 and the 3540. Good luck with your decision!

 

Hello itchyass022,

thanks for your reply. I have to tell you that in italian configuration there are not any differences about display for 3540 and 5540. About drive I don't know well the Solid State Hibrid Drive, I think price is about the same of SATA drive. However I think to change both of them (either SATA or SSHD) with a SSD.
I will carry details below:

CA003L35408WER (Latitude 15 serie 3000: notebook aziendale da 15" | Dell Italia)
1 Dell Latitude 3540, BTX
1 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-4200U Processor (1.6 GHz, 3M, Dual Core) for DSC Graphics
1 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) Wide View Anti-Glare LED-backlit with Premium Panel Guarantee
1 Camera Included
1 Camera : Software for Integrated Camera
1 4GB (1x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3L Memory
1 500GB (5.400Rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
1 8x DVD +/-RW Media Bay Drive
1 PowerDVD Software not included
1 Power Cord : Italian
1 6-Cell Battery (65 WHr)
1 AMD Venus Pro 2GB GDDR5 Graphics
1 90W A/C Adapter (3-pin)
1 Dell Wireless 1705 802.11b/g/n with Bluetooth v4.0
1 MOD-SRV,SW,DW1705,3540
1 Internal Italian Qwerty Non-backlit Single Pointing Keyboard (antimicrobial)

SM005LE55402ITA (Latitude 15 serie 5000: dettagli sul notebook aziendale da 15" | Dell Italia)
1 BASE,NBK,LAT,BTX,E5540
1 Intel Core i5-4300U Processor base with Discrete Graphics and Smartcard Reader
1 4th gen Intel Core i5-4300U Processor (1.9 GHz, 3M Cache)
1 Dell FHD (1920x1080) Wide View LED-backlit LCD Panel with WiGig Technology
1 No Fingerprint Reader (Single Pointing) Palmrest
1 Camera : Software for Integrated Camera
1 Light Sensitive Webcam and Noise Cancelling Digital Array Mic
1 4GB (1x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3L Memory
1 500GB Solid State Hybrid Drive with 8GB Flash
1 8X DVD+/-RW Media Bay Drive
1 PowerDVD Software not included
1 Power Cord : European
1 6-cell (65Wh) Lithium Ion battery with ExpressCharge
1 Intel Core i5 vPro Processor Label
1 Regulatory Label, Non-Touch
1 NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M 2GB Graphics
1 90W A/C Adapter (3-pin)
1 Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11ac/a/b/g/n 2x2 + Bluetooth 4.0 LE Half Mini Card
1 Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Driver
1 Internal Italian Qwertz Non-backlit Single Pointing Keyboard

Do you think that 90USD, of higher cost for 5540, is justified? Note that 3540 has AMD Venus Pro 2GB graphic card.

Both of them have FHD display with wide view angle (Dell declaration). If you have tested this display, please can you tell me if really the view angle is laterally good? I will use this laptop for demo software and if 2 or 3 people see it together, the view angle (primarily laterally) must be good.

 

The Dell Latitude 3540 seems like it has everything that I want for the price yet it lacks an HDMI port. I'm really disappointed about this and wonder why Dell decided to skimp out on putting an HDMI port with having such a decent graphics card in it. This might be a dumb question but would it be possible to open the laptop apart and add an HDMI port yourself or should I look elsewhere for a different laptop? I can't seem to find another 15 inch laptop that has 1080p FHD screen and a discrete graphics card as good as this one while at the same time is fairly quiet under load around the $750-$800 price range.

 

If by laterally you mean side-to-side, then I'd say that the viewing angles are actually surprisingly decent. Texts are still readable. While looking at a vivid photograph, I can still make out the colours, and contrast isn't lost either.

Viewing angles from either above or below are definitely constricted to a much narrower view. This is definitely a weak spot.

Still, I'd reckon this screen's viewing angles are much better than many other TN panels that I've used. I'm thinking of taking pictures in the next couple of days or so, to show you what I mean.

Not sure if there is a way to add an HDMI output like that.

I know that some Latitude models are currently being produced with HDMI outputs. At the same time, I have to remind myself that the Latitude models aren't made for consumers. Perhaps that it is why this Latitude model is still using a legacy video output. In this case, I can still use the VGA output to hook up to overhead projectors at class and present the occasional lecture or project. I'm not sure if this would be possible if it hadn't been so.

Even so, there are such things as VGA to HDMI converters. I've used one before, as I used to connect a desktop to a TV, but the desktop unit didn't have a HDMI-output. It works well except there is the added audio cable to deal with. I can understand it being too cumbersome for many to deal with though, though.

I can understand the lack of HDMI output to be a deal-breaker for some. I've been able to sidestep this by wirelessly streaming the screen over to an Apple TV, and that works pretty well for mirrored desktop streaming. I'm not sure if it works for gaming, however.

 

About 90 USD higher cost for 5540, what do you think? Does i5-4300U cpu give a noticeable increase in performance compared to i5-4200? (I would use the PC for moderate use, i.e. Office and web, no gaming)

These low voltage cpu are currently underutilized from other notebook producers. Is their performance good compared to more standard cpu as i5/i7-3630 or other?

 

For moderate use, no I do not think that there would be a noticeable difference in performance. In fact, I keep this lappy underclocked (with the slower i5 4200u) while doing normal tasks like browsing 5+ PDF's at the same time, and honestly it won't hiccup at all.

I can draw a direct comparison with this lappy's ULV i5 4200u and another lappy's normal voltage i5 2520m. I know these are 2 generations apart (Sandy Bridge - Ivy Bridge - Haswell) but that's all I've got to draw comparison with. So what I've noticed is that for most tasks such as browsing, reading, streaming videos - they're both comparable. However when performing heavy tasks such as trans-coding video file batches into something else, the normal voltage will always come out a bit faster. This is because the normal voltage can clock up a bit higher than the ULV, and can hold its turbo setting to its maximum throughout its whole duration of transcoding (sometimes 2 hours long). The ULV processor will need to clock back down to sustain its maximum turbo speeds to keep itself running within its thermal specifications. With all that's said and done, I think that if you're not planning on transcoding large file batches, then a higher clock speed wouldn't really give any benefits.

Honestly and personally, I've been using ULV processors since the Penryn CPU's came out 4 generations ago. It is in my opinion that CPU's have gotten to the point where power is abundant in excess, even with underclocked processors.

I think the i5 4200u will be great for you. However, if you choose to spend 90 bucks more on the 5540, then you are not only receiving a faster CPU, but you are also receiving a better-made device with better durability features. That's the way I look at it. :thumbsup:

 

Plus a docking connector, HDMI, 1 WWAN slot (should hold a SSD), optional backlit keyboard and optional 9 cell battery. All at the cost of gaming performance. So if you don't game, the 5540 is a better buy.