Dell Inspiron 11" Ultra Laptop, intel N3050 2.6GHz, Win10, Wifi A/C £159.00 @ Dell

Yes I've managed to find another Dell super deal* for those looking for cheap and semi cheerful computing....while it's not as mega deal as my last £99 Dell micro desktop, it's not too bad assuming you don't expect to use it for anything computer related. Currently £159 including delivery until 21st March 2016.

Choice of colours, up to 9 hours battery (well I guess anything is possible)

*terms and conditions apply

I guess Dell must have loads of 1366x768 panel from the last century, lol

Lovely bedtime reading that description.

Upgrade video?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMq2IiozPYg
This video shows a regular hard drive, the item on offer has an EMMC drive so not sure if both options exist or not.... needs further investigation.
Service manual suggests the same as the video
topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf…pdf

ro888

I guess Dell must have loads of 1366x768 panel from the last century, lol

So many laptops from all the vendors still ship these damned lower res screens, even on mid range laptops.... somewhere in China a factory is churning out billions of the things I reckon!

spannerzone

So many laptops from all the vendors still ship these damned lower res … So many laptops from all the vendors still ship these damned lower res screens, even on mid range laptops.... somewhere in China a factory is churning out billions of the things I reckon!Read lessRead more

Agreed, these low res screen is OK for email and general internet but not for serious worker or HD video though...

Would this be good for a (primary school) child? Any other cheap suggestions?

To be fair, this sort of resolution is OK on screens up to 12". Not so on a 15.6" panel, however.

HOT for the battery life

These should be good enough for schoolwork. Can always return it if it's not suitable.

Hot - because the description is so funny and oh so true. Keep 'em coming.

Have another comment. You deserve it!

I am tempted. It says at notebookcheck.net/Del…tml that Dell are also selling it with Ubuntu (I guess not in the UK) so I will slap Linux on it and it should be fine for schoolwork. Thanks OP for the hot deal and funny description.

I can't tell if this has much upgrade potential or not, the user manual and videos online suggest it can be supplied with a regular hard disk in which case a cheap SSD upgrade will make this much more usable. Memory looks like it's standard 1 slot and could be switched for 4GB cheaply enough. However in its current form I suspect it'll be rather slow doing things and might drive people up the wall doing anything slightly intensive.

SClub

To be fair, this sort of resolution is OK on screens up to 12". Not so on … To be fair, this sort of resolution is OK on screens up to 12". Not so on a 15.6" panel, however.Read lessRead more

Sort of ok, but these low resolutions are the main reason that reading on laptop is so much more painful than on a tablet. 1080p or 1200p are a lot nicer, as long as you can get Windows to scale properly (which depends a bit on the programs, too).

It's a netbook. In an 7-10" chassis this would be fine IMO, so kinda sorta okay at 12" if you know what you're gettng.

It's not upgradeable the ram and ssd are both soldered to the motherboard. Some reviews saying the 2gb of ram makes things slow. Might be worth paying the extra 40 pound for the £199 15 inch Inspiron. Comes with a quad core pentium instead of the dual core here and has 4gb of ram and the option to add a ssd yourself.

https://youtu.be/lxmxSHalJMY
https://youtu.be/LRGrcfbwFBw

Struggling to link the dell but this is the E-Value Code: CN55204 if you go on deals of the day it's the second laptop down.

Some very polarised reviews!:

Positive review example
Bought this for my daughter for school. Can't beat the value or the quality. Perfect size and light weight. Keyboard and Touchpad are responsive. Start up is fast. Great sound. Good picture.

Negative review example
Just what the title says. This computer is so slow it's almost unusable. I wasn't expecting much for the price but this thing is awful. I wanted a small laptop for travel and as an backup if I had issues with my main computer but this was a waste of money. Don't buy.

ro888

I guess Dell must have loads of 1366x768 panel from the last century, lol

1366 x 768 at 11 inches is around the same pixel density as 1080p at 15 inches.

But I guess shouting low resolutions without being informed is cool now.

LittleChimp

It's not upgradeable the ram and ssd are both soldered to the … It's not upgradeable the ram and ssd are both soldered to the motherboard. Some reviews saying the 2gb of ram makes things slow. Might be worth paying the extra 40 pound for the £199 15 inch Inspiron. Comes with a quad core pentium instead of the dual core here and has 4gb of ram and the option to add a ssd yourself.https://youtu.be/lxmxSHalJMYhttps://youtu.be/LRGrcfbwFBwStruggling to link the dell but this is the E-Value Code: CN55204 if you go on deals of the day it's the second laptop down.Read lessRead more

Thanks for finding those, looks like there are different versions of the 3000 series and even Dell is linking the wrong service manual to this model. Shame it's so locked down and non upgradeable.....I know manufacturers are going super cheap but a PC with such low ram and little spare HD space is going to struggle and annoy uninformed buyers, They really need to bump up the storage to eMMC 64GB and 4G ram and it would make a big difference.

Yeah this would have been a lot hotter if you could stick a 4gb or 8gb ram stick in but the 2gb ram will definitely limit it over time.

Most other laptop brands have these laptops at the price point of £130-150.

This about the same 'speed' as my old lenovo x200s, which......

Surfs the net with either edge or firefox quickly and easily.
Plays up to 720p youtube videos without stutter.
I can play older games, even 3d ones.
Editing docments with libreoffice is fast and responsive.
It plays Football Manager 2015 without issue.

This machine may not be 'fast' or have a 'golden **** master 3d card' but who cares. I'll get the job done for what almost everyone uses a computer for.

I have a Lenovo 11.6" laptop that is a very similar spec with regards to screen. There's nothing wrong with the resolution of the screen at all. It's fine for pretty much everything you'll want to do. It would be stupid to expect more at this price point.

I'm a huge fan of laptops this size, much better than the old netbooks that were too small. Hide your taskbar and it is the perfect size for a web browser. It's much more manageable than a 15" and is particularly good for lazy mornings in bed.

LittleChimp

It's not upgradeable the ram and ssd are both soldered to the … It's not upgradeable the ram and ssd are both soldered to the motherboard. Some reviews saying the 2gb of ram makes things slow. Might be worth paying the extra 40 pound for the £199 15 inch Inspiron. Comes with a quad core pentium instead of the dual core here and has 4gb of ram and the option to add a ssd yourself.https://youtu.be/lxmxSHalJMYhttps://youtu.be/LRGrcfbwFBwStruggling to link the dell but this is the E-Value Code: CN55204 if you go on deals of the day it's the second laptop down.Read lessRead more

Not a chance I or anyone with a brain would buy it with only 15.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) Truelife LED-Backlit Display.
cant understand why Dell would do this on a 15inch display unless its just to hit a lower price point. -stuupid.

MrPuddington

Sort of ok, but these low resolutions are the main reason that reading on … Sort of ok, but these low resolutions are the main reason that reading on laptop is so much more painful than on a tablet. 1080p or 1200p are a lot nicer, as long as you can get Windows to scale properly (which depends a bit on the programs, too).Read lessRead more

I've got a 1080P screened tablet/ultrabook around this screen size, and to be frank it's a pain in the backside, windows just doesn't scale well, so yes text is crisper, but unreadable at native resolution, and as soon as you scale, it's no better than my old 1366x768 laptop with similar screen size. I needed the resolution for a particular application, but mostly it's just a pain.

As for watching movies, if the movie is good enough, you're not going to notice the resolution isn't full HD, and at least if you re-encode for the resolution, you'll get more on your memory chip.

mike

whydoiwastemytimehere

Not a chance I or anyone with a brain would buy it with only 15.6-inch HD … Not a chance I or anyone with a brain would buy it with only 15.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) Truelife LED-Backlit Display.cant understand why Dell would do this on a 15inch display unless its just to hit a lower price point. -stuupid.Read lessRead more

I'd rather hope people with brains would buy a laptop based on their requirement rather than a willy waving exercise over resolutions. I know plenty of people who prefer that resolution on a 15" screen, personally I would want higher, but that's because I use software that needs the higher resolution, but for say my Dad, he definitely would be wasting his money on higher resolutions, since he'd need windows set to maximum scaling to read the screen.

I bet you this is the most popular screen resolution and screen size across all manufacturers, despite it not appealing to everyone.

I wonder how we coped in the old days with 640x480 screens, and that was when you had a posh computer, lol.

mike

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-aspire-one-cloudbook-14-laptop-grey-10137555-pdt.html

seems the same/better for less.

adamspencer95

… http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-aspire-one-cloudbook-14-laptop-grey-10137555-pdt.htmlseems the same/better for less.Read lessRead more

​thats a 14 inch but 11 inch stream is the same

whydoiwastemytimehere

Not a chance I or anyone with a brain would buy it with only 15.6-inch HD … Not a chance I or anyone with a brain would buy it with only 15.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) Truelife LED-Backlit Display.cant understand why Dell would do this on a 15inch display unless its just to hit a lower price point. -stuupid.Read lessRead more

This deal is for an 11" laptop

ollie87

1366 x 768 at 11 inches is around the same pixel density as 1080p at 15 … 1366 x 768 at 11 inches is around the same pixel density as 1080p at 15 inches.But I guess shouting low resolutions without being informed is cool now.Read lessRead more

Its not just about pixel density its about how much will fit on the screen when using any app other than games or video where its arguably less important

dergal

Its not just about pixel density its about how much will fit on the … Its not just about pixel density its about how much will fit on the screen when using any app other than games or video where its arguably less importantRead lessRead more

I'd argue at this screen size, it's the size of text that's more important than how much you can fit on the screen, a full hd screen run without scaling is no fun at this screen size, unless you want to visit an optician, although maybe with only a slight scaling factor, you'd still get more on a full hd screen, than 1366x768, but I'm not sure it's much and probably debatable economic sense.

The beauty is, with this being a popular size and resolution, you can easily pop down to your nearest computer shop or John Lewis and try one with similar screen specs and see how you'd get on, before buying - that's what I did with my Dad before picking a 1368x768 screen as the most sensible for him.

mike

I have an 11.6" Acer where the 1366*768 resolution works perfectly for me. I also have a Toshiba Chromebook 2 with a full HD 13.3" screen which I typically lower the res to 1536*864 to make things readable. If I had a 15.6" device I would probably want it running at full HD.

Find the same sort if resolution to screen size works well in Windows to for general office work / web browsing.

I tend to hold a tablet closer to my face, hence a higher res is OK in that scenario (particularly with Android).

adamspencer95

​thats a 14 inch but 11 inch stream is the same

Thanks. The stream does look pretty similar to this for 10 quid less.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-stream-11-r050sa-11-6-laptop-blue-10137770-pdt.html

Anyone have any reason why I should go for the Dell over the HP?

superspod

Thanks. The stream does look pretty similar to this for 10 quid … Thanks. The stream does look pretty similar to this for 10 quid less.http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-stream-11-r050sa-11-6-laptop-blue-10137770-pdt.htmlAnyone have any reason why I should go for the Dell over the HP?Read lessRead more

There's a Lenovo for 149.99 as well.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-100s-11-6-laptop-red-10139239-pdt.html

Is the Celeron N3050 better than the Atom Z3735F? I am so out of touch.

Makes me chuckle that every laptop deal end up in a discussion about 1080p. Resolution is not the be all and end all. Yes it's a nice perk if the laptop has it, but battery life and the rest of the spec, and the optons to upgrade memory/HD are probably more important.

Wouldn't touch this at all given you're stuck with this spec. Spend a bit more on laptop from Dell Outlet is the better way.

dergal

Its not just about pixel density its about how much will fit on the … Its not just about pixel density its about how much will fit on the screen when using any app other than games or video where its arguably less important Read lessRead more

I'm not sure you know how display scaling works. 1080p without display scaling on a 11 inch display would be impossible to read.

So having played with everything inc 4k screen on a dell 15" .... IMHO I'd prefer a fulld HD on a laptop even at 11" if you compare my laptop 1366 x 768 to a surface at full HD, I'd much prefer the full HD, most of the time I'm stuck in excel or code so having extra screen pixels really helps. I'd agree that it could be optimised better and sometimes the text is small...

We use to call this a "netbook" back in 2007...

superspod

Thanks. The stream does look pretty similar to this for 10 quid … Thanks. The stream does look pretty similar to this for 10 quid less.http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-stream-11-r050sa-11-6-laptop-blue-10137770-pdt.htmlAnyone have any reason why I should go for the Dell over the HP?Read lessRead more

​the specs are pretty much the same, although i think the stream is limited to 802.11N wifi whereas the Dell has AC. unless you see the need for AC wifi (crowded frequencies, many clients etc) then N should be plenty fast. the CPU probably wouldnt exploit the theoretically faster transfer speeds properly anyway.

the HP stream gets between 8-9 hours of battery life so fairly comparable.

the splash resistant keyboard may also be beneficial dependent on how likely you are to spill drinks on it.

just a heads up, the N3050 CPU performs about the same as a Z3735 quad core so is fine for very basic things, id stick with the edge browser on low powered hardware as it seems fairly good at using minimal resources when compared to chrome, IE etc