Dell Chromebook 11 3000 Specifications
The Dell Chromebook 11 comes equipped with an Intel Celeron N3060, a 2016 version of Intel’s budget processors with two cores, a base frequency of 1.60 GHz and burst frequency (the maximum single core frequency the CPU is capable of operating at) of 2.4 GHz. Like many of the other Intel Celeron processors, they have always been a good fit for budget laptops meant for low-power applications like using word processors and browsing the web. This should be all the more apparent since the CPU cache only stands at 2 MB L2. Internal storage is fairly decent at 64GB (eMMC).
Although please be aware: There is a 32GB model of the Dell Chromebook 3000, and it has been on the receiving end of so many complaints from buyers about how, due to Windows 10 Operating System being big in size (It's like 30GB+), most of the eMMC storage space is being taken up by the Operating System, so there's no internal space left for anything else. So take this into consideration. I don't know what Dell were thinking when they decided to put such a small integrated hard drive into a computer that is going to be using such a large Operating System. A terrible decision by Dell.
My opinion: You would be wise to steer well clear of the 32GB model.
What is eMMC? It's basically a flash type hard drive (storage chip) which is usually soldered onto the inner board and can't be removed or upgraded. Cheap but tough, It's kind of like a space saving budget HDD, but in chip form. You can however upgrade the storage space on the Chromebook 11 3000 by just adding your own SD memory card (there is a slot for this), so its not too much of a hindrance. If you want more space out-the-box, the Chromebook 14 7000 comes with a 128 GB eMMC.
4GB of RAM in the Dell 11 3000 means the computer packs some decent punch when it comes to multitasking. For people that need to constantly back and forth between browsers, web documents or apps, this laptop’s has an uncanny ability to keep more processes than you’d otherwise expect from a Windows machine of the same stature running in the background. Such is the power of ChromeOS.
Camera / Webcam
Like many other cameras integrated into laptops, this one seems like it was just an afterthought of not having an otherwise crucial feature on what can be classified a tablet. In short, expect photos to have rather dark shadows and poor colour saturation's, otherwise too grainy to post on Instagram, in a poorly-lit room and the videos unclear.
If a big part of your life / daily routine involves video conferencing or making video calls is important to you, the blown out images captured by this camera may not be to your liking. It’s completely fine for personal use but business people will have a hard time adjusting.
Display
The 11.6 Inch IPS touch LED (non-backlit) display is an interesting choice of screens since this is a budget laptop and a Chromebook, no less. This smartphone style screen is somewhat great at 1366 x 768 resolution, which isn’t a terrible resolution by any means, but won’t be winning any awards for quality. Overall the screen still sits on the side of good, though, and perfectly adequate for daily use.
It works surprisingly well for bright environments but begins to struggle as soon as the dimness on the screen goes below 50%. It can be used indoors without worry, but you’ll definitely strain your eyes somewhat to see the screen properly once you head outdoors. But such is the case with some many laptops and tablets. The colours and graphics are otherwise very good and as accurate as any IPS display can offer (they are as accurate and as sharp as the average top-end smartphone).
Battery Life
An area where the Dell Chromebook 11 really shines in the battery life. This has the overall design of the machine to thank, and the fact that it runs a very compact and forgiving operating system. For starters, this machine is fanless and on power-saving mode, it can go for as much as 13 hours of constant load, as reported by some users (stated as 10 hours on average), before the tell tale signs of low power start to show. It seems this machine was built to be as forgiving as possible for people without the time to hassle for a charger in the middle of their busy routine.
Audio / Speakers
Finally, the sound quality is definitely slightly wanting, but on a budget laptop hybrid, that’s really not too surprising. You’ll have to turn up the volume all the way up to maximum if you want fairly decent sound level, but there’s significant audio distortion at this point. So much so that at lower volumes, it may be difficult to make out the words in a movie or lyrics in a song. With significant background noise, you won’t hear a thing. Luckily enough, it’s got a headphone jack.
Verdict
The overall package makes this an excellent Chromebook. Whilst not perfect, it does tick many boxes for such a cheap device. Stable, practical and reliable. It's definitely a good fit for most people, regardless of age. The machine is well built, Apps work well, and its very quick to respond most of the time. If you need something a bit cheaper than this model, the two-in-one by Zaith is worth taking a look at. Not as advanced as the Dell 3000, but the price reflects that.
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