Dell Vostro 3550

The Dell Vostro 3550 provides small-business customers a durable design, solid performance, and good sound.

Small-business customers need affordable notebooks, but not at the expense of style or performance. Like the previous-generation Vostro, the Dell Vostro 3550 ($682 as configured), has an attractive brushed-aluminum lid, but inside this 15.6-inch system is an Intel Core i3 processor and USB 3.0. You also get an HD webcam and special SRS sound software to enhance those video chats. Read

on to find out if the Vostro 3550 is as good a value in practice as it is on paper.

Design

The Dell Vostro 3550 sports the same external design as last year's system. The Aberdeen Silver lid (available in Brisbane Bronze and Lucerne Red as well) wears the Dell logo front and center, and is covered mostly in a brushed-aluminum material that wraps around the sides of the notebook and onto the base. A smooth matte-black plastic spans the front and back edges and the entire palm rest. We also like the Vostro's metal hinges, which instead of rotating downward into the deck rise up just a quarter of an inch in front of the back edge of the machine. When the lid is closed, the hinges point upward, almost like a set of flip headlights. The design is subtle, but very stylish.

Along with changes to the keyboard, Dell has simplified the Vostro's deck. There's no glossy strip above the keyboard with touch media controls and LED status lights, and the slightly recessed keyboard and touchpad are outlined in a thin sliver of chrome trim. The trim's an elegant touch, but overall the all-black deck makes the bottom of this notebook look drab.

At 14.8 x 10.2 x 1.4 inches, the 3550 is slightly bigger than the 15.6-inch HP ProBook 4530s (14.9 x 10.1 x 1.1 inches), but it weighs slightly less (5.5 pounds vs. 5.6 pounds). We had some difficulty forcing the 3550 into a notebook bag made for 15-inch notebooks, and we certainly felt the notebook's weight while carrying it around.

Heat

The Dell Vostro V3550 stays cool while it's running. After streaming video from Hulu for 15 minutes, the touchpad, keyboard, and notebook bottom reached mild temperatures of 86, 90, and 87 degrees, respectively. We consider a notebook heat of 95 degrees or higher to be uncomfortable.

Keyboard

This Vostro refresh sees some changes made to the Vostro keyboard. Rather than the traditional keyboard in the previous generation, this year's spill-resistant model uses a spacious island-style layout. The individual keys are well spaced, with rounded edges and subtle concave surfaces. However, we found the tactile feedback to be a bit soft.

The Dell Vostro's function row features secondary controls for activating Intel Wireless Display (which sends high-definition video content to a nearby HDTV set), toggling the Wi-Fi radio on and off, adjusting the brightness and the volume, and controlling media playback.

Above and to the right side of the keyboard are three other special buttons. The first launches Window Mobility software for controlling notebook settings such as Bluetooth devices, display connections, power profiles, and more. Another button launches the Dell Control Center for adjusting system controls without navigating to the Windows Control Panel, and the last button is a customizable option that can launch any pre-set program.

The spacious 3.9 x 2.2-inch touchpad was comfortable for navigating the desktop. The surface material didn't cause too much friction, and the recessed touch area was easy to find without looking. The discrete buttons didn't offer strong tactile response, but tapping the touchpad worked well for executing right-button selections. The Alps Electronic touchpad proved accurate when we performed three-finger swipes, two-finger scrolls, and pinch-to-zoom gestures. Even a four-finger gesture--dragging four fingers downward to minimize all windows--was easy to execute.

Display and Audio

The Vostro 3550 has a 15.6-inch anti-glare, LED-backlit display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. A DVD of Michael Clayton looked sharp at full screen, with accurate colors and shadows. True to its description, the display was not obstructed by glare from overhead lights or sunlight through windows in our office.

Two speakers sit just behind the left and right sides of the Vostro 3550's front lip. We'll say this: They were definitely loud. The Vostro 3550 had no problem filling a 10-person conference room with sound, and we could hear John Hodgman's jokes about government conspiracies loud and clear from about 12 feet away.

Music didn't fare as well. The Rolling Stone's "Under My Thumb" sounded okay, but tracks with more bass had flat and muddy middles that made it hard to distinguish vocals from music. Still, the built-in speakers should be more than adequate for giving presentations, video chats, and watching video. The Vostro 3550 includes digital sound enhancements (settings include Bass Boost, Loudness Equalization, and Virtual Surround), but they didn't add much to the listening experience.