Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543 Cheap 15.6″ Laptop with Intel CPU [Review]

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The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543 is the latest refresh of the PC maker’s 3000-series budget-class 15.6-inch laptop. This $350+ home and office notebook with square-ish chassis made of matte black plastics features the latest Intel Broadwell processors instead of older Haswell found in the previous 3542 and AMD CPUs in the 3541.

Currently, Dell’s 3543 provides a couple of lower-to-mid range Broadwell CPU choices. Namely, the entry-level Intel Celeron 3205U and Pentium 3805U and mid-tier Intel Core i3-5005U and i5-5200U. The Celeron is satisfactory only for the basic web, office, and multimedia tasks, while the i3 and i5 offer noticeably better performance, so you can do photo and video editing on them without stutter. In addition, the i3 and i5 have much faster Intel HD 5500 integrated graphics instead of the basic Intel HD, so they can be used for playing even the latest games on low settings. The Inspiron 3543 is also expected to be available with lower-end Nvidia dedicated video cards, namely the GeForce 820M 2GB and 840M 4GB. These can offer more fluid gaming than the aforementioned Intel GPU solutions. However, high-detail high-resolution 3D gaming is obviously beyond all the mentioned GPUs. As for system memory, the notebook supports up to 8GB. It has only one RAM slot, but thankfully, it is easily accessible for upgrades, as same as the hard drive bay. The machine comes with either 500GB or 1TB HDD preinstalled. DVD burner is present on this laptop by default.

Touchscreen is optional. Whether it is touch-enabled or not, the display has 1366-by-768 resolution as the only option. IPS wide viewing angle technology has been omitted, but that’s expected when it comes to the budget notebook category. Another useful perk is optional backlight on the Chiclet-style keyboard with a dedicated numeric pad.

The average buyer won’t be disappointed with Dell’s selection of ports, slots, and networking features of the laptop. It has three USB ports, HDMI video connector, a combo audio mic/headphone jack, and a memory card reader, as well as Wi-Fi, Ethernet LAN, and Bluetooth connections.

Regarding physical specs, it’s worth noting that the non-touch Inspiron 3543 models weigh in at 5.3 pounds for the touch variant is a bit heavier at 5.5 pounds. The chassis is 0.9″ high, so the laptop is quite thin.

For a more detailed info on quality of the Inspiron 15 3000 3543 you can read our review below. Overall, the Dell 3543 series generally offers a good bang for the buck. If you’re willing to shell out more money for a display with a higher resolution, batter selection of Broadwell CPUs, and sexier look of the laptop, you can check out the mainstream Inspiron 15 5000 5548 series as well as numerous other systems with the same widely adopted 15.6″ form factor.

Our Review of Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543

We tested a Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543 configuration with the entry-level Intel Pentium 3805U dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. Here are our thoughts about the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543 after two weeks of use:

Since the Dell 3543 with the latest Intel Broadwell processors doesn’t differ much from the previous-gen 3542 series with the previous-gen Intel Haswell chips, they share pretty much the same advantages and weakness. The 3543 in comparison to the 3542 has offers better processor choices, since Broadwell CPUs are a bit faster than comparable Haswell precursors and have improved graphics processing units. A good example is the i5-5200U Broadwell we reviewed here. It’s the fastest CPU available for the notebook.

The best selling point of the Dell 3543 is affordable price. A configuration with the speedy i5-5200U and large RAM and hard drive capacities of 8GB and 1TB can be found for about $500. That’s an excellent price for the given configuration and probably the cheapest notebook with the i5-5200U/8GB/1TB you can find on the market. Furthermore an i3/4GB/500GB model can be found for as little as $340. Models with the entry-level Intel Pentium and Celeron processors are even cheaper – $300 and up – and again very competitive price-wise.

If you want to upgrade RAM and hard disk, the notebook offers you an easy way to do so. These components alongside the Wi-Fi module and battery are user-replaceable and easily accessible. The service panel on the bottom of the chassis is held by only one screw. Unfortunately, there’s only one RAM slot, so you can’t have more than 8GB of RAM.

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543 Upgradeability

As same as with the older Dell 3542 and 3541, colors on the display are a bit bland and the screen could have been brighter. Contrast appears to be weak too and blacks in darker movie scenes are rather dark gray than black. To make the situation worse, backlight isn’t uniform and leakage is present around the edges which is visible during the dark scenes. Vertical viewing angles are quite narrow. A slight aberration from the ideal 90-degree vertical viewing angle produces either washed out or inverted colors. As usual, the situation is better with horizontal viewing angles where the Dell does a good job.

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543 Vertical Viewing Angle

Horizontal Viewing Angle 2

Horizontal Viewing Angle 1

Like the vast majority of laptop keyboards nowadays, the 3543 suffers from short key travel and thus not-so-great tactile feedback. The keys have a soft feel to it. Thankfully, the keyboard layout is tidy. The only complaint layout-wise is somewhat short space key. Flex of the keyboard under pressure is present, but not excessively.

Dell 3543 Keyboard

Keyboard Zoom

The trackpad works good in terms of precision of cursor navigation, but since the left and right click buttons are integrated in the surface and therefore nor separated physically, the trackpad can sometimes misinterpret your left/right click actions. To avoid this, you should click the surface near the lower corners of the trackpad. Another trackpad-related problem is its unproportional shape in relation to the screen and trackpads on other laptops. The left and right sides are short, and there’s a great deal of unused space under the trackpad, where the click buttons usually reside.

The build quality of the base appears to be sturdy. The matte black plastics without much flex implies durability and is pretty much free of unwanted fingerprints. On the other hand, the display lid is elastic, especially on the lower part of it. Only a slight pressure on the lower part can produce ripples on the display itself. The lid does attract some fingerprints, but not insanely.

Dell Inpiron 3543 Lid

Annoyingly, the notebook has no LED indicators for hard drive activity, power / sleep status, nor Wi-Fi. Only present lights are for battery charging and a small LED on the Caps Lock key.

Speakers are average for the budget notebook category the Dell 3543 belongs to, with somewhat flat sound. Highs are mediocre, while the bass is merely audible. What makes sound muted is the bottom-front position of speakers.

Left Ports

Right Ports

The battery life in our light web browsing test via Wi-Fi and with screen brightness set to 75 percent lasted 4 hours and 35 minutes. Since the display is by default dimmer than usual, you’ll have to set brightness at least 75% during daytime. In dark environments you can lower it and get better battery life results. Overall, the battery life isn’t insanely long, but rather good. The Intel Pentium 3805U processor in the 3543 configuration we tested and other available CPU options (Intel Celeron, Core i3, i5) all consume 15 Watts of power, so battery life with different chips should be similar.

The Dell Inspiron 3543 is a really quiet and cool running laptop. At least the Pentium configuration we tested, while the faster CPU options will probably cause a bit higher operating temperatures. The CPU temp on idle is at about 40 degrees Celsius, while under gaming it can reach up to 50 degrees.

Specifications of the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543

Here are the specs of the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543 with descriptions of its features. For comparison against other laptops, you can use the "Compare Specs" button.

Brand Dell
Screen Size 15.6-inch

This is by far the most popular laptop screen size. It provides a lot of screen real estate, while avoiding bulkiness of the 17.3" laptops.
Screen Resolution 1366x768 pixels HD

This is an entry-level screen resolution, oftentimes found on budget laptops. It doesn't deliver picture sharpness and space on the screen like the Full HD or higher resolution laptop displays do.
Touchscreen Finger multi-touch input (optional)

The device optionally comes with touchscreen capability.
Other Display Specs TN type

Displays based on the old TN technology lack wide viewing angles you can find on IPS screens. The colors may look washed out or inverted at certain viewing angles.
Processor (CPU) Intel Celeron 3205U dual-core 1.5GHz 2MB cache (User Benchmark CPU score: 20)

Intel Core i3-5005U 5th Gen dual-core 2GHz 3MB cache (User Benchmark CPU score: 31)

Intel Core i5-5200U 5th Gen dual-core 2.2-2.7GHz 3MB cache (User Benchmark CPU score: 37)

Intel Pentium 3805U dual-core 1.9GHz 2MB cache (User Benchmark CPU score: 25)
Graphics (GPU) Intel HD 5500 integrated graphics (good only for the lightest gaming)

Nvidia GeForce GT 820M 2GB Dedicated Video Card

Nvidia GeForce GT 840M 2GB Dedicated Video Card

Intel HD integrated graphics of low-end CPUs (only for the lightest gaming)
System Memory (RAM) Size 4GB RAM

4GB is a small RAM size for computing in 2023. For smooth operation of a laptop during everyday tasks, at least 8GB is recommended.

8GB RAM

The 8GB RAM size is the standard one in 2023. It provides comfortable multi-tasking for the most home and office users.
Data Storage 500GB HDD

This is a very good capacity, but HDD is a slow type of storage.

1000GB (1TB) HDD

1TB is an excellent storage capacity, but HDD is a slow type of storage.
DVD Optical Drive DVD writer
Keyboard & Input Backlit keyboard with dedicated number pad

The keyboard has backlit keys and a separate numeric pad on the right side of the keyboard.

Non-backlit keyboard with dedicated number pad

The keyboard has a separate numeric pad on the right side of the keyboard, but it has no keyboard backlight.

Touchpad with click buttons built into the surface

The left and right click buttons are built into the surface of the touchpad, as opposed to separate physical buttons.

Touchscreen
Speakers & Audio Stereo speakers

As usual, the device features a pair of built-in stereo speakers.
Camera Front-facing web camera

Laptops usually feature a frontal webcam located on the display bezel. This laptop is no exception.
Wi-Fi Wireless 802.11N

802.11N is an old Wi-Fi standard, precursor of the 802.11AC and the latest 802.11AX with improved data transfer speeds and connectivity. 802.11N is rarely used in modern laptops.
Ethernet Network Port Yes

This laptop has an Ethernet LAN port for wired internet and networking connectivity.
Mobile broadband (4G LTE) No
Bluetooth Yes

This laptop has a built-in Bluetooth module. It enables you to connect the computer to Bluetooth mice and other Bluetooth peripherals, smartphones, and other Bluetooth-equipped devices.
USB Ports 2 x USB 2.0 + 1 x USB 3.0

A total of three full-size Type A USB ports.
Video Output Ports 1 x HDMI

HDMI is a widely used digital video output port. You can find HDMI-in ports on most computer monitors and TVs.
Media Card Reader SD card reader

The laptop has a slot for full-size SD memory cards, used in many digital cameras. You can also use microSD cards with a card adapter.
Battery 4-Cell 40 WHr
Weight 5.3 pounds

5.5 pounds
Height 1"
Width 15"
Depth 10.5"
Windows Version Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 is eligible for free upgrade to Windows 10 Home. Check Windows.com for more info.
Warranty 1-year

A typical laptop warranty.

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User Reviews and Q&A on the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3543

Below you can read and submit user reviews, questions, and answers about the laptop. Thank you for your contribution.

Current rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  1. The worst computer in the world

    imran

    Windows 10 not installed in it.
    When installing windows 8.0 enterprise its touch pad stop working

    • Nimal

      Dell Inspiron 15 3000 indeed has a hard disc activity light contrary to what is stated in the text above ; the charging indicator LED doubles up as one. Simply press Fn and H. So far I’m a satisfied user. Of course one has to perform regular Windows updates( which includes security intelligence updates i.e. malware signature updates of Windows Defender) . Otherwise 100% CPU activity hogging up resources sure will make one’s patience dry out.

  2. 5 out of 5

    Gihan

    Been using the laptop for almost two years now and gotta say it was iff to a rocky start. Had network dropping issues and a few other driver related problems in the beginning. Most of these were addressed with the Windows 10 update though. I still manage to keep the laptop fast and smooth on performance wise, it seems like Windows 10 really pushed it up a notch

    • 1 out of 5

      Wes

      I would never recommend this laptop to anyone. It’s horrible! It performs quite well, but the issue is with the WiFi card. You only have a 25% chance of actually successfully connecting to a WiFi point, otherwise the WiFi says cannot connect and hides available networks from you for a few minutes as punishment. Even when you get it connected, the connection drops so much and then you are back to square one.

      Contacted Dell support while I was under warranty and they sent me in circles for months. Eventually, my warranty ran out and they refused to help me.

    • Anaveah

      Can someone recommend Strap On Harnesses and Kits? Cheers xxx

    • Sky

      My 3000 3543 has been having many issues sense we got it. The hard drive made it incapable to run windows. I am currently running ubuntu 22.04 on it. Another thing, right before I put ubuntu on it, the battery, (which is in perfect health, btw) supposedly conked out. Other issues and frustrations have made it into a desktop PC. If you want a good laptop for cheap, this ain’t it chief.

    • sky

      Btw if you want a good laptop for around 300 dollar doos, get the 3511 touch. It is literally amazing.

  3. Walter

    I’m thinking to buying Dell Inspiron 15 3543 i5 or Lenovo Ideapad 100 i5 too…which one would you buy? Answer please

    • Danijel Z

      If we assume that all specs and price are the same, I would go for the IdeaPad 100, because of a bit sturdier display lid and marginally better typing feel. But overall, they are very similar budget laptops.

    • Marta

      Lenovo

      I have many problems with Dell Inspiron 15 3543 i5.

      I have Dell less than 2 years. need warranty repair twice!

      Now I have to buy a new computer because it don’t work!

    • ergys

      agree

  4. Bimal

    I am looking for Intel core i5 (2.4 boost or above), 4 GB RAM , 1 TB HDD, 1 GB graphics with a good battery life and no heating problem. Please suggest me the best laptop range Rs 38000.

    • Danijel Z

      This site is mostly done for the US market. Here you can’t get a laptop with these specs plus a dedicated video card for RS 38,000 (around $550) currently. Would you like a suggestion for a laptop without dedicated graphics. Also, what’s your preferred screen size and resolution and do you need a touch display?

  5. 5 out of 5

    Razor 911

    i love my DELL 3543 its my first laptop and it is amazing i worked on it for 8 hours on and off with no charge. It lifted my mood after i had to sell my desktop i7 and get something to travel with. and then again for the price it was well worth it for me. so now just to get the studies done lol enjoy

  6. claudia

    I am confuse either to buy dell inspirion 15 3543 5th gen or dell 5559 6th gen. I am hearing that 3543 is better than 5559 and only upgrade in 5559 is the price. Is it true?

    • Danijel Z

      It depends on a configuration, but the 5559 feels better in terms of build quality. Its a brand new mid-range series, while the last year’s 3543 belongs to the budget category. The 5559 is optionally available with a Full HD display, optional keyboard backlight, and two memory slots for up to 16GB which are all missing on the 3543. Also the newer 6th Gen chips are slightly faster and more power efficient than the 5th Gen in the 3543.

    • 1 out of 5

      ripudaman singh

      please do not buy this laptop, it is absolutely pathetic.
      the resolution on this is very bad.
      constantly hangs
      makes sounds like a tractor
      ( you can actually feel the whole machine vibrate )
      please choose lenovo thinkpad over this thing

  7. Veronica

    My previous question did not include the model: Inspiron 15 Notebook Model 3543. The question was…
    I am considering a Dell Intel Core i3 5005U 500GB with HD Touch Display. Windows 8.1 I have an old Dell with Windows 7. I think I will only need to transfer just documents & e-mail addresses to the new computer. I would like to upgrade the new computer to Windows 10. I have heard that it is difficult to go from 7 to 10. Is it possible to transfer my windows 7 on my old computer to the Windows 8 on the new computer? Once that is completed, then upgrade the new computer to Windows 10? I would also like to know the difference between HD Touch Display & non-Touch Display.

    • Danijel Z

      If you only want to transfer only your docs and email addresses to the new computer, the simplest and cleanest way is to copy your documents and export your email addresses (process varies depending on email client you use) to a USB Flash drive and then copy files / import addresses from Flash to the new PC. You can do it before or after upgrading to Windows 10, it doesn’t matter.

      Touch display means it supports touchscreen input, whereas non-touch doesn’t. Also, touch screen consumes more battery power than non-touch.

  8. Veronica

    I am considering a Dell Intel Core i3 5005U 500GB with HD Touch Display. Windows 8.1

    I have a an old Dell with Windows 7. I think I will only need to transfer just documents & e-mail addresses to the new computer. I would like to upgrade the new computer to Windows 10. I have heard that it is difficult to go from 7 to 10. Is it possible to transfer my windows 7 on my old computer to the Windows 8 on the new computer? Once that is completed, then upgrade the new computer to Windows 10?

    I would also like to know the difference between HD Touch Display & non-Touch Display.

    Thanks for a response.

  9. Abhishek Pathak

    Sir I am thinking to buy a laptop that is dell inspiron 15 3000 3543 with intel pentium processor so I want to know that does it support 3d games also… please give me answer as early as possible….

    • Danijel Z

      Check out the last video in this review of the Pentium 3805U: http://laptoping.com/cpus/product/intel-pentium-3805u-reviews-specs/

      You can basically play lighter games like League of Legends, Dota 2, or Counter Strike. The CPu is not good for heavier games like Battlefield 4.

  10. Ravishankar Roy

    I’m a visual artist I want to buy a new laptop for next 3-4 years.I work mostly on Photoshop,illustrator and coral draw.
    So I want to know that,is “inspiron 3543 5th gen i5” is right for my requirement and its hardware is good for next 3-4 years?

    • dingdong

      No, a visual artist would be better off with a laptop having an Nvidia Quadro GPU and a good display.

    • Eddy

      Thank me later 🙂

  11. Giridharan

    I thought of buying a DELL 3543 inspiron with an ubuntu OS.how can i change the OS to windows 8. Will it be a good choice or a bad one ? Will the system performance gets reduced due to the change of OS ? I expect a better gaming device …

    • Danijel Z

      I have installed Windows 8(.1) on the 3543 myself, and everything worked fine. The exception is missing driver for Wi-Fi. The solution that helped me is listed in the comments below. For the daily tasks like web browsing, I haven’t noticed any difference in performance. Not sure for gaming, but since most popular games are primarily designed for Windows not Ubuntu, I think Windows is a better choice. Also, you can consider getting newer Windows 10 instead of 8(.1).

  12. 4 out of 5

    Shreyas

    Can you please tell me which is the best laptop to buy for daily use as well as gaming under 35000/-?

  13. prince

    Hi
    I want to know dell3543 available in which colors
    And who is best dell 3443 or 3543
    Please give me ans.

  14. upretie

    I recently formatted my dell 3543 and installed windows 8 (64 bit)… I was able to install all the driver expect network driver… When I install wifi driver, it says no compatible hardware found… So, now I can’t use wifi which is really a problem… I downloaded almost all driver available in the dell website and none of them worked…. What is the actual problem?? Is it with my hardware??

    • Danijel Z

      I’m not sure about the 3543 in particular, but the same problem was reported on the similar 3541. The solution was downloading and installing this driver: http://ftp.us.dell.com/FOLDER02013131M/1/Network_Driver_HP06Y_WN_10.0.0.276_A00.EXE

      You can try that and also check if you have accidentally disabled Wi-Fi before you tried to install drivers. On the 3543 Wi-Fi on/off can be done by pressing FN + Printscreen key (on the right of F12 key).

      If none of these works and you don’t know which Wi-Fi adapter model your laptop has, you can download HWInfo free software which will show you your Wi-Fi card name (Atheros xxxx, Intel xxxx…). Then you can search for that Wi-Fi card’s driver on the manufacturer’s site directly and download it from there.

  15. arun

    Would you recommend the Dell Inspiron 15 5558 or the Lenovo yoga 2 pro ?? (going by the specs)

    • Danijel Z

      The Dell 5558 and Yoga 2 Pro belong to different notebook categories. The 5558 is a traditional 15.6″ laptop, whereas the Yoga is a 13.3″ ultraportable convertible 2-in-1 PC which is much thinner and lighter than the Dell.

      Specs-wise the Yoga appears to be a better choice. As the main advantage, the Yoga has a better IPS screen with wide viewing angles, high 3200 x 1800 resolution, and touch support by default. The Dell 5558 on the other side has 1366×768 or optionally 1920×1080 display, no IPS and optional touchscreen. Another great advantage of the Yoga 2 Pro is solid state drive-based storage instead of the much slower traditional hard drive.

      Advantages of the Dell 5558 has are latest Core Broadwell processors with slightly better performance than previous-gen Intel Haswell used in Yoga. Furthermore, the 5558 has support for up to 16GB of RAM (user-upgradeable) versus fixed 4GB or 8GB, optional dedicated video card for better gaming, a numeric pad on the keyboard, and newer 802.11AC wireless support instead of slower 802.11N, one USB port more, and Ethernet LAN jack.

  16. 4 out of 5

    mohamd

    hey..what about the hardware built quality as its 3000 series and if i found toshiba satellite c55
    with same price which doesnt go heater faster and may survive for years? thanks

  17. Jordan P.

    Hey Tech Noob right here <—– In all seriousness, i just bought this Dell Inspiron 15 3543 and as soon as i opened up the laptop, there were already major problems. This laptop constantly loses network/wifi connection, it freezes frequently, as well as several other problems. Its to the point where im checking my network connection constantly because im paranoid that it will lose connection to the network. And no, it is not my router as im confident it isnt my router. Also, if i leave the laptop alone just for a few minutes, it freezes. I even tried waiting for 15 minutes to see if it will go back to its normal state but no, it was still frozen, so i had to long press the power button to restart the laptop. It froze more than 5 times in just a day. Should i return this in exchange for a better laptop (for the same price) or is there any advice to improve this dell laptop? Keep in mind that my price range is from $400-$500 and i use this for college work as well as gaming on the side. Though, i dont use this laptop for games that require high graphics and dont plan on gaming on this all the time.

    • Danijel Z

      A common cause of Wi-Fi connection drops on Windows-based PCs is a power saving feature of the Wi-Fi module. You can try to disable power saving and see if it solves the problem. Go to Control Panel > Device Manager > Network Adapters > [your Wi-Fi adapter] > Properties > Power Management and uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” checkbox. Click Apply.

      Regarding the frequent system freezes, they definitely aren’t a normal thing, so I advise you to contact your seller or Dell’s support and ask them for a solution.

      You can check out sub-$500 alternatives to the Dell 3543 on this page: http://laptoping.com/specs/product-tag/cheap-laptops-under-500/

  18. upretie

    There’s a sticker of nvidia in my laptop but I don’t know which model of nvidia graohics do I have… And, when I type DXDIAG in run then it shows Intel HD 5500… How can i look which graphics do i have of nvidia in my laptop?? or is that sticker fake?? I would be grateful if anyone could help me… Thank you

    • Danijel Z

      Go to Device Manager (right-click on the Windows Start button in the lower left corner and click Device Manger on the menu). Under Display adapters in Device Manger you can check what GPUs you have in your system. If you don’t see your Nvidia card there (drivers are not installed or the card isn’t included at all), you can download Notebook drivers from Nvidia.com and try to install them. If the card is present, the driver installer will recognize it and install drivers, after which you’ll be able to see it in the Device Manager. Another reason, although unlikely, for the missing card can be if it’s disabled in BIOS. You should enter BIOS and check if such setting is present there.

  19. lucy

    I just bought dell 3543 and i am finding it great. But, i found there’s only one port for headphone…. As i know it requires two ports (one for headphone and other for microphone)… Is it possible that with one port can use microphone or i cannot use it in this laptop?? I would appreciate it if anyone could help me…. Thank you….

    • Danijel Z

      The Dell 3543 has a single combo headphone/microphone audio jack, just like you can find typically on smartphones. So, yes both microphone and headphones are supported, but you’ll need a headset with mic and compatible single combo jack. Or, you can use your current headphones/speakers and microphone with separate jacks with help of an adapter, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPEZ4J6

  20. 4 out of 5

    Jeffree Nieto

    I dont know if I would pick a lenovo G40-80 with a 14” screen, i5 processor, 6gb ram, 1TB HD and it has a 2GB AMD R-5 M230 (Dedicated GPU) or dell 3453 with a 15.6” screen, i5, 4gb ram, 500gb HD and it has a 2GB Nvidia 820M. Please help me guys.

    • Danijel Z

      If the price is the same, I would go for the Lenovo G40-80. Both the Lenovo G40 and Dell 3543 belong to the same budget-class laptop category and have a similar build quality. I personally prefer touchpad of the G40 / G50 series over the one of the Dell 3543, because it has dedicated “mouse” buttons. On the other hand, if you work with numbers a lot, the dedicated numeric pad on the Dell can be handy. But, larger RAM and HDD capacities are important advantages of the Lenovo. The Radeon M230 and Nvidia 820M are entry-level video cards and there’s no big difference between them performance-wise.

  21. 4 out of 5

    Rajitha Hettiarachchi

    My Question is, i deside buying the dell inspiron n3543 i5 laptop. It have a nvidia GF gt820 graffic card. So i want to know which games can playing in this laptop???

    • Danijel Z

      The Nvidia 820M is a low-end video card. It will be able to handle graphics-wise lighter games decently, like League of Legends, DOTA 2, Minecraft, and Counter Strike. The latest blockbuster titles like GTA 5, COD Advanced Warfare and similar might work, but only on the lowest graphics settings and resolutions and with barely playable frame rates.

  22. Abhay Singh

    I have brought the dell inspiron 3543 but it does not have nvidia graphics the system is showing intel hd graphics 5500 .why it does not have nvidia graphics

    • Danijel Z

      Not all 3543 configurations feature Nvidia graphics. In fact, most models come with the Intel integrated graphics only. To check if your model has Nvidia GPU, see first if there’s an Nvidia sticker on the palmrest of your laptop. Furthermore, you can go to Control Panel / Device Manager and check out if there’s Nvidia graphics listed under Display Adapters section of Device Manager.

  23. Umer

    Its keyboard is good? I have to type a lot of content from laptop so its keyboard must be perfect. From the look of it, it looks messy.

    • Danijel Z

      I’ve tested this laptop and must say the keyboard isn’t a perfect one, but rather a mediocre. Almost all keyboards on modern laptops suffer from short key travel and the keyboard on the Dell 3543 isn’t an exception. I also don’t like softness of the key much, which further worsens tactile feedback. Among budget laptops similar to the Dell 3543, Acer’s E-series models have the best keyboards currently in my opinion, since they have a bit longer key travel and stiffer keys. The similar HP Pavilion and Lenovo G-series notebooks have shallow and soft keyboards too.

      Lenovo’s ThinkPad series are the best when it comes to the keyboards but are pricier than the Dell and similar notebooks.

  24. peter

    Please tell me battery replacement sku. I need additional battery.

    • Danijel Z

      It’s V8VNT / Dell Part 312-1387 and looks like this:

      Dell 3543 Battery

      It’s compatible with many other Inspiron laptop models.

  25. 3 out of 5

    Danijel Z

    We give the Dell Inspiron 3000 3543 three stars. For details, read our test under the Description tab of this page.

  26. 4 out of 5

    chingson

    I got 3543/3205u/UBUNTU this month.

    It can only use kernel 3.0.13_bdw patch, which is unstable that even I update software with

    apt-get dist-upgrade

    that the following problem cannot be solved ..

    1. WIFI goes dead if some 2.4G wireless mouse is used..[ok maybe it is the problem of my AP]
    2. Application crash when watching online videos .. [this is annoying]
    3. Linux 3D OPENGL seems OK, but it fails at some 2-D test…
    4. Ubuntu mainstream kernel does not support this CPU/GPU yet.

    I’ve heard Intel don’t want celeron CPU using at big-screen LAPTOPs .. this one seems exception.

    Maybe I will change to WIN8 later..

    I think it is still a good thing because the CPU is cool and LCD is big, and cheap.

  27. clarisse

    i bought a dell inspiron 15 3543 i5 today. but i didnt check whats inside the box because i am on a rush.. when i got home i checked the box, the only thing inside is the laptop, charger, and a 2 piece of paper.. no cd and manual? why?

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