Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3551 Entry-Level 15.6” Laptop

The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3551 is an entry-level 15.6-inch laptop series for budget-conscious shoppers.

Inside its matte black plastic chassis with 0.9” thick profile, the 4.7-pound Inspiron 3551 packs Intel’s low-end Celeron and Pentium processors, and standard-capacity 4GB RAM and 500GB hard drive. CPU choices are either the Celeron N2840 dual-core with very basic performance or the Pentium N3540 which offers a decent speed boost over the Celeron. Both offer satisfactory speed for day-to-day web browsing, multimedia playback, and Office document editing tasks, but in more demanding tasks like photo and video editing and gaming, the Pentium provides noticeably smoother experience. You can check out our reviews of the N2840 and N3540 for more info. As for RAM capacity, 4GB is enough for normal day-to-day multitasking. If you need more, Dell has enabled easy upgrades by making the cover on the bottom of the chassis easily removable. There’s however only one RAM slot, so the only choice you have is to remove the installed 4GB module and put an 8GB one instead. The 500GB hard drive at 5,400rpm is decently capacious, but it is a slow kind of storage. You can replace it with a solid state drive yourself to drastically boost program loading and file operations speeds.

For displaying content, Dell uses a standard but mediocre 1366×768-pixel TN-type LCD screen with less sharper image than on 1920×1080 Full HD screens and narrower viewing angles than on those with IPS wide-viewing angle technology.

Touchscreen input isn’t supported on the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3551, so typing and navigation through Windows and programs is done only with the non-backlit keyboard with numeric pad and multi-touch trackpad.

Other important specs highlights are stereo speakers, a 720p web camera, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connections, one USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI video output, and a media card reader. As you have maybe noticed, DVD optical drive and Ethernet LAN network port are missing.

The battery capacity is 40 WHr, but we have no info on battery life. Since the capacity isn’t exceptionally great, you can’t expect wonders in this department. But, one can safely assume you can get more than four hours of run time with it.

Specifications of the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3551

Here are the specs of the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 3551 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	No This laptop doesn't support touchscreen input.
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 N2840 dual-core 2.16-2.58GHz 1MB cache (User Benchmark CPU score: 13) Intel Pentium N3540 quad-core 2.16-2.66GHz 2MB cache (User Benchmark CPU score: 21)
Graphics (GPU)	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.
Data Storage	500GB HDD This is a very good capacity, but HDD is a slow type of storage.
DVD Optical Drive	None
Keyboard & Input	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.
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	No This laptop has no 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	4.7 pounds
Height	0.9"
Width	14.9"
Depth	10.2"
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.