Dell Inspiron 15 3520 15.6" Laptop Computer - Carbon Black $349.99

coolcoder

Sep 6, 2023 7:28 PM

4.6K Comments

Joined Jul 2006

coolcoderSep 6, 2023 7:28 PM

4.6K Comments

I bought the AMD 5500u version of this laptop directly from Dell a week ago as I had a promotional Dell GC and rewards expiring. I have never held a more plasticky laptop in my life. Absolutely horrible build quality. The case gets scratched easily, and the material feels like it it should belong on a cheap toy. Display was terrible (same 120Hz display). Worst colors I have seen on a laptop, and I measured a peak brightness of 266 nits.

The only good thing is that the memory is upgradable. You'll need a second 8GB stick to enable Xe graphics. With just one stick, it will operate in the much slower UHD graphics mode.

Normally, I'd say you get what you pay for, but in this case, you are better putting that $350 towards a better laptop.

Last edited by coolcoder September 6, 2023 at 12:31 PM.

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2

Subberonis

Original Poster

Sep 6, 2023 10:50 PM

41 Comments

Joined Jun 2022

Subberonis

Original Poster

Sep 6, 2023 10:50 PM

41 Comments

Quote from coolcoder

:

I bought the AMD 5500u version of this laptop directly from Dell a week ago as I had a promotional Dell GC and rewards expiring. I have never held a more plasticky laptop in my life. Absolutely horrible build quality. The case gets scratched easily, and the material feels like it it should belong on a cheap toy. Display was terrible (same 120Hz display). Worst colors I have seen on a laptop, and I measured a peak brightness of 266 nits.

The only good thing is that the memory is upgradable. You'll need a second 8GB stick to enable Xe graphics. With just one stick, it will operate in the much slower UHD graphics mode.

Normally, I'd say you get what you pay for, but in this case, you are better putting that $350 towards a better laptop.

If this is the price someone can only afford and theres better, suggest one. A lot of people cant afford 500+ nice ones and need one ASAP.

5

coolcoder

Sep 6, 2023 10:57 PM

4.6K Comments

Joined Jul 2006

coolcoderSep 6, 2023 10:57 PM

4.6K Comments

Quote from Subberonis

:

If this is the price someone can only afford and theres better, suggest one. A lot of people cant afford 500+ nice ones and need one ASAP.

Search on SD for past prices to learn about the trends. Not every deal will be available all the time. You just have to sit in the sidelines and be ready to jump when those deals come along. There have been a ton of those deals in the past. Some examples: $447 refurb Lenovo Slim 7 Pro with 12700h, 32GB RAM, 16" 500 nit 120Hz touch IPS display (deal came back a couple of times), $315-360 ZenBook 14 OLED 1240p open box (deal was off and on multiple times), $380-390 new XPG Xenia 14 with a 11th Gen i5, 16GB RAM, 100% sRGB IPS display (this deal came back a few times). Many other such deals. Again, it doesn't mean every deal is going to be available today, but you have to be ready to jump on them when they do come around.

If you absolutely need a laptop today, you can do better than this garbage Dell by just buying open Box on eBay or look at your local marketplaces.

And I am calling it garbage after actually buying it unlike a lot of other people who have negative comments about laptops. I was surprised just how terrible it was. Thankfully, I was able to sell it at cost on a local marketplace.

Last edited by coolcoder September 6, 2023 at 03:59 PM.

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1

tomwil

Sep 7, 2023 1:26 AM

5.1K Comments

Joined Aug 2009

tomwilSep 7, 2023 1:26 AM

5.1K Comments

Like the expansion capabilities of this laptop, including a 2.5" SATA SSD slot with carrier and cable. The hinges might be tight and may need to be loosened.

1

The_Love_Spud

Sep 7, 2023 3:31 AM

5.6K Comments

Joined Jun 2019

The_Love_SpudSep 7, 2023 3:31 AM

5.6K Comments

Micro Center had previously had the comparable Dell 3511 as low as $300. I preferred that model as it included a touch screen. This 3520 is novel in that it swaps the standard refresh rate touch screen for a high-refresh rate (120Hz) non-touch monitor.

The 4-core CPU and high-refresh rate screen are a compelling package at $350, and would be a solid purchase for anyone seeking a long-term productivity PC, but unless the high-refresh rate screen is a must-have historically slicker deals have been available.

Good luck!
Jon

1

Rsh24

Sep 7, 2023 4:11 AM

7 Comments

Joined Nov 2021

Rsh24Sep 7, 2023 4:11 AM

7 Comments

Any portable good laptop deal around 500USD for daily use like multimedia and reading books with decent display?No gaming.Any inputs/suggestions would be appreciated.Can stretch by 100 bucks if required.

WiseField749

Sep 7, 2023 7:17 AM

203 Comments

Joined Sep 2018

WiseField749Sep 7, 2023 7:17 AM

203 Comments

Quote from coolcoder

:

I bought the AMD 5500u version of this laptop directly from Dell a week ago as I had a promotional Dell GC and rewards expiring. I have never held a more plasticky laptop in my life. Absolutely horrible build quality. The case gets scratched easily, and the material feels like it it should belong on a cheap toy. Display was terrible (same 120Hz display). Worst colors I have seen on a laptop, and I measured a peak brightness of 266 nits.

The only good thing is that the memory is upgradable. You'll need a second 8GB stick to enable Xe graphics. With just one stick, it will operate in the much slower UHD graphics mode.

Normally, I'd say you get what you pay for, but in this case, you are better putting that $350 towards a better laptop.

The entire 3000 line of Inspiron laptops has this plastic shell and it shows.
As far as I can tell, Dell's only real upgrade between the 3000 and 5000 series are the shells and sometimes the screens and/or keyboards.
The 3000 series build quality is about equivalent to some of those crappy gateway laptops that used to shore up here all the time.
Great specs, but the build quality and exterior components make for a lousy user experience out of the box.

coolcoder

Sep 7, 2023 2:08 PM

4.6K Comments

Joined Jul 2006

coolcoderSep 7, 2023 2:08 PM

4.6K Comments

Quote from WiseField749

:

The entire 3000 line of Inspiron laptops has this plastic shell and it shows.
As far as I can tell, Dell's only real upgrade between the 3000 and 5000 series are the shells and sometimes the screens and/or keyboards.
The 3000 series build quality is about equivalent to some of those crappy gateway laptops that used to shore up here all the time.
Great specs, but the build quality and exterior components make for a lousy user experience out of the box.

Not even great specs, I'd say. Yes, the one I bought for $329 on sale had a 5500u, but I was shocked to discover that there is absolutely no way of driving an external monitor at anything above 1080p with it. Forget 4K@60Hz, you can't even do 1440p even though HDMI 1.4 should be able to do it. Also, the USB-C port only supports USB data transfer. No display or power delivery. Looks like they cut every corner they could on this laptop.

Also, it's not that they used plastic on the case that is the problem. It's the type of plastic. Super cheap feeling plastic that scratches instantly. I have a cheap Lenovo IdeaPad 3i that is also all plastic, but the build quality and feel is day and night compared to this Dell.

themak

Sep 7, 2023 3:42 PM

147 Comments

Joined Apr 2015

themakSep 7, 2023 3:42 PM

147 Comments

No backlit keyboard? Would this be suitable as a media consumption device?

My mom watches a lot of youtube. how is the quality?

BerMM2

Sep 7, 2023 5:42 PM

1.3K Comments

Joined Jul 2016

BerMM2Sep 7, 2023 5:42 PM

1.3K Comments

Dell has it with the ~20% faster 1215U, 8GB of slightly slower 2666 RAM, 256GB NVME, and 1 year onsite service warranty for $329.99
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/l...n3520fsxxh

1

I_like_feet

Sep 7, 2023 7:46 PM

412 Comments

Joined Aug 2023

I_like_feetSep 7, 2023 7:46 PM

412 Comments

Quote from Subberonis

:

If this is the price someone can only afford and theres better, suggest one. A lot of people cant afford 500+ nice ones and need one ASAP.

If you're willing to buy used on ebay, then I recommend Lenovo yoga 6. I picked one up with ryzen 5 5500u, 16gb ram, 512gb ssd, 1080p 300nit display, I paid about $350 and saw others going for around the same price and you can always make offers to the sellers.

rustum

Sep 7, 2023 9:18 PM

8.9K Comments

Joined Nov 2007

rustumSep 7, 2023 9:18 PM

8.9K Comments

Quote from WiseField749

:

The entire 3000 line of Inspiron laptops has this plastic shell and it shows.
As far as I can tell, Dell's only real upgrade between the 3000 and 5000 series are the shells and sometimes the screens and/or keyboards.
The 3000 series build quality is about equivalent to some of those crappy gateway laptops that used to shore up here all the time.
Great specs, but the build quality and exterior components make for a lousy user experience out of the box.

Does 5000 series come with better build and components? i also have some dell amex cash back to make use of. Thinking about buying some cheap Inspiron.

rustum

Sep 7, 2023 9:22 PM

8.9K Comments

Joined Nov 2007

rustumSep 7, 2023 9:22 PM

8.9K Comments

Quote from BerMM2

:

Dell has it with the ~20% faster 1215U, 8GB of slightly slower 2666 RAM, 256GB NVME, and 1 year onsite service warranty for $329.99
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/l...n3520fsxxh

That is also 3000 series.

BeigeStew7045

Pro

Sep 8, 2023 9:38 AM

1.6K Comments

Joined Jun 2020

BeigeStew7045

Pro

Sep 8, 2023 9:38 AM

1.6K Comments

Quote from coolcoder

:

Search on SD for past prices to learn about the trends. Not every deal will be available all the time. You just have to sit in the sidelines and be ready to jump when those deals come along. There have been a ton of those deals in the past. Some examples: $447 refurb Lenovo Slim 7 Pro with 12700h, 32GB RAM, 16" 500 nit 120Hz touch IPS display (deal came back a couple of times), $315-360 ZenBook 14 OLED 1240p open box (deal was off and on multiple times), $380-390 new XPG Xenia 14 with a 11th Gen i5, 16GB RAM, 100% sRGB IPS display (this deal came back a few times). Many other such deals. Again, it doesn't mean every deal is going to be available today, but you have to be ready to jump on them when they do come around.

If you absolutely need a laptop today, you can do better than this garbage Dell by just buying open Box on eBay or look at your local marketplaces.

And I am calling it garbage after actually buying it unlike a lot of other people who have negative comments about laptops. I was surprised just how terrible it was. Thankfully, I was able to sell it at cost on a local marketplace.

Any time you buy an open box, you not only never know what condition it is in but you also don't even get a warranty half the time. I have found on ebay that half the time people selling what they claim are open box are really just selling used laptops.

1

02nz

Sep 8, 2023 5:52 PM

2.8K Comments

Joined Oct 2017

02nzSep 8, 2023 5:52 PM

2.8K Comments

Spend the $100 more for this Inspiron 14 5425: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/d...frzs?dbp=1

You get a much nicer build quality (aluminum), much better performance and efficiency from a Ryzen 7 5825U (a lot of the "7000 series" processors are just rebrands using the same Zen 3 architecture), 16:10 display, much bigger battery, backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, USB-C supporting Power Delivery and DisplayPort. RAM is upgradable via 2 SODIMM slots.

Dell Inspiron 15 3520 15.6" Laptop Computer - Carbon Black $349.99

$350

$580

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