Those factors make the Vostro 3350 a good candidate for travelers on a budget, since precious few true ultraportables are as inexpensive as our test unit ($750 as of July 5, 2011). To reach that price, however, you do have to accept some compromises. Configured with a Core i3-2310 (one of the least powerful current processors), 3GB of DDR3 RAM, integrated Intel HD graphics, and the 64-bit edition of Windows 7, our test machine managed a score of only 98 on our tests. That's low for an , and it falls shy of the scores on our top-ranked ultraportables chart, making the Vostro 3350 less than optimal for tasks involving serious number crunching--large database operations or video editing, for example.
Gamers will probably want to look elsewhere, too--the Vostro 3350's integrated graphics delivered mediocre frame rates in our gaming tests. Video quality was adequate but not great on the bright 1366-by-768-pixel display: I noticed some smearing in clips with motion, and although off-axis viewing on the sides was fine, the image deteriorated pretty quickly from above or below. However, the laptop's single integrated speaker produced surprisingly robust audio, and its integrated 1-megapixel webcam (with Dell's user-friendly Webcam Central software) and array microphone were fine for Skype video calls.
Battery life was excellent by any standard: In tests, our evaluation unit lasted 8 hours, 44 minutes. Another advantage is the laptop's DVD burner (8X DVD±RW with double-layer DVD±R write capability), something you don't always get in a portable of this size. The 320GB hard drive, while a bit small by today's standards, at least spins at a zippy 7200 rpm.
Otherwise, the port and slot array is fairly typical. Behind the DVD drive (located toward the front of the left edge) are a gigabit ethernet and two ports; on the right edge, from front to back, are the headphone and microphone jacks, a shared USB 2.0/eSATA port, and HDMI and VGA ports.
A multiformat (SD Card, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick) card reader is on the right of the front outside edge; to the far left is a tiny strip of indicator lights for power, hard-drive activity, battery, and wireless connectivity. Our test laptop came with 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi and built-in support for Sprint's EVDO-Rev. A mobile broadband network (but you must purchase a plan, of course). I would have liked to see dual-band (2.4/5GHz) Wi-Fi since the 2.4GHz variety tends to choke in a crowded urban environment with lots of legacy 2.4GHz networks.