Dell Vostro 3510: An Honest Review

The ideal workstation combines a desktop computer’s power with a laptop’s portability. The $1,868 (beginning at $999) Dell Precision 3510 gets close to having the ideal machine, but its flaws may lead you to go elsewhere. Its AMD FirePro W5130M graphics processing unit and quad-core CPU provide ample processing capability. However, it is heavier than competing computers and becomes hot enough to be uncomfortable for lap usage. Therefore, it is best suited for use on a desk.

Dell Vostro 3510  Specification

Design

The Precision 3510 is an austere monolith, a massive piece of black plastic that belies its hidden prowess. The fingerprint magnet that is Dell’s logo is the only decoration on the otherwise unadorned lid. The laptop’s island-style keyboard has a full numeric keypad, and the screen resolution is 1080p. In contrast to the rest of the keyboard’s monochromatic style, the blue pointing stick stands out. The Precision 3510, measuring 14.6 by 9.9 by 0.1 inches, is one of the heavier 15-inch workstations at 5.7 pounds. The HP ZBook Studio G3 (14.8 x 10 x 0.7 inches) and the Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display (4.5 lb.) are both almost a pound lighter, while the Lenovo ThinkPad P50 (5.8 lb.) is just a hair heavier. The Dell Precision 5510 weighs a light 4.6 pounds and has a compact form factor (14.1 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches).

Ports

The Precision 3510 comes equipped with every port you could need to connect any type of monitor or device to get some serious work done. A smart card reader and a USB Type-C connector that supports Thunderbolt 3 may be found on the laptop’s left side. There is a security lock slot, two USB 3.0 ports, an SD card slot, and a headphone/microphone connector on the right side of the device. In addition to the power connector and USB ports, the back of the device features an Ethernet port, VGA output, SIM card slot, HDMI output, and yet another USB port.

Safety and Longevity

The Precision 3510 is designed to withstand minor drops and scratches if it leaves your desk. According to Dell, the laptop has been put through MIL-STD-810G testing, which means it can withstand drops, vibrations, and high temperatures. The vPro remote management and TPM (Trusted Platform Module) biometric and sensitive data protection capabilities are included for added security. For an additional $167, which also includes a Thunderbolt 3 port, you can add a fingerprint scanner and a smart-card reader.

Display

The Precision 3510’s 15.6-inch 1080p touchscreen is bright, snappy, and accurate. Every crease in the Ancient One’s goldenrod cloak and every spark in the portal to another dimension were visible to me as I watched the teaser for Doctor Strange. The named sorcerer’s spells shone an emerald green when cast. The Precision 3510’s display accurately replicates 115.7 per cent of the sRGB colour space. The desktop replacement average of 130% is even more impressive, with the ZBook Studio G3 (169%) and ThinkPad P50 (183%) exceeding our expectations.

Only 86% of the colour gamut was displayed on the MacBook Pro. One of the most colourful screens we’ve seen on a workstation, or anywhere else, was Dell’s Precision 5510. It covered 177% of the spectrum. The Delta-E for Precision 3510 was 0.5 (where 0 is perfect). In comparison to the MacBook Pro (2.1), ZBook Studio G3 (2.4), and ThinkPad P50 (3.6), that’s a significant improvement.

The Mouse, Trackpad, and Control Stick

The keyboard on the Precision 3510 was tiring to use. The 2.2 mm of key travel was better than what we generally see on laptops (1.5 to 2 mm), but the 62 g of actuation was too much for comfort. I maintained my regular typing speed of 110 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com test. My regular error rate of 2% increased to 4%, and I had to take a break to recover. The trackpad on the 3510 is 3.9 by 2.1 inches and is quite easy to use. It was quite easy to use and responded well to Windows 10 motions. The 3510 has a pointing stick for individuals who prefer not to lift their fingertips off the keyboard’s home row whenever possible.

Performance

The review unit of the Precision 3510 had a 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7-6820HQ processor, a 2 GB VRAM AMD FirePro W5130M graphics processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB PCIe SSD. Having 30 Google Chrome tabs open at once, one of which was playing a 1080p YouTube movie, shows that your system is more than up to multitasking. Precision 3510 performed at an overall level of 13,738 on the synthetic Geekbench 3 test. That’s better than the desktop-replacement mean of 13,446 and the ThinkPad P50’s 13,378 (2.8-GHz Intel Xeon E3-1505M), but it’s not as good as the scores achieved by the HP ZBook Studio G3 (2.8-GHz Intel Xeon E3-1505M) or the MacBook Pro (2.5-GHz Intel Core i7-4870HQ) or the Xeon-powered Precision 5510.

The Precision 3510’s blazing fast PCIe-NVMe SSD allowed it to copy 4.97GB of mixed media files in only 10 seconds, or a pace of 508.9 megabytes per second—the same as the ZBook Studio G3’s 512GB SSD. Even though it’s a lightning-fast speed, it falls short of the average of 543.6 MB/s for its category. The Precision 5510’s 565 MBps and the MacBook Pro’s 636 MBps outpaced the ThinkPad P50’s 513 GB SSD, which only managed 457.1 MBps.