Dell Inspiron 3542

Specifications

Price comparison

Reviews for the Dell Inspiron 3542

77% Dell Inspiron 15 – 3542 Review
Source: T Break Archive.org version
The Inspiron 3542 is a decent notebook for mundane office and home usage. It has reasonably well build quality combined with above average configuration. Its touch-screen display is beautifully integrated and works well in all sorts of applications. In terms of performance also it fairs well minus the battery life which I feel is under par. The notebook retails at a starting price of $379.99 and with full customization can easily go over $700 mark. The variant featured here carries an approximate price tag of $544.99, which considering its features is a good value for money.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 11/18/2014
Rating: Total score: 77% price: 80% performance: 75% features: 85% workmanship: 70%

Foreign Reviews

Dell Inspiron 15 (3542) – аскет по натуре
Source: Notebook-Center.ru RU→EN Archive.org version
Positive: Decent performance; austere design; very comfortable keyboard; nice price. Negative: Weak resolution, TN-matrix, poor brightness, lack of contrast and color reproduction of the display.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 10/28/2014

Обзор ноутбука Dell Inspiron 15 3542: тестируем Core i5-4210U из обновлённой линейки Haswell Refresh
Source: 3DNews.ru RU→EN Archive.org version
Positive: Good keyboard; decent output sound quality; decent performance. Negative: Cheap display; poor speakers.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/22/2014

Dell Inspiron 15 három változatban
Source: Prohardver.hu HU→EN Archive.org version
Comparison, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/08/2014

81% Dell Inspiron 3542 teszt – nVIDIA 820M és Intel Core i5-4210U
Source: Laptopkalauz HU→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 06/26/2014
Rating: Total score: 81% performance: 80% display: 70% mobility: 90% workmanship: 90% emissions: 90%

Dell Inspiron 3542 – незабавно готов за работа, но без Windows.
Source: PC Store BU→EN Archive.org version
Positive: Durable and comfortable keyboard; touchpad with gesture support; bright, vivid and saturated colors of the display; good performance.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 07/29/2014

Comment

Model:

The Dell Inspiron series has always been a popular choice for home users due to its very affordable prices and decent specs. In the past, this series may have not been the best looking notebooks around due to their thickness and cheap looking build quality. However, things have changed. The Inspiron series these days are far slimmer and for a low price, they do give a premium look. The Dell Inspiron 15 3542 is a perfect example with its elegant square-shaped design, matte black surfaces and chiclet-style keyboard. Even with a built-in DVD burner, it is only 1" thick, giving it an ultrabook like look.

Its 15.6" screen has a resolution of 1366x768 pixels which is quite low for today's standards and its brightness is slightly below average. The Inspiron 3542 can be configured with up to Intel Core i5 4210U, 4GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 820M graphics card, which is sufficient enough for casual gamers. All hardware suggest that this model aims at average users who do a little bit of everything such as students. Other specifications include all the basic ports; 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB 3.0 port and an HDMI output.

All in all, the Dell Inspiron 15 3542 is a very well equipped notebook for its selling price. It looks good and is equipped with the hardware to match its looks. On the downside, it comes with what looks like yesterday's screen and like all low price Dells, it has a rather weak sound system.

NVIDIA GeForce 820M:

Entry level 28nm Fermi GPU from the GeForce 800M series based on the GT 620M and 710M.

Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

4210U: Haswell-based ULV dual-core processor clocked at 1.7 GHz with Turbo Boost support up to 2.7 GHz. Offers an integrated HD Graphics 4400 and a dual-channel DDR3 memory controller.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

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