www.askbattery.com

Review Dell Vostro 3360 Notebook

The Dell Vostro family of notebooks has acquired an impressive reputation in the field of business notebooks and offers solid office performance at affordable prices. We confirmed these qualities a year ago when we reviewed the Vostro 3350. TOSHIBA Portege Z830 battery In this review, we will consider its successor, the Dell Vostro 3360. Our review will compare the new Vostro 3360 to not only its predecessor but also contemporary competition such as the HP ProBook 5330m.

The Vostro 3360 received a fundamental redesign from its predecessor. While the 13.3 inch display remains unchanged, the 3360 hosts new features that were not available in the 3350 – an energy-efficient ULV Ivy Bridge Core i5-3317U processor, 6 GB memory, and a 320 GB hard disk. On the other hand, the Vostro 3360 also lacks the optical drive and dedicated graphics card that were available in the predecessor. TOSHIBA Portege Z835 battery

While we do not know the exact retail prices, we can estimate that the above configuration will cost between 600 and 700 Euro ($750 to $880 USD). As is typically the case with Dell products, we expect that the notebook will have a wide array of options that can be selected via the online configuration tool according to each customer's individual needs. TOSHIBA Portege Z930 battery At the time of this review, a reduced Vostro 3360 package featuring a Core i3-2367M, 4 GB RAM, and 320 GB hard drive is available from Dell at a cost of 499 Euro ($630 USD).

Case

At first glance, the Vostro 3360 suggests that Dell is moving the line toward the direction of ultrabooks. Anyone familiar with the preceding Vostro 3350 will be impressed by the Vostro 3360's slim case. The Vostro 3360 weighs in at 1.67 kilograms (3.67 pounds), a 24% reduction from the Vostro 3350's 2.19 kilogram (4.82 pound) weight. TOSHIBA Portege Z935 battery The thickness has also been reduced to less than 20 millimeters (0.79 inches) compared to the predecessor's 30 millimeter (1.18 inch) thickness. These changes will certainly benefit any user who requires mobility.

Despite the case's revision, the Vostro 3360 retains Dell's business oriented design. The color palette remains a seemingly boring dark gray and silver but we have traditionally found these to be particularly easy to clean and dirt resistant. TOSHIBA Satellite C800 battery The appearance is still dominated by both aluminum and plastic surfaces and remains unobtrusive and restrained. The materials used provide a high-end feel which easily defies selective pressure and the Vostro 3360 has exemplary stability. The two minor exceptions to this are the keyboard's right side which yields somewhat to pressure and the display's lower edge. Aside from these two minor flaws, the entire notebook proves to be quite rigid. TOSHIBA Satellite C800D battery

The display unit can be opened with one hand thanks in part to the hinges which are slightly offset forward. Like its predecessor, the Vostro 3360 has a wide display bezel, measuring 18 to 25 millimeters (0.71 to 0.98 inches) wide. We would have liked a more modern, slimmer bezel that could have also allowed for a larger 14 inch screen to be installed. TOSHIBA Satellite L800 battery

In summary, the Vostro 3360 approaches the quality of more expensive ultrabooks such as the Dell XPS 13. While there remain small issues to nitpick, overall there is little to complain about. Only a select few notebooks, such as the HP ProBook 5330m, can compete.

Communication

TOSHIBA Satellite L800D battery The Vostro 3360 features the Dell Wireless 1703 wireless card which is based on Qualcomm's Atheros AR9485 chip. This is a frequently used entry-level chipset that supports IEEE 802.11b/g/n standards. One can likely select other wireless cards before purchase that will support the 5 GHz band and allow for higher data rates than the 150 MB/s maximum found in the Wireless 1703 card. The Vostro 3360 also includes support for the latest Bluetooth 4.0 standard and can be configured with an optional Wireless WAN (WWAN) module. TOSHIBA Satellite S800 battery While European customers will be limited to 3G networks, 4G connections are available in the United States via WiMAX.

An HD-ready webcam is built into the display bezel and can take pictures and record video at a resolution of 1280x720. While the quality of the camera is above average, the sensor fails to compete with modern phone-based cameras let alone point-and-shoot cameras or digital SLRs. The array microphone does a reasonably good job and features very low noise levels but could use more clarity in the high ranges. TOSHIBA Satellite S800D battery

Accessories

In addition to the usual leaflets, Dell includes a total of four discs for reinstalling the operating system, drivers, and software. As mentioned in the review of other similarly sized notebooks, this is an interesting choice as the Vostro 3360 lacks an optical drive. As a result, users will need an external DVD drive for recovering the system unless the internal hard disk hosts a recovery partition. Toshiba Satellite P800 battery

Apart from a few superfluous browser toolbars, the installed Windows 7 Professional 64-bit operating system is clean and largely devoid of trial version software. As is the case for Dell, all necessary drivers and programs come pre-installed.

Maintenance

Toshiba Qosmio X875 battery The maintenance cover can be found on the notebook's underside and is secured by a screw. Removing the cover grants access to the major hardware components.

As we had expected, both memory slots are occupied and at least one of the existing memory modules would have to be removed to reach the Vostro 3360's official memory maximum of 8 GB. It is likely that 8 GB SODIMM memory modules will also work with the Vostro 3360 and hence a maximum of 16 GB is likely supported. Toshiba Satellite U845W battery

Aside from the memory banks, we also found the Wi-Fi card and, interestingly, a free mini PCIe/mSata slot was available. If the user selected to have a UMTS module installed for WWAN, the module would have been located here. Otherwise, the slot can be used for a small mSATA SSD. This is an important aspect as neither the 2.5 inch physical hard disk or the built-in battery can be accessed without completely disassembling the notebook. Toshiba Satellite U845 battery

Warranty

As is typical for Dell products, the Vostro 3360 will likely only have a one year manufacturer's warranty that can be extended for a premium. The previous generation carried a 120 to 150 Euro ($150 to $190 USD) premium to extend the warranty to three years. We found this premium to be reasonable.

Performance
Toshiba Satellite P755 batteryThe previous generation Vostro featured a standard 35 Watt CPU. Our test Vostro 3360 system features a brand new Core i5-3317U energy-efficient ULV processor with a thermal design power (TDP) of only 17 Watts paired with the backward-compatible HM77 platform which is capable of running both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors. We first tested this 1.7 GHz dual-core processor in the Asus UX32VD. This processor features the typical Hyper Threading and Turbo Boost 2.0 technologies. Toshiba Satellite L735 battery The latter is capable of boosting the processor clock from its base 1.7 GHz speed to 2.4 GHz in dual-core applications and 2.6 GHz in single-core applications. These capabilities are a result of the 22 nm fabrication process which, as of now, is exclusive to Intel. More information and details about Intel's 3D transistors and the Ivy Bridge architecture can be be found here.

Toshiba tecra r940 battery As this system is targeted toward business customers and not 3D gamers, the Vostro 3360 features only the processor-integrated HD Graphics 4000 graphics system. This system has 16 Execution Units as compared to the previous generation HD Graphics 3000 which had 12 units. The increase in Execution Units results in a noticeable boost in performance but this boost is insufficient to propel the HD Graphics 4000 into the realm of complex 3D gaming and only provides enough performance for simple and casual gaming. Toshiba tecra r840 battery

The Core i5-3317U and HD Graphics 4000 are combined with 6 GB Samsung DDR3-1600 memory (one 2 GB module and one 4 GB module as mentioned in the Maintenance section) and a 320 GB physical hard disk. In this section, we will examine the performance highlights and limits of this combination.
Processor Toshiba tecra r950 battery

Despite the latest fabrication process and architecture, it seems only natural to assume that Ivy Bridge ULV processors would lag behind standard Sandy Bridge processors in terms of performance. Our benchmarks confirm this assumption, but the performance differences were smaller than expected.

Toshiba tecra r850 battery In our test, the Core i5-3317U scored 2.4 points in Cinebench R11.5 (64-bit), only 0.2 behind the previous generation the Vostro 3350's i5-2410M. This is a difference of less than 10 percent. In the older Cinebench R10 (64-bit) single CPU test, the i5-3317U's score of 4390 points was even closer to the i5-2410's score of 4534. This demonstrates that there are no practical limitations when comparing to the previous generation's CPU.

Toshiba Satellite S855 battery We performed the same tests on battery power. Apart from the expected variance in measurements, we recorded identical performance in all benchmarks and the processor was capable of maintaining its maximum Turbo Boosted clock speed. In the event that this level of performance is insufficient for a particular need, the Vostro 3360 can also be configured with a faster, albeit much more experience, Core i7 processor.
Storage Devices

toshiba satellite c650-15z battery While most ultrabooks include SSDs as standard equipment, the standard drive in the Vostro 3360 is a 320 GB Seagate Momentus Thin hard disk featuring a 7 millimeter thickness (0.28 inch), 7200 rpm rotational speed, and a 16 MB cache to help the drive achieve higher performance levels. We tested the drive in the HDTune benchmark and observed a high sequential transfer rate of 89.5 MB/s and a reasonable but slow access time of 18.6 milliseconds. An SSD drive would be necessary in order to achieve noticeable improvement. toshiba satellite c650-17n battery More commentary on this aspect of the notebook is available in the Maintenance section. It should be stated that an SSD is available as a replacement to the physical hard disk from Dell for a premium.
System Performance

The development of ULV processors in the past few years has been truly impressive. From a subjective standpoint, a user would remain unaware that the Vostro 3360 is based on a low voltage power saving CPU. The performance provided by the CPU is more than required for word processing and Internet surfing and is also capable of computationally heavy tasks. toshiba satellite c650-19j battery Transcoding HD video can be done within seconds using the proper software thanks to Quick Sync support. To quantify the Vostro 3360's performance, we used a series of benchmark tests.

Without an SSD, the Vostro 3360 was limited in performance and could not achieve the scores of SSD-based ultrabooks. With scores of 6650 points in PCMark Vantage and 2526 points in PCMark 7, our test sample was competitive with other office notebooks. toshiba satellite c650d-112 battery These results should be taken in moderation due to the fact that these results reflect purely synthetic benchmarks. When considering all options, we would highly recommend configuring the laptop with an SSD to not only speed up the load time of Windows but also to reduce overall power consumption and increase battery runtimes.

Gaming Performance

Our review of the HD Graphics 4000 demonstrated that we cannot expect high performance gaming from the integrated graphics unit. Nonetheless, it still has enough power to play even modern games smoothly provided that low settings are used. toshiba satellite c655-s5056 battery This determination was reaffirmed in our test of the Vostro 3360. All of the games we tested were able to achieve frame rates of over 40 fps at a resolution of 1024x768 and minimum details. In some games, we were even able to increase individual settings slightly as was the case in the relaxed-pace building game Anno 2070. On the other hand, only older and less demanding games could be played at the display's native 1366x768 resolution.

toshiba satellite l630-06s battery One example of a less demanding game is Fifa 12. This game from Electronic Arts could be played under maximum settings and anti-aliasing for those who have caught soccer fever as a result of the Euro 2012 soccer championship. Medium settings were possible in Blizzard's latest installment of its RPG series, Diablo 3. It should be noted, however, that the performance observed in the Vostro 3360 should not be used for comparison with the Diablo 3 benchmarks as the performance values have increased significantly after the most recent updates. toshiba satellite l635-s3012rd battery
Battery Life

One major departure from the preceding Vostro 3350 is the change in battery. While the 3350 had an external battery design capable of supporting an 8-cell 80 Wh battery, the Vostro 3360 features a built-in battery with a capacity of 49 Wh. With this in mind, we expected battery runtimes to be reduced. To test this expectation, we used the BatteryEater suite of tests to measure runtime scenarios for idling, surfing the Internet, and maximum consumption. toshiba satellite l635-s3020wh battery

To test runtime while idle, we used BatteryEater's Reader test. In this test, the notebook was set to energy saving mode with Wi-Fi deactivated and the display set to minimum brightness. Under these conditions, the notebook managed a 7 hour 30 minute runtime. We found this runtime to be reasonable considering the capacity restrictions in the new design. toshiba satellite l645d-s4029 battery

During our Internet surfing test, we turned on the energy saving mode, activated the Wi-Fi module, and set the display to a moderate 148 cd/m2. In this scenario, we managed a mediocre runtime of 4 hours and 18 minutes while surfing the web. By comparison, the HP ProBook 5330m lasted between 3 and 6 hours depending on load in practical use. toshiba satellite l645d-s4036 battery This limited runtime forces business users to have some form of external power to prevent the notebook from running out of power during the workday.

In the maximum load test, we used BatteryEater's Classic test and set the notebook to high-performance mode, activated the Wi-Fi module, and turned the display to maximum brightness. In this case, the energy-efficient ULV processor surprised us as the Vostro 3360 demonstrated a 106 minute minimum runtime. However, this time is dwarfed by the 3-hour recharge time required using the included 65 Watt power supply. toshiba satellite l645d-s4037bn battery
Power Consumption

To further understand our measured runtimes, we considered power consumption. At idle, power consumption has been reduced to a range of 6.6 to 10.2 Watts, compared to the 8.3 Watt to 10.7 Watt range of the predecessor. While running 3DMark 06, both the current Vostro 3360 and the previous Vostro 3350 consumed approximately 33 Watts. toshiba satellite l650-13m battery This suggests that efficiency gains from the lower voltage processor are offset by the faster GPU. The 3360 proved to be much more efficient under full load with a consumption of 36.9 Watts compared to the older 3350's consumption of 53.6 Watts.
Verdict

The Vostro 3360 represents a major revision compared to its predecessor and serves as Dell's newest high-end office laptop for business customers. These revisions have moved the Vostro line from a classic 13.3 inch subnotebook toward being an ultrabook. toshiba satellite l650-19w battery The notebook's weight and thickness have been significantly reduced without compromising stability or performance.

While these changes certainly make the Vostro 3360 more attractive, there are still a few issues that prevent the notebook from becoming a true ultrabook. The first of these is that system temperature while under load has increased significantly despite the implementation of energy-efficient ULV hardware. The second issue is the lack of an 8-cell battery option and the limited practical runtime of approximately 4 hours.toshiba satellite l655-11g battery Lastly, the weakness of the display prevents productivity on the go, a serious weakness for a notebook that seems to have been redesigned with mobility in mind.

Despite these issues, the Vostro 3360 still makes an extremely good impression. The 3360 is an excellent choice for students looking for a solid, portable work computer. Comparable alternatives such as the HP ProBook 5330m are typically more expensive and thicker. Other ultrabooks typically have reflective screens or only host a limited variety of interfaces. toshiba satellite l670-10r battery

As a final tip for those interested in the previous Vostro 3350, it should be noted that this previous generation Vostro will likely be discontinued soon and interested buyers should hurry and buy one before it is too late.