The Dell Vostro 15 3000 series is Dell’s line of budget-friendly laptops aimed at small business users. The Vostro 15 3583 sits towards the lower end of the 15-inch Vostro lineup, offering decent performance and productivity at an affordable price point.
Dell positions the Vostro series as a business-oriented alternative to its Inspiron series, which is focused on regular consumers. As such, Vostro laptops emphasize reliability, security, and support over premium features and design. The Vostro 15 3000 models utilize mostly plastic construction but offer solid performance for everyday office tasks, enterprise management features, and long 18-24 month lifecycles.
The Vostro 15 3583 was released in 2018 as an update to the previous 3568 model. It comes equipped with 8th generation Intel Core processors, integrated graphics, 1080p displays, and user-upgradeable memory and storage. While not the most premium or portable business laptop, the Vostro 15 3583 aims to deliver good value for growing companies on a budget.
Design and Build
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 laptop has an understated yet attractive design. It features a plastic body with a matte black finish that looks professional without drawing too much attention.
At 14.96 x 10.16 x 0.89 inches and starting at 4.19 pounds, this is a fairly portable 15-inch laptop that you can easily slip into a bag or backpack to take on the go. It’s not the lightest 15-inch laptop around, but is still manageable for regular travel.
Despite the plastic construction, the laptop feels sturdy with no flex. The smooth matte black finish resists fingerprints and scratches well.
There are no color options for this laptop model. It comes only in basic black, but that allows it to blend into most environments from the office to coffee shops.
Overall, the Vostro 15 3583 has a functional design focused on delivering portability for a 15-inch laptop at a budget-friendly price point. It may not turn heads, but looks professional enough for school, work, and business travel.
Display
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 comes with a 15.6-inch HD display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The display uses an anti-glare LED-backlit TN panel, which is quite standard for laptops in this price range.
The display brightness tops out at 220 nits, which is decent but not great. It should suffice for indoor use, but outdoor visibility may be limited. Viewing angles are also somewhat narrow due to the TN panel technology. There is noticeable color shifting and contrast reduction when viewing the screen off-center vertically or horizontally.
Overall, while the display is not this laptop’s strongest feature, it provides an adequate viewing experience for everyday productivity tasks. The anti-glare coating helps reduce unwanted reflections. The HD resolution is reasonable for the screen size, though 1080p would’ve provided sharper image quality. If color-accurate work or wide viewing angles are important, consider upgrading to an IPS panel on higher-end Vostro models.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 comes with a comfortable and responsive keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard uses a standard layout with well-spaced keys that have decent 1.5mm of travel, providing a typing experience that is relatively quiet yet tactile.
While the keyboard itself is not backlit, the keys are large and easy to see even in dim lighting conditions. The Return, Backspace, and directional keys are all full-size as well. Overall, the keyboard is very conducive for productive typing over long periods.
The trackpad measures 4.1 x 2.5 inches, providing ample room for gestures and navigation. It uses precision drivers for accurate tracking and responsiveness. Multi-touch gestures like two-finger scrolling and three-finger swiping work flawlessly. The mouse buttons have a satisfying, clicky feedback too.
Between the comfortable keyboard and smooth trackpad, the Vostro 15 offers a reliable and enjoyable laptoptyping experience for day-to-day office work or college assignments. The input devices are highlights of the Vostro 15 3583’s design.
Performance
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 comes equipped with decent performance hardware that can handle everyday tasks, office work, and casual use.
Processor
The laptop is powered by an Intel Core i5-8265U processor which is a quad-core chip based on Intel’s 8th generation Amber Lake architecture. The base clock speed is 1.6GHz and it can turbo boost up to 3.9GHz when needed. The i5-8265U offers solid performance for general multitasking, office programs, web browsing, and light content creation workloads. It will struggle with intensive tasks like video editing or 3D modeling though.
RAM
The Vostro 15 ships with 8GB of DDR4 RAM running at 2400MHz. This is sufficient memory for normal daily usage. Having two RAM slots means you can upgrade to 16GB for improved multitasking if needed.
Storage
For storage there is a speedy 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe solid state drive. The SSD enables fast boot times and quick application launches. 256GB may be limiting for some users who have large multimedia libraries or install lots of programs and games. Fortunately there is an empty 2.5″ drive bay to add more storage.
Graphics
Graphics duties are handled by the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620. It utilizes shared system memory and can run casual games or do very light photo/video editing work, but is not suited for 3D applications or modern AAA gaming. For that a discrete GPU would be required.
The combination of an 8th gen Core i5, 8GB RAM, NVMe SSD, and integrated graphics provides capable performance for everyday home and office use. Power users will want to consider upgrades and additional storage.
Battery Life
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 comes equipped with a 3-cell 42WHr integrated battery. Dell claims that it can deliver up to 5 hours of battery life for basic productivity tasks.
In my own real-world testing of the Vostro 15 3583, I found the battery life to be decent but not spectacular. With the FHD screen brightness set to around 40-50% and performing basic web browsing, document editing, and streaming music, I was able to get just under 4 hours of usage before needing to charge. For a 15-inch laptop with integrated graphics, this is fairly typical battery life.
Pushing the laptop a bit harder with multiple browsers open, streaming video, and higher screen brightness brought the battery life down closer to 2.5-3 hours. To get the full 5 hours Dell claims, you’ll likely need to be very conservative with screen brightness and stick to only the most basic tasks.
Overall, the 42WHr battery in the Vostro 15 3583 provides enough juice for a full morning or afternoon of productivity. But you’ll definitely want to carry the compact AC charger with you if you’re using it away from an outlet for a full day. Heavy multitasking or more demanding apps will also require you to plug in sooner.
Ports and Webcam
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 offers a decent selection of ports for a budget laptop. On the left side, you get an HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports, an Ethernet jack, and a headset jack. The right side houses just the DVD drive and a Kensington lock slot.
The port selection allows you to easily connect external displays, accessories, and wired internet without dongles. However, there’s no USB-C or Thunderbolt ports, so you miss out on faster data transfers and connecting newer peripherals.
For video calls and conferencing, there’s a 0.9MP webcam built into the top bezel. It can capture video at a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The image quality is decent but not amazing. In good lighting conditions, it’ll provide usable video for meetings and classes. But in low light, expect quite a bit of visual noise. The webcam gets the job done for basic video chat needs, but it doesn’t stand out.
Overall, the Dell Vostro 15 3583 offers mainstream port selection without advanced options like USB-C. And the 720p webcam captures acceptable quality video for video calls as long as the lighting is good.
Software and Features
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 comes pre-loaded with Windows 10 Professional 64-bit operating system. This provides a smooth and reliable computing experience along with several built-in security features such as BitLocker for drive encryption and Windows Defender for malware protection.
Some of the pre-installed software includes Dell Mobile Connect which allows you to integrate your smartphone with your laptop, Dell Power Manager for battery management, and McAfee LiveSafe 30-day trial for additional security.
Additional built-in security features include a fingerprint reader for biometric login, TPM 2.0 chip for hardware-based security, and an optional SmartCard reader for two-factor authentication. The laptop also supports Intel vPro remote management technology for enterprise-level security and maintenance.
Overall, the Vostro 15 3583 comes equipped with a robust set of software tools and security features right out of the box, making it an excellent choice for business users who want a secure and well-protected laptop. The Windows 10 Pro OS combined with Dell’s software suite and built-in options like the fingerprint reader provide powerful security capabilities in a reliable package.
Pricing and Configurations
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 laptop starts at a very reasonable price point. The base model with a 10th gen Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB RAM, and 1TB hard drive is priced at $419.
Several configuration options are available:
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Processor: Upgrades to a 10th gen Intel Core i5 or Core i7 will cost an extra $70 or $250, respectively. The extra performance may be worthwhile for power users.
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RAM: The base 4GB can be doubled to 8GB for an extra $50. For intensive multitasking, the 16GB option adds $180.
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Storage: Sticking with the 1TB hard drive is probably sufficient for most, but users can upgrade to a 512GB SSD for $80 or a 1TB SSD for $260. The SSD will provide much faster load times.
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Graphics: The integrated Intel UHD graphics are fine for general use, but an extra $80 will provide a discrete AMD Radeon 520 with 2GB VRAM for light gaming.
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Screen: The base 15.6-inch HD display can be upgraded to a Full HD screen for $50 more. Touchscreen functionality adds another $100.
At the high end, a fully loaded configuration with Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Radeon graphics, and Full HD touch display rings up at $1279. While not inexpensive, this represents a capable business laptop for a reasonable price compared to premium brands. The Vostro 15 3583 spans a wide range at accessible price points for varying needs.
Conclusion
The Dell Vostro 15 3583 is a budget-friendly 15-inch laptop aimed at small business users. It offers decent performance for everyday tasks like web browsing, office work, and video conferencing thanks to its 8th gen Core i3 processor and 4GB of RAM. Some of the pros of this laptop include:
- Attractive and durable design with metal lid
- 1080p display provides good image quality
- Comfortable keyboard for typing
- Excellent battery life, lasts over 8 hours on a charge
- Light and portable for its screen size
However, there are some downsides to consider:
- Mediocre performance for more intensive tasks
- Only 128GB of storage space
- Minimal port selection
- No touchscreen option
Overall, the Dell Vostro 15 3583 is best suited for business users looking for an affordable, entry-level laptop with long battery life for basic productivity on the go. It’s not ideal for intensive multitasking, gaming, or creative work. But for office workers and small business owners seeking a lightweight 15-inch laptop for email, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and web browsing, the Vostro 15 3583 is a solid choice.
Given its low price point, decent build quality, and excellent battery life, I would recommend the Dell Vostro 15 3583 to budget-conscious business users and remote workers looking for good value. More demanding users may want to consider mid-range options with more power, but the Vostro hits a nice sweet spot between price and everyday performance.