Review: Dell Vostro 3700 Laptop PC

Dell's Vostro 3700 is a 17.3in business notebook that's aimed at small business users who are looking for a large, affordable desktop replacement. It packs plenty of performance into its sturdy chassis for everyday office and online communications tasks, as well as running more demanding applications such as video editing, video encoding, and even gaming.

Haul all 3kg of the Vostro 3700 onto the desk, and you're faced with a smart, businesslike notebook of daunting proportions. And, while its size might not appeal to some, there's no question that this redesign is the most successful the Vostro range has yet seen.

Reminiscent of the pricier Latitude range, the Vostro still has a clear identity of its own; clean lines and soft, rounded edges form a double act with acres of brushed aluminium framed by matte-black and glossy accents. It's only once you get up close and personal that the Vostro gives any clues as to its budget beginnings.

With the plethora of netbooks on the market today sporting 9, 10 and 11” screens, is easy to forget notebooks weren’t always so small. Meet the Dell Vostro 3700, a huge 17.3” desktop replacement powered by Intel’s new Core i3, i5 and i7 range of processors. The 3700 is part of Dell’s Vostro refresh which includes the 3300 (13”), 3400 (14”) and the 3500 (15”).

Out of the box there is no getting around the fact this is a very large laptop. While it is not overly thick, it makes its presence known with that big screen. It feels heavier than it’s advertised 2.7kg weight would suggest too.

Dell Vostro 3700 Laptop Specification:

• Windows 7 Professional
• 17.3″ High Definition+ Wide LED Anti-Glare Display
• Intel Core i7 Processor
• Intel HM57 Chipset
• Nvidia Geforce GT330M, 1GB Graphics
• Up to 6GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM
• up to 500GB (7200 rpm) Hard Disk
• DVD Writer
• WLAN 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth 2.1
• Integrated Stereo speakers
• Integrated 2.0 MP camera with digital array microphones
• 4 USB, 1 HDMI, 34 mm ExpressCard, IEEE 1394 connector
• 6-cell Lithium Ion battery
• Weight: 2.70 Kg
• Desktop Level Performance
• Intel Quad Core i7 Processor
• Dedicated 1 GB Nvidia Graphics Card
• 17.3″ Widescreen Display
• 8-in-1 Memory Card Reader

Of course, the payoff for all that bulk is the gorgeous 17.3-inch high-def screen. With a resolution of 1,600x800 pixels, the Vostro 3700 allows you to have two application windows open side-by-side -- to keep an eye on your email Inbox while you work on a proposal, for example. We found text to be exceedingly crisp and legible, and the LED backlight helps colors in images really pop.

The LCD panel also boasts a very wide viewing angle, making the Dell Vostro 3700 battery suitable as a presentation platform. For a small group, the 17.3-inch screen should be all you need. For presenting to a larger audience, use the machine's VGA or HDMI connectors to connect a projector or TV. The Vostro 3700's built-in stereo speakers are fine for business audio for a small group, but if you need to pump out room-filling sound plan on adding a set of portable speakers, especially if music playback figures into the equation.

If you're the type that feels desktop PCs are so 1990s, Dell has a powerful new notebook that may make you forget about minitower PCs for good. The Dell Vostro 3700 likely has a larger, higher-resolution screen than you used in the '90s, and undoubtedly a more powerful processor. And at a starting price of just $629, we're sure it's a whole lot less expensive than any desktop you bought back then.

The Vostro 3700 is the big-screen desktop-replacement model in the Vostro 3000 Series Dell introduced this spring. With its 16.2 by 10.7-inch footprint and 6-pound weight, you won't want to lug the 3700 with you on airplanes. But buy a laptop bag that can accommodate a large widescreen notebook PC, and the machine is certainly up for the occasional trip to a client site or to shuttle between home and office.

The 6 cells lithium ion Vostro 3700 battery can withstand all the applications in this Dell Vostro 3700 without any worries of the working hours.

Small businesses in particular are Dell's target group for the Vostro family. Those searching for a reasonably priced business machine with the latest hardware can choose between the Vostro 3500 in 15.6" we recently tested and the Vostro 3700 in 17.3" format. In its as tested configuration, the 17 incher in question houses a Core i7 720QM Quad-Core-Processor, an independent Nvidia GeForce 330M graphics card, four GB RAM and a fast 500 GB harddrive.

Typical of Dell, the Vostro 3700 can to some extent be thoroughly configured. The available options will be dealt with in more detail below. Sections such as performance, emissions and battery life which focus specifically on the hardware are not necessarily applicable to differently configured models.

Due to the impact of the batteries, the withstanding hours of the laptops has increased. Apart from the USBs, integrated speakers, wireless data transfer options, it has the DVD writer as the secondary memory accessing part.

PROS
Excellent performance; Nvidia GPU; dedicated support hotline; lots of features for the price

CONS
No Blu-ray or embedded WWAN options; weak speakers; bland design.

For $1699, the Vostro 3700 is a great alternative to a desktop PC as it will give you almost the same performance and speed, but in a form factor that you can transport to and from work. It has plenty of built-in connectivity and it's comfortable to use; it performed well in our tests, and we especially love its 7200rpm hard drive. Our one quibble is we’d like the Dell 3700 battery to be pre-installed with the 64-bit version of Windows (With Dell’s custom build system, you should be able to select this feature during the ordering process). A backlit keyboard would be another welcome addition for times when you have to type for long periods at night.