Dell Inspiron One 2320: Stuck in the Middle With You
by Dustin Sklavos on November 17, 2011 12:30 AM ESTUser Experience
Honestly I feel like the Dell Inspiron One 2320's user experience is really a mixed bag. There are the compromises made as a result of the hardware and software ecosystem--the way Windows 7 really isn't equipped to handle a touch interface and the lack of good graphics solutions for all-in-ones being two major problems.
As far as mitigating the software issues, Dell has a couple of things going for them with the Inspiron One. The first is a simple one that HP just didn't seem to think to do: they raised the icon and text size at the native resolution. While this can result in some compatibility issues with some programs, for most users it's going to be worth the trade-off. You don't have to be particularly precise to hit any of the buttons or select anything, and honestly it helps.
The other solution is Dell's touch-based software bar at the bottom of the screen. These are a series of small, easy to use applications, most of which are connected with the existing Windows file system. MusicStage is a decent music player that offers a nice overlay, PhotoStage is an attractive photo viewer, and VideoStage is a decent if unexciting video streaming platform. What I appreciate is that Dell's software isn't as intrusive or gaudy as HP's TouchSmart suite. These are applications I can see users being happier with, because they're cleaner, not as flashy, and still permit you to use the computer for other tasks...the way a quad-core can and should be used.
We've already covered the screen quality but suffice it to say it's a major down point with the Inspiron One 2320, especially with the way the unit is situated on a desktop. If you're going to use a lousy TN panel for your all-in-one screen, why force the user to orient the system in a way that exacerbates the technology's weaknesses? The stand is adjustable so you can get it mostly perpendicular to the desktop surface, but I'm really just not a fan of this design. It may prevent the screen from wobbling but it's nowhere near as convenient or useful as HP's solution.
As far as everything else goes, the sound quality of the built-in stereo speakers is reasonable and they're definitely loud, able to produce decent enough bass. Connectivity for the Inspiron One 2320 is also almost excellent, but the lack of USB 3.0 support is an issue. The 2TB hard drive is big enough and fast enough, but there's no high speed interface for data transfer anywhere on this machine.
Heat and Power Consumption
I can't help but feel like the Dell Inspiron One 2320's cooling system just isn't very well optimized. Either that, or Dell made the wrong trade-offs in choosing components and configurations for it. Take a look at the thermals.
Well, now we know why they went with the underpowered GeForce GT 525M, but it looks like the hard drive is getting cooked, too. The cooling profile feels lopsided; the Core i5 runs downright frosty in comparison. Unfortunately when the fan spins up it has a pretty high-pitched whine to it, too. If my hard drive was running at 50C in my brand-new desktop, I'd be more than a little concerned.
Dell's Inspiron One 2320 is at least fairly frugal on power, but it doesn't feel as frugal as it could be. Sure it has to power a screen in addition to everything else, but compare it to the HP TouchSmart 610. The TouchSmart has a full-on 95-watt desktop processor in it along with a slightly faster GPU, yet the Inspiron pulls as much power under load. Meanwhile, here's something else to noodle: the HP Compaq Elite 8200, which boasts a faster CPU, hits just 66 watts under load. The GeForce GT 525M and an LED-backlit screen shouldn't account for more than double the power consumption.
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JarredWalton - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Just to help avoid confusion, I've added a bit to the offending paragraph. Here's the updated version, so if you still have complaints with this wording please let me know what you disagree with and why:"When I spoke to HP's representative about the meager graphics hardware in the TouchSmart, she suggested that it was really meant to be more of a family computer and thus didn't need particularly aggressive graphics hardware. That may be the case, but it undermines the necessity of a dedicated GPU to begin with. If the integrated HD 2000/3000 graphics are inadequate, you probably plan on doing at least some gaming, so you'll want more. The fact is that these mobile graphics chips were designed for notebooks with 768p screens, and at that resolution they're fine. On an all-in-one, though, they're much harder to justify and really speak to a fundamental problem with the all-in-one ecosystem: we need an in-between point for graphics hardware. What we really need for "upscale" 1080p AIO systems is at least GT 555M or (preferably) GTX 560M level hardware; we've seen such chips in 14" and 15" notebooks; would it really be that hard to stuff something faster into a significantly larger AIO system? The GT 525M upgrade from the base model Inspiron One 2320 ends up costing over $200, and for that price it just doesn't add enough performance."
tzhu07 - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
This looks like the retarded younger brother of the iMac. Steve Jobs is fundamentally correct when he said that Dell makes boring beige boxes. Dell hasn't really done anything to prove him wrong.And God damnit those fucking stickers (lower right corner) keep appearing on Windows based machines. Stop, just stop already. I can't roll my eyes far back enough at this practice.
JarredWalton - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
NOTE: Sigmatu, personal attacks on people is not something we like to see in our comments, and they have been deleted. tzhu07 has expressed an opinion that this looks like a crappy knock-off of the iMac, and that's certainly a valid opinion. Complaining about the stickers on systems is also valid. Your attacks suggesting he... whatever... are uncalled for. Any more of that and I'll pull out the banhammer.sigmatau - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
I guess when I was told to "stfu" when I was talking about my horrible 3gs in another one of your articles, that was ok because I was talking the truth about Apple? gotcha.JarredWalton - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
I don't read through every comment on every thread, but your attacks were personal and I saw them. If someone makes unwarranted attacks on you, feel free to drop me an email. If it's in the forums, though, don't talk to me -- talk to one of the forum moderators. The bottom line is your comments here were out of line and I saw them. Instead of pointing the finger at a vague "other post", accept that your posts were inflammatory and personal attacks that contributed nothing, and move on with better posts. It's what helps separate the AT readership from, say, the DT readership (though there's obviously overlap); we like to hold our comments to a higher standard. :-)sigmatau - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
Fine, next time I will just say how fucking stupid Macs are and go on a diatribe about that since that seems to be fine by you. Fuck Macs! I guess that's the higher standard you are looking for?In all honesty, both of our comments should have been deleted. By you posting about this instead of a personal message, then you should not be surprised by a response.
Anyways, I got it. I will not call people names, but apparently I can throw up all the profanity about products and that is fine. Sounds fairly hypocritical to me but whatever man.
Dustin Sklavos - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
Or you could just behave yourself in the first place.That is also an option.
sigmatau - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
Fuck Macs.sigmatau - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
Macs are fucking grossly overpriced.I am expressing my opinion and "that's certainly a valid opinion".
niva - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Right on about the stickers, they're so hard to remove... I wish companies would stop doing that. Their main logo is obtrusive enough.Same about bloatware sold with the machines. I want a clean windows install on it.
Agreed with the sentiment that this is a VERY cheap iMac. Hate Apple but props must be given in terms of design. Dell failed in execution of this AIO.