Dell Inspiron One 2320: Stuck in the Middle With You
by Dustin Sklavos on November 17, 2011 12:30 AM ESTApplication and Futuremark Performance
The HP TouchSmart 610 we reviewed had one of Intel's fastest desktop processors at its core but was hopelessly hamstrung by a dire 5400-RPM hard drive. Dell's Inspiron One 2320 has its fortune flipped; the 2TB hard drive is speedy by mechanical drive standards, but the processor is a low-voltage desktop part, peaking at just 2.6GHz on all four cores. This is still decent, but it's actually no faster on all four cores than Intel's slowest notebook quad-core CPU. I have to wonder if Dell saved enough money by going this route instead of just using a notebook quad to justify its inclusion. [Ed: Dell is a large OEM; of course they saved money!]
Unfortunately, the Inspiron's i5-2400S winds up being one of the slowest processors we've tested in recent memory, at least in a desktop system. It's still plenty fast, but I have to wonder if Dell didn't do themselves a disservice by employing the underpowered i5-2400S. Maybe they should've just split the difference and gone for an i7-2630QM?
Meanwhile the GeForce GT 525M is worlds behind desktop cards we'd consider the bare minimum for gaming at 1080p, essentially tying in performance with the AMD Radeon HD 5570 in the TouchSmart 610. If Dell wants to match the performance of its competition, that's fine, but that performance was one of the major problem areas of the TouchSmart 610. Gamers, consider yourself warned for what we'll see on the next page.
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tipoo - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
"more than adequate for even the most basic use."Doesn't really make sense.
JarredWalton - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
No, not really; I've corrected the sentence.Roland00Address - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
i7 2630qm Recommended Customer Price $378i5 2400s Recommended Customer Price $184 - $195
That is a difference of a $150 dollars, or in other words a lot of profit.
cknobman - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Dell has always made overpriced under-powered machines usually accompanied with godawful ugly designs.melgross - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
At least they're consistent.melgross - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
You really are intelligent. Great response! I suppose you are a Dell customer for life.terraformer - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
My father has been through 3 of these very machines, and each one has suffered extreme heat issues that fried the HD. Dell has been accommodating, but read any user reviews around the 'net and see a majority of owners experiencing the same problems. Dell rushed this out the door without addressing the clear cooling problem that these systems have. I still see ads for these all over the place.So I talked my father into buying my one-year old 27" iMac, and walked him through the differences in terms of UI. He is thrilled with it now, loves how fast it starts, how it can largely run itself (e.g., updates).
And I bought a new iMac, spec'd it out pretty highly and, dear kind Sir above, it plays games beautifully and flawlessly. This avid FPS gamer (since Quake days) finds this machine plenty good enough for gaming. And I can run BF3 at ultra settings - turning off AA and a few other things - at native resolution at just above 30 fps. And that is fine with me.
dirtboy12 - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
We bought many of these (around 300) for a school district and have seen at least 1/3 of them have their hard drives just die. One poor teacher has been through 4 hard drives on the same machine, but Dell keeps thinking that the solution is to put another one in. What was that quote about insanity?dave_the_nerd - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Insanity is the mother of invention?OwnedKThxBye - Saturday, November 19, 2011 - link
Every time I read a review of a consumer/non-enthusiast laptop or all-in-one it seems like such a high value is placed on the screen quality. I sometimes wonder if people understand that these devices are used predominately by people who for the most part don't know what the word resolution means, let alone the differences between a TN and IPS panel. These machines are not aimed at the tech savvy power users, but the kind of people who tell me "everything on this screen looks too small. Is there a way I can make it larger?". A better quality screen with larger resolution isn't going to help them check Facebook and emails any better. In some cases high resolution can even seem like a disadvantage for those with bad eye sight. These kind of people are not going to choose to spend even $40 more on a better quality screen, however they might choose to spend the $40 if it made the screen larger. Customers have never told me they wish they could upgrade the screen on their all-in-one or laptop to a better quality one.This is a Dell Inspiron all-in-one that me and you are not going to go out and buy for numerous reasons. I'm reading this review on a 30" HP and have a 24" on either side of it. I will pay the extra for a better quality screen every time, but I know the kind of customers that make up the target audience for this device will not. If the customer chooses to love it and buy it or hate it and not buy it, either way not much if any of their decision will be based on the screen quality.
Love the review Dustin