Is a Low Price Laptop Worth It?

We are a sponsored blog partner with Walmart and Microsoft and participated in their Connected Campus Experience to bring you this article on Back-to-School tech.

Last week we wrote about Back-to-School Tech Tools for high school seniors and college students.  As parents, purchasing technology for our kids is an investment, one in which we hope to see many returns.  But due to budget…or even fear as to how long the laptop will last (due to damage, loss, or theft), do you really need to buy the best laptop for your student…the one with all the bells and whistles on it?

We reported on Microsoft’s Connected Campus and showed a video of college student’s being surprised with the functionality and style of entry-level laptops.  Walmart offers these same laptops, two of which sell for $250.  In order to make a recommendation as to whether a $250 laptop would be money well spent for parents, we began using one of them this past week, the Dell Inspiron 15 3531.

Is a Low Price Laptop Worth it?

Right out of the box, I was surprised with Dell’s 15-inch $250 laptop.  It has a really cool honeycomb textured matte finish.  I found out that it includes a clear IMR finish which can help prevent scratches and reject fingerprints.  Nice.

The Dell Inspiron 15 weighs in at 4.67 lbs. and its dimensions are 8″ H x 15″W x 10.2″ D.   Upon opening the laptop you see a very nice sized screen.  My current laptop screen is only 12 inches, and believe me, the extra 3 inches makes a big difference.  I don’t need to do as nearly as much scrolling with the Dell Inspiron.

You can see this Dell Inspiron has many nice features, but it is certainly a starter laptop.  It doesn’t have the bells and whistles of laptops 3 times its price like more internal memory and a 10 hour battery life.  But it does have a dual 2.4 GHz core-processor, the same Windows 8.1 operating system, and a great screen.

Features:

• Full size, spill-resistant keyboard with 10-key numeric keypad
• 15.6 WLED screen with 1366×768 resolution HD Truelife LED-backlit display
• Microsoft Windows 8.1  64-bit Edition
• built-in webcam
• Intel Celeron Dual-Core N2830 processor
  2.40GHz
• 4GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory
• 500GB SATA hard drive
• 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
• up to 6.25 hours of battery life.
• HDMI 1.4 port for an even bigger home theater experience
• USB 2.0 ports
• 4-in-1 Media Card (SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro)4-in-1 memory card reader 4-in-1 card reader 1 x (SD Memory Card), 1 x (SDHC), 1 x (Memory Stick), 1 x (Memory Stick Pro)
• 2 x USB 2.0 port, 1 x HDMI port
• 4-cell lithium-ion battery

Pros:

• has a HDMI port – it is very unusual  a HDMI port on a entry-level device
• its 500 GB SATA hard drive can store a lot of data like 333,000 photos, 142,000 songs or 263 hours of HD video and more
• includes Microsoft’s Backup and Restore features built into Windows to create back-up copies of your student’s files in case something happens to the original file
• built-in Windows Defender, Windows Firewall, and Windows Update keep the laptop up-to-date and helps protect the laptop against online assaults
• the Home screen is completely customizable with various colors and backgrounds along with placing favorite apps/programs so they are easy to access
• comes with 15GB of free online cloud storage through Microsoft’s OneDrive.  All documents can be backed up to the cloud as well as accessed on any smartphone, PC, tablet, or laptop
• works with almost every accessory or peripheral such as keyboards, mice, printers, cameras, scanners, etc.
• the Snap feature allows you to work on two different apps, side-by-side, at the same time to make multi-tasking easier

Cons:

• has no optical drive which means you can’t play DVD’s or write data on DVD’s for storage or transfer
• has no Ethernet port for a faster connection to the Internet – only wireless
• has no Bluetooth connectivity (though this can be solved with an inexpensive Bluetooth USB adapter)
• you cannot open 20+ tabs in your browser at once, it will slow down the system, but I worked comfortably with 6-8 open
• This laptop does not have a touch screen, which makes it even easier to select things and play games

Some Nice Surprises

There were a number of times that surprised me with this Dell Inspiron laptop…

HDMI

This Dell Inspiron came with a HDMI port, this means your student can easily connect his/her laptop up to a TV to display work on his/her computer on a TV to share with a wider audience.  This is done often in the workplace, so it’s a great feature, especially in a lower cost laptop.

Sound

Dell uses WavesMAX audio to make the sound true to life.  With it’s speakers positioned under the edge of the keyboard in front, I was a little skeptical at first how good it would be.  But when playing videos, the sound bounces off the desk and projects really well.  I turned up the volume and stood across the room, about 12 feet away and could hear the actors in my movie very well.

Roaming Personalization

One helpful feature of Windows 8 computers is that once you create a customized Home screen the way you like, it automatically follows you once you login to another Windows 8 computer.  So when I sign into the Dell Inspiron laptop, all of my Home screen preferences, colors, and apps were all ready.  This will be handy for your student too as s/he buys more Windows 8 products after graduating from college

Battery Life

I ran off the battery all day and it lasted a long time.  When not in use, I simply closed the laptop lid, but did not turn off the laptop.  I’ve been very happy with the battery life.  I was worried that a 4-cell battery on  a laptop wouldn’t last very long…I was wrong.

Fast Wake-Up

As I mentioned above, I never really turned off the laptop, I simply just closed the lid.  When I open the lid up, it just takes a few seconds for the sign-on screen to appear.  And although the battery does drain by not turning the laptop off completely, it’s a very slow drain.

The Dell 15.6″ Inspiron 3531 can be found at Walmart or  Walmart.com for only $248.00 plus free shipping. Looking for a few more features? Walmart.com has a large number of  Windows 8.1 laptops from a number of different brands. Check out the special Microsoft Connected Campus section of their website to find some robust, reasonably priced laptops.

WIN a $500 Walmart Gift Card!

Could you use some extra spending cash when buying a laptop or other great technology??  Microsoft is offering a $500 Walmart gift card to the winner of this contest!
Microsoft Connected Campus $500 Gift Card Sweepstakes

A Mom’s Perspective

Despite its low price, the Dell 15.6″ Inspiron 3531 is surprisingly, a good solid laptop. I have been using a touch screen Windows 8 laptop for the past year, valued closer to $900 and truthfully, besides not being able to utilize the touch screen, I preferred using the Dell Inspiron because it worked great and I enjoyed using a bigger screen.

So is a low price laptop worth it? Yes, in the case of the Dell 15.6 Inspiron 3531, it is worth it. Giving your teen/college student their first laptop can be worrisome because, just like a smartphone, the laptop is an expensive device. Laptops, also like smartphones, can be dropped, misplaced, or stolen and then you have nothing.

With the rising costs of college these days, buying a lower priced laptop can help ease your budget and still give your student a great start at connecting with others, taking notes in class, and writing many papers.

*Microsoft Connected Campus partnered with blogs like WellConnectedMom for their program.  As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. Microsoft and Walmart believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Microsoft and Walmart policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.