Customer Ratings & Reviews

Initially works well. Has the features we were looking for.

The laptop is too big and the video card is low quality. The keyboard feels too plastic as wells

Keyboard without light , need to be use in sunlight

kind of slow but it is $400 I only use it for tuning so it get the job done

I was never a huge fan of Dell until recently our business switched to Dell and I then became a believer. This Inspiron 3420 is just the right size laptop for my needs. I use it mainly in my workshop and have it connected to my CNC machine. The fact that it is touchscreen is a win/win situation for me, I have a mouse connected to it but most of the time I now find myself using the touchscreen far more which makes moving the machine into place or jogging it to a new position so much easier. It is lightweight and very portable to use. I opened the packaging and w/ in a few minutes I had the laptop up and running and downloading all the programs that I need to use w/ my CNC machine, plus several other programs that I use to design the items that I make. That entire process went very smoothly. As I said, most of the time in the PC world I had to use another manufacturer until recently and once I began using our company computer I had purchased a Dell laptop for my youngest son to use in his first year of college. And I love the Customer Service that helped me w/ that process to the point I was sold on Dell. This laptop is just the right size at 14” and it’s very well made, I also like the price point that this Dell sells for. If you are in the market for a very well made and affordable laptop, look no further than the Dell - Inspiron 3420! You won’t be disappointed.

The the Geek Squad really fell through for me on this purchase I was told that they would put my old quicken program in and help me get started on it while I bought the computer I had a computer I couldn’t even use they wouldn’t work with me on the installation on the Quicken i’m very disappointed I’ve never ever been so disappointed with the service. They are at the geeks. I mean what good is a computer if you don’t even know how to use it, I couldn’t open the program and they would not help me. They said they weren’t allowed to buy law, which I really don’t believe. I think the kid just didn’t wanna help me .

I can't even to change it because is only usable with microsoft Edge non editable, the PC tells you to not install Google Chrome.

I have some mixed feelings about this, but overall, they’re good. THE GOOD • Lightweight • Feels sturdy • Good size • Decent graphics • Touch screen • Decent, responsive keys • USB-C Charging • Good track pad • Bluetooth • Front-facing camera THE BAD • Small Solid-State Drive • Windows 11 Home S • Sound THE MEH (Could go either way) • Has a USB 2.0 port • Has dedicated headphone jack • 8GB RAM • No HDMI • No Ethernet port • Sound When I first pulled it out of the box, I noticed this little laptop is fairly light yet still feels solidly made. After charging, it fired up quickly. Side Rant: I assume Dell has little say in this part, but it is a severe pet peeve of mine. The laptop comes with Windows 11 Home S Edition. (More on the S in a second). Windows now forces every person to have a Windows account and an outlook or Hotmail account. I don’t want to be forced to give Microsoft my info or forced to create an account to use a computer I own. After creating a new Microsoft account I will never use, I went through the fairly easy and straightforward setup. I was impressed by the responsiveness of the keys and how durable the machine feels. On some laptops, the keys feel like they’ll fall off at any tap. That’s not the case here. These keys feel well attached. I like the tracking pad and was surprised to see it had touch screen. Although only 1080p, the graphics are decent. The first videos I watched had me rather impressed. Then I wanted to test the sound and put on some videos I often watch of classical music. I immediately noticed it is very rich in the mid-range sounds and some bass, but very little treble. Consequently, listening to Ode to Joy sounded like I was playing it in a coffee can. I tried going into the system for a mixing board to change settings, but there isn’t one. The sound is what it is. It’s good for movies and videos, but not good for an audiophile. I do a lot of picture editing and graphic work, so I wanted to try to load software. I knew immediately 256GB hard drive would be small, but I thought I would test this. I figured Photoshop would be too much, but I also use Gimp. I downloaded Gimp and was told it didn’t come from the Microsoft store. That’s when I discovered the Windows 11 Home S Edition. S means “STUCK with what Microsoft wants you to use.” You can only use software Microsoft approves and sells (or distributes) from their store. Fortunately, Gimp has a button to download their software from the store. So I tried that option. From there, I encounter an error message stating the software isn’t compatible with Windows running in “S mode.” I searched further and realized Microsoft (and Dell by proxy) will not allow you to use Chrome, Safari or any browser other than Microsoft Edge and Bing search. I’m sure many people use Edge without incident or noticing, but I hate it. To run Chrome or Google Search bar or whatever, you must figure out how to take Windows out of S mode. Once out, you can never return to it. Despite these drawbacks, I still like this laptop as a light office/school device. The Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, which is actually more of a mobile device CPU, runs cool. So, having this on my lap watching a movie or writing long documents doesn’t burn my legs like some of my other devices. The front-facing camera also makes it ideal for video chats, zoom calls and remote classes. If you absolutely want to, you can easily replace the small solid-state drive for a different one without it costing an arm or leg. BIG QUESTION Would I recommend this? I would recommend it to some people, but steer others clear of it. I think this laptop is a bit like a heavy tablet without the 2-in-1 capability. That it comes in “S mode” makes it ideal for older or much younger users who have parents that want to keep their kids a bit safer. In that respect, I think this would be great for kids in elementary through high school who just need something they can use to write their papers and do their reports and maybe watch some videos or tutorials. It wouldn’t be something for heavy gaming use or video/photo editing. I would probably give this about 3.5-3.75 stars if it were possible. As it isn't, I round up to 4 stars

Computer took long to setup. I guess I should have known sense the display one wasn’t working. It’s also very slow. The battery dies ways too quickly and it takes long to fully charge.

This is a great small footprint laptop. It’s small, lightweight, and fully competent for average daily use of email, media consumption, and very light gaming. Great for older teens/twenties for a schoolwork machine. It’s light enough to slip in a sleeve and toss in a backpack. Touch screen is snappy and responsive. Colors are crisp, and the Snapdragon processor runs pretty fast and it doesn’t feel too hot after extended use. Keyboard is fairly small, so it might be a tad uncomfortable for adults with huge hands and “sausage fingers”. My wife played around with it and she loves the small size and weight. It’s perfect for coffee house travel laptop or something to use on the couch. Taking the laptop out and using it at a coffee house is comfortable and it fits well on a small table and doesn’t impede conversation. It’s very quiet. It’s not a giant beast like our 17” gaming laptop. Windows 11 works seamlessly. It has enough power to handle just about any daily task you can throw at it. Is just a really nice cohesive package.

So we have all heard of Intel and AMD cpu's but this one has a cpu that i have only seen in tablets, a Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 but it feel way faster than a tablet would. So first off if you are looking for a pretty good laptop for browsing the internet or doing some youtube videos with a added external hard drive for the video's or talking with family and friends with the built in Mic and and Webcam. It has a very nice touch that i really love and that's a touch screen. So you can use it kind of like a tablet if you forget your mouse,so a very nice feature for a less expensive laptop. It is very snappy for a Snapdragon cpu that i have never used in a laptop so i was pleasantly surprised how fast it booted up and ran the applications i was using and browsing the web also just felt very fast. I know it's in part of having a 256 gig NVME M.2 Hard drive but i was just very surprised how fast it loaded everything. For the price i thought it should have a minimum of a 512 or a 1 TB hard drive because a 256 is a little small for today's standards with a laptop with only the one hard drive. That's why i said if you are a youtuber making videos make sure you have an external hard drive to hold all your video files for uploading to youtube. It has 8 gig of system memory and that's fine as long as you are not doing a bunch of multi tasking. I Was not able to see what speed it was running at and i would guess it's at least DDR 4 memory but that's a guess because i am not really familiar with the snapdragon cpu to know what memory is compatible with that type of cpu. If you are a PC gamer keep looking because you mite be able to play some internet games like solitaire or checkers but this is not a machine for running Dead island 2 or any AAA Title game. It just not have the horsepower or video card to run games. Don't get me wrong it is a very nice laptop but more for microsoft office browsing the web or watching youtube. I forgot to mention it has a built in memory card reader for your photos to transfer them to your laptop or other types of files. It is able to Supports SD, SDHC, SDXC, miniSD, microSD and MMC memory cards. That was a cherry on top especially if your into video's or photos. Another thing i loved was it's like mega quiet. So i found out it is a fanless design. I think they were able to go this route because it's not a power hungry cpu so when you turn it on the first time don't worry if you don't hear the sound of fans. I was actually surprised how cool it was to the touch with just some heat pipes keeping it cool. If you are worried about heat you can always get a stand or a lap type holder that has built in fans that will push air into the bottom of the case to blow some cool air across the parts inside. Lastly i forgot to tell you it has a 14 inch screen so not super big and bulky but good enough size to watch a movie on a flight and enjoy your eyesight not going bad. All in all a good computer for the price.

I have not received my laptop. UPS delivered to wrong address.

S-mode just makes it tough to work with in a tech environment that needs flexibility

Laptop stopped functioning in less than a month of use! Purchased for work and one day it never turned back on! Never had any laptop do this!

I’ve had this laptop for all of two months and it’s already dead. Won’t turn on…completely dead. I used it maybe 10 times during that period.

I would consider this Dell Inspiron 3420 14 inch Laptop with Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 8GB memory as an above basic touch laptop. It runs Windows 11 Home 64bit however, as with most PC's now days the Microsoft Office is not included. It is equipped with a flash Solid State Drive that runs quiet due to there not being any fans. On the bottom left side of the laptop it has two USB-C 3.2 power ports. Also on the bottom left there is the MicroSD slot. On the right side there is a USB-2.0 and a headphone jack. Included is a 65W type C power charger. Set-up was easy, I charged the laptop about 20 minutes and it was ready. I signed in to my Microsoft account and everything was ready to go. I plan to use this laptop with my PDF sewing pattern projector. Therefore, I would need it to run Adobe Acrobat DC along with my Affinity Designer 2 and Affinity Photo 2. These three programs downloaded and installed very quickly. Both Affinity Designer 2 and Affinity Photo 2 ran as smoothly as they run on my desktop PC. I would recommend this laptop.

I consider myself to be a somewhat "power" user as far as computers are concerned, so this is not the type of laptop that I would typically use on a regular basis. To begin, it is equipped with a "Snapdragon" processor, which is a mobile processor designed by qualcomm (the company that produces chips for mobile devices/phones). Rather than something powered by Intel, AMD, or Apple, this chip lacks the name recognition that comes with those brands and, arguably, may be a cause for concern with some people. From what I could determine, however, the Snapdragon chip does a fairly good job of leveraging battery life against performance. At the end of the day, this is not the laptop you want for processing video files or running multiple intensive applications at the same time. If you are browsing the internet, responding to email, surfing YouTube, etc., this chip should be just fine. The laptop is relatively compact although, given the plastic enclosure, feels "cheap" compared to other computers (MacBooks in particular). Then again, given the cost of this unit, the inexpensive moniker does tend to fit. The screen has a resolution of 1920x1080, which is by no means cutting edge, but it is a touch screen (if you like that sort of thing) and it does look good at the resolution with decent brightness. 8GB of RAM is on the lower end and the 256 GB SSD for storage is downright minimal for today's standards. Again, though, for simple productivity applications, checking email, and browsing the Internet, 256 GB should be okay. Just do not expect to store a substantial photo library or a lot of high-definition videos on the computer. One thing I had to research when using this laptop is that it ships with Windows 11 S Mode activated. From what I could find out, this version allows you to only install applications that are available through the Microsoft Store and it also requires the use of Microsoft Edge (Microsoft's Internet browser). I experimented with trying to upgrade my experience, but was told that this version of Windows is not upgradeable. The inability to run third-party applications not available through the Microsoft Store would typically be a deal breaker for me. Additionally, this version does not allow Bitlocker to run, which means the extra layer of drive security given built-in encryption through Bitlocker is not available. Also on my list of complaints is the touchpad. In full disclosure, I typically use MacBooks and absolutely LOVE their glass surface touchpads that allow you to single (left) click anywhere while also allowing for a secondary (right) click by using two fingers anywhere on the touchpad. The haptic feedback built in to those touchpads is outstanding as well. Going back to a typical Windows-based touchpad is downright painful as I commonly find myself wanting to click anywhere on the touchpad rather than in the lower-left corner (and don't get me started on secondary/right clicking). Simply stated, if I were to use this computer for any length of time, I need to have a external mouse because the touchpad drives me absolutely crazy. (Again, that problem is not isolated to just this laptop as it seems to be a common theme across all Windows-based laptops that I have used.) Another "input" criticism is that the little tactile bump on the F and J keys (home keys, for touch typists) is too small/subtle. There are times I have to look down at the keyboard to ensure my index fingers are on the home keys before typing because I cannot feel the landmarks on the home keys. Beyond that, the typing surface and keys are responsive and, while I have yet to find a laptop that matches the feel of a desktop mechanical keyboard, the keyboard on this laptop is just fine for a laptop. One thing I found interesting with the design of this laptop is that the back of the screen extends under the rear of the laptop when open, which elevates the back of the laptop just a little bit (kind of like a kickstand). The laptop includes a webcam with a mechanical cover that is built in (to ensure privacy through a hardware mechanism), two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports (one of which needs to be used for power delivery), a MicroSD slot (which allows for an increase in capacity of up to 1 TB, albeit at a steep price currently, although I have seen that larger capacities will be hitting the market soon), a single legacy USB 2.0 port, and a headphone jack. Battery life appears to be pretty good, although I have not had to test it extensively and, admittedly, given the limitations of the laptop, I will not be doing any processor-intensive work on the laptop anyway (which means the battery life should be pretty good). So, at the end of the day, what does this all mean? Ultimately, it really depends on what you are looking for in a laptop. This particular model is very simple, compact, lightweight, and is perfect for browsing the Internet, responding to emails, typing letters, and maybe even doing some school work online. For someone that spends a lot of time on social networking sites and doing things online, this laptop is a no-frills solution that is very affordable and travel-ready. If you need third-party software or plan on doing anything that requires some processing muscle (so to speak) or storage space, you may want to look for another option. Given the limitations associated with a 1080p display, this is also not for anyone who wants to work with or watch 4K videos. From my perspective, this laptop would be good for a typical grade school or high school student (maybe even a college student, depending on the program), or for someone just looking to stay connected online while traveling (or for carrying around the house from room-to-room). Professionals who need to do a lot of application multitasking, require a bit of storage, or need to "chug" some digital 0s and 1s will probably be better off spending more money for something with more processing power, a "full" version of Windows, and (possibly) a better (higher resolution) display.

So far this little laptop has been perfect for my two children. It is the perfect size for mobility, boots up quickly and has them working quickly, and handles less demanding video games with ease. The intention of this laptop for my family was a PC for home for my two daughters, who are middle and elementary students. The use of computers in schools is ever increasing, even at their level, and while they are provided chrome books in class, they needed something for home for projects, research, and the occasional PC game. This laptop blows the school provided chrome books out of the water. Boot up is snappy with the solid state drive. Apps run great on it. And the games we have tried run really well. This isn't a gaming rig by any means, but less demanding games run easily, and that's all they really play on this laptop anyway. The touch screen is very responsive and is easy to use with a finger or stylus. My daughters have already figured out drawing and are having fun creating with the touchscreen. So far the battery life is great, and it charges fast. For mobility, ease of use, and standard software that isn't too demanding (think microsoft office, not CAD), I highly recommend this laptop.

It came with no charger, and it is not been 3 months and it’s is on repair already very bad computer

The computer twitches and blacks out a lot. Is it even a brand new device? This is ridiculous