The Dell Inspiron 11 3000 Review

The Dell Inspiron 11 3000 makes no claims that it can’t back up. It might be small but it does everything you would expect it to. You can run all your Windows apps on it, it comes with Cortana (Siri for Microsoft) and it is at a price you can afford.

dell-minion-approved-laptop — The Dell Inspiron 11 3000 is Minion approved in case you were wondering

Interested in meeting Cortana? Click on a link below to get introduced.

Meet Cortana. Microsoft’s answer to Siri
How to get Cortana in any country
Video: what can Cortana do?

dell-inspirion-trackpad — I’ve never pursued hand modelling for a reason.

I don’t use a mouse, I prefer using the track pad and keyboard shortcuts. This annoys anyone who tries to use my laptop and I often have to navigate in these situations. While the track pad is very sensitive, I found that it would sometimes stick.

The rubber keyboard is easy to use and a bit of a novelty. While it doesn’t have a number keypad which might annoy you if you work with numbers and stats, it is perfect for writing.

Keep all your personal stuff on one desktop and work related stuff on the other.

Productivity Tip: dual desktops allow you to separate work and play. While working, you’ll stay on that desktop and not be tempted by non work related items. (In theory anyway ? )

[Tweet “Hi. I’m Clippy. ? I see that you’re being productive. Would you like me to help you with that? “]

Remember that annoying paper clip that always knew better? Well Microsoft Windows 10 virtual assistant is nothing like Clippy. Thank goodness.

Meet Cortana, the Windows version of Siri

Cortana and I didn’t get off to a good start. I shouted quite loudly because she couldn’t give me answers. I think it was because she is American and couldn’t understand my accent or because I swore at her (it was probably the latter).

Cortana is only available in a handful of countries and South Africa isn’t one of them.

How to get Cortana to work in any country

Settings > Time and Language > Region and Language
Select the country with the language you want to use
- I chose the US for American English as I couldn’t get the UK British English to work

Just remember that changing region settings could influence the time, and which play store you are shown. If these features are important to you, then either change it back or just use Chrome and say “OK Google”.

So what exactly can Cortana do

A lot. She understands natural language searches, can set reminders, send emails, create lists, open apps and even tell jokes. Watch the video below to see how I put Cortana to the test on the Dell Inspiron 11 3000.

View on Flipagram

❤️ What I really, really like ❤️

Loud & Clear the sound is clear which makes it great for watching movies, listening to music and Skype calls. The internal microphone will not leaving you hanging.

USB 3.0 transfers stuff really, really quickly. It has a USB 3.0 and 2.0 port.

Durable it can withstand temperatures of up to 65C. I left it in my car and with the recent weather, it got really hot and still worked perfectly.

Size while it is smaller than a regular laptop, it isn’t so small that you are scared you are going to break it at any moment.

It comfortably fits into a handbag or regular backpack. 11.6″ might seem small, but you get used to it very quickly. (And I work on two screens – my laptop screen and mega screen).

Battery Life it lasted for the day. What would be interesting to see, is once it had been used for a while, how long the battery would then last. Although it is so little that carrying the power cable around wouldn’t really weigh you down.

The Price at a RRP of R4449, you get a nifty laptop with loads of storage (500GB), HD screen and great sound.

?What I thought was meh?

As a seasoned track pad user, I was underwhelmed by its performance.
If you only need to write, email and browse the internet, then this is a good choice. If you need to work with numbers, excel spreadies, design or create videos, then this is not the laptop for you.