Dell have always had a focus on work based machines, and it’s only really been recently that the Dell brand has ventured into other markets with their new gaming machine. So I’m keeping this review strictly target for work based users – and the fact that the new Dell Optiplex 3050 All-In-One Desktop can’t really do much more than that.
The Dell 3050 is a small form factor, all-in-one desktop computer that comes in at 19″ x 13″ in physical size. It has a 19.5″ screen which is relatively sharp, and does come with a particularly wide viewing angle. Being an all in one, everything is built into the back of the screen essentially. It’s a very neat package that would easily sit on any kind of corner station, albeit looking a bit plain.
The chassis itself is covered in a plain matte black type design. There’s a built-in webcam at the top which has a small shutter for privacy, and the speakers can be found dotted across the front underneath the screen. It comes supplied with a basic wired optical mouse and a rubber-domed type keyboard which are both plug and play and ready to go from the box. The power has an external AC adapter.
I will say now that there are two versions available to this machine. The first and cheapest has an Intel 7th Generation i3-7100T processor for £539 and the more expensive of the two houses an Intel 7th Generation i5-7500T. We’re taking a look at the i5 version which is running at a clock speed of 2.7GHz over four cores.
It’s running a full version of Windows 10 Pro, and has 4GB of RAM in both models. They also come with 500GB hard drives which in today’s world is a little small, but for a work based machine, rather than games of media, it’s more than enough to store thousands of documents.
A nice feature of the Dell Optiplex 3050 PCis the fact that it comes with very little bloatware. It’s a very bare bones operating system, ensuring that it is as speedy as possible from new. We’ve run a benchmark on CPU-Z which we will post just below.
Even though it’s a plain looking machine, Dell aren’t really catering for those wanting the latest gaming rig trends with this one. By that I mean RGB flashing lights everywhere, coloured water cooled systems and glowing graphics cards. It’s a little solid PC that will power through your basic work needs like word documents and spreadsheets and will let you play YouTube videos and web browse. It won’t play games too well, but that’s the nature of this PC. It’s a workhorse. Nothing more. For more information then why not head over to the Dell 3050 website.
