Dell Vostro 3700 review

The array of sensible design features doesn't end there, either. Our favourite, and one that's liable to be highly popular with users and small IT departments, is the single panel on the underside that gives access to the Vostro's core components. All it takes is a couple of seconds to undo the two screws, and you have access to the CPU, hard disk, RAM and mini-PCI slot. It makes a refreshing change from many of the business laptops currently on the market.

There's also no faulting the connectivity on offer. DisplayPort is a notable absentee, but the provision of D-SUB, HDMI, four USB ports, ExpressCard/34, and an SD/MMC and Memory Stick card reader go some way towards making amends. There's even an eSATA port that doubles as a fifth USB port.
Support
And, crucially for small businesses, there's a wide range of options when it comes to warranties and support. A basic one year of collect-and-return warranty comes as standard, and this can be extended to three years for an extra £40, while upgrading to one or three years of Dell's ProSupport costs £10 and £60 exc VAT respectively.

For businesses with small or non-existent IT teams, the ability to tailor ProSupport to their needs is a big attraction. Firms can opt for warranty models that support individual users or IT staff as they see fit, and next-day engineer visits are guaranteed for issues that can't be solved over the phone.

Performance is trickier to assess: unfortunately, Dell supplied our review unit with a specification which, at the time of writing, was unavailable on its website. Regardless, the combination of the previous 45nm generation Core i7-720QM processor and 4GB of memory scored a fine 1.57 in our benchmarks, and managed to cling on for 2hrs 40mins during our light-use battery life tests.

The 2.4GHz Core i5-520M - currently the top of the range option on the Vostro 3700 - should prove a much better bet. With a 10W lower TDP than the 45W Core i7 and equally impressive reserves of power, we'd expect broadly similar performance in our application benchmarks and a little extra battery life to boot.
Appeal
Businesses blessed with cavernous IT budgets will probably discount the Vostro in favour of Dell's pricier Latitude and Precision ranges, but smaller outfits will find much to love. There are inevitably compromises along the way - a glimpse of average build quality and an unimpressive keyboard - but Dell has done a good job of keeping them to an absolute minimum.

In the final reckoning, the Vostro 3700 manages to blend quality, performance and comprehensive support into a package that will appeal to small businesses everywhere.
Price when reviewed: £429 (£504 inc VAT)