A CPU-heavy, display-light configuration of a solid entry-level workstation
It’s available with a potent Intel Xeon or Core i9 processor, but otherwise the Dell Precision 3551 (starts at $939; $2,692 as tested) doesn’t let you forget it’s the company’s entry-level mobile workstation. Its screen options top out at full HD resolution. While it has Nvidia Quadro professional graphics, its 4GB Quadro P620 ranks eighth of Nvidia’s nine laptop workstation GPUs. If you want a 4K display or faster graphics, you’ll have to step up to the Precision 5000 or 7000 series. The Precision 3551 is a capable platform for 2D computer-aided design (CAD), if not 3D rendering or virtual reality, but it’s overshadowed by its stablemates. A Relatively Portable Package With its Intel UHD 630 integrated graphics, the $939 base model of the Precision 3551 doesn’t really qualify as a workstation. Actually, with its pitiful 4GB of RAM and 1,366-by-768-pixel display, it barely qualifies as a low-end Chromebook. My $2,692 test unit is much less limp, with an eight-core Core i9-10885H CPU,32GB of memory, a 512GB NVMe solid-state drive, and a 1080p touch screen backed by the Quadro P620. The operating system is Windows 10 Pro, though Windows 10 Pro for Workstations and a six-core Xeon W-10855M are available. (An option for error-correcting-code, a.k.a., ECC, memory is not.) You can outfit the Precision 3551 with up to 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD plus 2TB SATA hard drive, though machines with the hard drive carry a smaller battery. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth are standard issue. The notebook is a silver aluminum slab measuring 0.98 by 14.1 by 9.3 inches—a fifth of an inch thicker than its mid-2019 predecessor the Precision 3540—and weighing 4.16 pounds. That’s hardly ultraportable territory, but it’s not too portly compared to most 15.6-inch workstations; the Lenovo ThinkPad P53, for instance, is 1.2 by 14.9 by 9.9 inches and 5.5 pounds. The bezels around the screen are unfashionably thick, but the top bezel makes room for a face-recognition webcam with a sliding privacy shutter. The power button doubles as a fingerprint reader, giving you two ways to enjoy Windows Hello logins. On the Dell’s right flank are a microSD card slot, a SIM card slot for optional mobile broadband, an audio jack, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, HDMI and Ethernet ports, and a security lock notch. The left edge holds a round connector for an AC adapter, a Thunderbolt 3 port, and another USB-A 3.2 port. Despite the barrel connector, the power brick sent with my test unit had a USB-C cable, preventing the use of USB-C or Thunderbolt peripherals when the laptop’s plugged in. Since workstations spend most of their time on AC power, that’s a mistake. The Keyboard’s a Plus, the Screen’s a Minus The brightly backlit keyboard makes room for a numeric keypad (the Enter key is slightly small) and has real Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys instead of making you pair the Fn key and cursor arrows. Typing feel is good, perhaps a bit rubbery but reasonably snappy and comfortable. You get two pointing devices: a two-button touchpad, and a three-button pointing stick embedded in the keyboard. The middle button is a bonus for CAD and other independent software vendor (ISV) applications. Both work smoothly and precisely. High-end mobile workstation screens offer 8-bit or sometimes 10-bit color, but the Precision 3551’s touch screen is a 6-bit panel that covers an unremarkable 45% of the Adobe RGB gamut, so colors don’t dazzle—they’re bland and washed out instead of vivid. Contrast is decent, and white backgrounds aren’t too dingy, but brightness is only fair and fine details not particularly sharp. It’s a passable economy display, but it won’t satisfy demanding graphics professionals. I’d recommend an alternative, a non-touch screen rated at 100% of the sRGB gamut. The 720p webcam captures reasonably bright and colorful images, though its focus is fairly soft and there’s some digital noise. Speakers located at bottom front pump out enough audio to fill a small room, but it sounds muted even at top volume.
