Manual from Dell

The only documentation specific for Vostro 3300 that is at the moment available from Dell is the Setup and Features Information Tech Sheet. There is no documentation on how to upgrade the memory, CPU, or HDD.

SSD upgrade

Switching to OCZ Vertex from previous machine made it easy to restore my settings and data. Interestingly there is only a single access panel on the devices underside. Even the Windows licence stamp is hidden under the battery, giving an extremely clean underside once put back together.

Pre-boot system assesment

Everything works.

CD tray

The CD tray is easily the flimsiest part of the construction. Also when the tray is closed, there is a fair amount of  play in it.

Full frontal

Front view with lid open. Windows and Intel i5 stickers were promptly removed after this picture was taken.

Front view

Front view, lid closed. Noticeably slimmer and less deep than XPS M1330. Leatherman for scale. External construction is all plastic, but of good quality. No visible gaps between any external parts.

AC adapter

New AC adapter seems particularly well thought out. Leatherman for scale.

Slim profile is very good for transporting the adapter on the go when a single charge is not enough. The thicker mains cord is designed specifically to be easily wrapped around the adapter. A good improvement is also moving the power indicating led from the adapter to the laptop end connector.

Power supplies

CEE 7/7 power cord, the 4 cell battery and the 90 W AC adapter. Leatherman for scale.

• The power cord is approx. 80 cm long and designed for easy wrapping around the AC adapter
• The battery is 14.8 V, 2.62 Ah for 40 Wh. Manufactured by Dynapack Electronic Technology in March 2010 in China. Type 50TKN.
• The AC adaptor is DA90PE3 of PA-3E family. Input 100-240 V 50-60 Hz, output 19,5 V and 4.62 A. Made in China by Delta Electronics.

Software

R&TTE directive restrictions, Software licence agreement, quick start guide and CDs for Windows 7 HOme Premium 32-Bit, drivers, PowerDVD DX 8.2, Dell Webcam Central, Personal Fingerprint and Roxio Creator DE 10.3. Might try Windows 7 under KVM one day.

In the box

In the box there was the device, a cardboard box for power supplies and the paperwork with surprisingly CDs of the included SW. The latter ones are not of much use in this project.

The box

Not as shiny as the box for XPS M1330, but functional

Delivery schedule

• Thursday 2010-04-08, the order was placed
• Sunday 2010-04-11, the device was shipped from Raheen, Ireland
• Thursday 2010-04-15, the device arrived Copenhagen, Denmark
• Monday 2010-04-19, the device arrived in Helsinki, Finland. Despite the closed air space. Later in the day it was delivered at the office.
  

External connectors not tested

The ExpressCard, eSata and external microphone connectors are not tested, due to lack of needed external HW.

Hardware

The machine under test here is a Dell Vostro 3300, which was shipped with following specification:

• Vostro 3300 : Standard Base Best Config
• LCD Back Cover : Red WLAN with Camera
• Processor : I5-520M(2.4GHz)
• Palmrest : Fingerprint Reader Biometric
• Display : 13.3in Anti-Glare
• Memory : 4096MB (2x2048) 1333MHz DDR3
• Hard Drive : 500GB Serial ATA (7,200 Rpm)
• Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software
• Power Cord : 3 Wire 90W AC Adapter
• Battery : Primary 4-cell 40W/HR LI-ION
• Graphics : NVIDIA® Geforce™ 310M, 512MB Graphics
• Wireless : ROW Dell Bluetooth 365 Card
• Wireless : ROW Dell Wireless 1520 (802.11n) Half Mini Card
• No Mobile Broadband
• Keyboard : Internal Swedish/Finnish Qwerty Backlit Keyboard
• Operating System : Finnish Windows WIN7 Home Premium (32Bit OS) with Recovery DVD

Out of these, I plan to replace hard drive with OCZ Vertex Series 60GB 2.5" SSD SATA II. That will also bring in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) Beta 2.