Dell 11.6" 3120 Multi-Touch, N100, 4GB, 64GB SSD

The Dell 3120 is a rugged 11.6 inch Chromebook built for classrooms and kids. It survives drops and spills better than most laptops, but the 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, and dated screen make it a poor choice for general use. Buy it for a student, not for yourself.

The Intel N100 is a four-core chip that can boost up to 3.40 GHz, which sounds better than it is. In our database, this CPU sits in the 16th percentile for laptops. That puts it near the bottom of the pile for raw processing power. It'll handle web browsing, Google Docs, and video streaming without much drama, but don't expect to edit photos or run anything demanding.

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics land in the 28th percentile, which means light Android games and casual browser games are fine, but anything 3D is a slideshow. The 4GB of RAM is the real bottleneck here. It ranks in the 4th percentile, and ChromeOS plus a few open tabs will eat through that quickly. The 64GB eMMC storage is also in the 5th percentile, so you're relying on cloud storage for almost everything. For a classroom Chromebook, that's workable. For anything else, it's a squeeze.

Stacked against something like the Apple MacBook Air M4, the Dell 3120 is not even in the same conversation. The MacBook Air costs several times more and delivers a vastly better screen, processor, and build quality. But that's not really the point. The 3120 competes with other education-focused Chromebooks and cheap Windows laptops.

Compared to the Lenovo Slim 7 or ASUS Vivobook Pro 15, the Dell 3120 loses on every performance metric. Those machines have proper CPUs, more RAM, and better displays. The HP OmniBook X Flip 14 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition are also far ahead in terms of screen quality and overall speed. What the Dell 3120 offers that those don't is a kid-proof chassis and a price tag that won't make you cry when it gets dropped on concrete. If durability and simplicity are your top priorities, the 3120 has a niche. If you want a laptop that can do more than schoolwork, look elsewhere.

At $408 USD, the Dell 3120 is not a great value if you're shopping for a general-purpose laptop. You can find refurbished Windows laptops or even some newer Chromebooks with 8GB of RAM and better screens for similar money. But if you specifically need a rugged, touchscreen Chromebook for a student, the durability features add some justification. The affordability score sits in the 80th percentile, which sounds decent until you remember what you're actually getting for the price. For classroom deployments where IT departments buy in bulk and need devices that survive drops, this makes sense. For an individual buyer, it's a harder sell.

The Dell 3120 is an 11.6 inch Chromebook built for classrooms and kids, priced around $408 USD. It's a rugged little machine with rubberized edges, a spill-resistant keyboard, and a 360 degree swivel hinge that lets it flip into tablet mode. The touchscreen is a nice touch for younger students who are used to tapping and swiping everything.

Under the hood you get an Intel N100 quad-core chip, 4GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. That's about as entry-level as it gets in 2025, but ChromeOS is light enough that it works for basic tasks. If you're searching for a cheap Chromebook for school or a durable laptop for kids, this one lands in the right category.

We should be upfront though. The specs are thin. The 1366x768 LCD panel is dated, the storage is tiny, and 4GB of RAM means you'll feel the ceiling fast if you open more than a handful of tabs. This is a single-purpose device, and that purpose is surviving a backpack and running Google Classroom.

Skip the Dell 3120 if you need a laptop for work, college, or any kind of creative task. The 4GB of RAM and weak CPU will make multitasking painful, and the 1366x768 screen is hard on the eyes for long sessions. If you want a budget laptop for yourself, look at refurbished Windows machines or Chromebooks with at least 8GB of RAM and a 1080p display. Also skip it if you need to install Windows or run demanding software. This is a kid's school machine, not a daily driver for adults.

Should you buy the Dell 3120? If you're a parent or school looking for a cheap, tough Chromebook that can survive a seven-year-old, yes. The rubberized edges, spill-resistant keyboard, and swivel hinge are genuinely useful for that use case. The touchscreen is a bonus for younger kids who haven't mastered a trackpad yet.

But if you're an adult looking for a budget laptop for yourself, skip it. The 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage will frustrate you within a week. The screen is rough by modern standards, and the CPU is one of the weakest in our database. This is a tool for a specific job, and that job is elementary school.