Dell Chromebook 11.6" 3100 2020, Celeron N4020, 8GB, 32GB eMMC, Black

A rugged classroom tank with a painfully slow engine. Great for kids who drop things, terrible for anyone who wants to actually get work done.

The Celeron N4020 is a 2-core chip from 2019, and it shows. Our database puts this CPU in the 2nd percentile, which is a polite way of saying it's one of the slowest processors we've tracked. The 8GB of RAM is actually a nice surprise for a budget Chromebook, but that 32GB eMMC storage is a real bottleneck. ChromeOS is light, so basic web browsing and Google Docs work fine, but open more than a handful of tabs and you'll feel it crawl. The 13Wh battery is tiny on paper, but ChromeOS sips power, so you'll still get through a school day.

Stacked against something like the Apple MacBook Air M4 or even the Lenovo Slim 7, this Dell isn't even in the same conversation. Those machines are in a different universe for speed, screen quality, and storage. But they also cost way more. The real comparison is against other budget Chromebooks. The HP OmniBook X Flip and ASUS Zenbook are premium 2-in-1s that make the 3100 feel like a toy. If you need a cheap, durable classroom device, the 3100 holds its own. If you need a daily driver, any of those competitors will run circles around it.

Pricing is all over the place. We're seeing USD 393 to USD 685 across two US listings, and that spread is wild for a machine this old. At the low end, it's a reasonable buy for a kid's school device. At the high end, you're getting robbed. If you're shopping, aim for the cheaper listing and don't pay a cent over USD 400. Anything more and you're better off with a newer budget Chromebook.

The Dell Chromebook 3100 is a tank built for classrooms, not coffee shops. It's a 2-in-1 with a spill-resistant keyboard, rubberized edges, and a battery that'll outlast a school day. But the specs are rough. A Celeron N4020, 32GB of eMMC storage, and a 1366x768 screen put this thing near the bottom of our database for raw performance. If you need a cheap, durable Chromebook for a kid who drops things, this is it. If you want anything resembling speed, look elsewhere.

If you're looking for a laptop to edit photos, run demanding apps, or even just multitask heavily, this isn't it. Go grab a used Lenovo Slim 7 or a newer budget Chromebook with at least 64GB storage and a better screen. This Dell is a school machine, period.

The Dell Chromebook 3100 is a single-purpose machine: a rugged school Chromebook for kids who break things. It nails that job. The spill-resistant keyboard, drop-tested chassis, and all-day battery are exactly what a classroom needs. But the Celeron N4020 and 32GB storage make it painful for anything beyond basic web tasks. Buy it used, buy it cheap, and don't expect miracles.