Dell Precision 3590 Laptop Review

On my way to purchasing this Dell Precision 3590 laptop I first ordered a Dell Latitude 5540, my third 5540, which was offered at a good price but was back ordered for about a month. After waiting for most of that month, I received a message that the order had been cancelled. No explanation, no apology, no alternative, nothing. Zip.

I complained to Customer Care, suggesting that I should get some benefit or at least an explanation for waiting most of a month. They sent me to Sales, who sent me back to Customer Care, who had summarily closed the complaint. End of story, kiss off Customer. In my view Dell’s treatment was high-handed, uncaring, and dismissive. I won’t be buying anything more from Dell that I can find anywhere else. They keep offering Dell Rewards discounts for more computer hardware. Fat chance!.

But I still wanted the Precision 3590 because, like the 5540, it has hardware features that I could not find elsewhere at near the price. Both computers are upgradable to 64 GB memory and have an internal slot for an auxiliary 2TB SSD drive. I needed those features and, by the way, easily installed the parts myself, saving hundreds of dollars.

The 3590 hardware is mostly OK. More about that in another post. The real problem was the software, including Windows and Dell’s apps.

When the computer arrived here the C Drive SSD contained an ancient version of Windows 11 Pro. It demanded updates upon updates, plus Dell software updates and even an update to the BIOS. Such an incredibly obsolete SSD in my brand new computer!

When all of the updates were completed, the operating system was so bloated that it alone required 148 GB of C-Drive space. Windows Disk Cleanup was unable to remove most of the multi-GB files that should have been removable. UVK couldn’t do anything either. Uninstalling most of the Dell software didn’t help. Installing some of my own apps just made it worse.

Finally I gulped, reformatted the C Drive, and did a "clean install" of a fresh copy of Windows 11 Pro downloaded directly from Microsoft, deleting everything else on the disk. No Dell software or bloatware. While I am not a big fan of Windows (especially 11), the 3590 now works as well as any of my several other Windows 11 computers. It requires 101 GB of C-Drive space including all of my own files and applications. Every night Macrium Reflect reduces this to a zipped and encrypted 49 GB image, saving it to the auxiliary drive. Everything works.

The Precision 3590 is also now dual-booting Windows 11 and Linux Mint Cinnamon. No problems with the software, hardware, or BIOS.

This is an honest review. I wonder if Dell will allow it.

Answer: No, they didn't allow it on their website. Clearly, they are censoring the reviews - they certainly censored mine. Therefore, I don't believe any of the reviews that are actually posted there. Believe them at your peril.