Latitude 3420 - Running slow, Specs seem OK, what do you think?

[TwistedHelixis]

Purchased a few Latitude 3420's about 3 years ago and they are running very slow. For example, clicking to open a PDF can take 20 seconds before it opens. On other systems its only a few seconds.

 

I was told by the teacher that those laptop always have been slow, (I was never informed)

 

I have updated the BIOS and all other Dell systems.

I have tried re-installing Windows 11, but they still still run slow.

 

The annoying thing is they have older cheaper systems with worse specs, that seem to be working much better.

 

These are the specs. Does anything jump out as being an issue?

 

Intel Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 AX201 2x2 802.11ax 160MHz + Bluetoot h 5.1

M.2 256GB PCIe NVMe Class 35 Solid State Drive

11th Generation Intel Core i5- 1135G7 (4 Core, 8M cache, base  2.4GHz, up to 4.2GHz

A Intel i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics CY22

8 GB, 1 x 8 GB, DDR4, 3200 MT/ s, single-channel, Non-ECC

 

UPDATE - These are primary school staff devices, with MS Office, Smart Notebook and a few other basics. 

 

Edited May 22, 2025 by TwistedHelixis

[Oaktech]

Make sure you have the Dell drivers off the website. I've had a similar issue with a specific HP device that has been made a lot better by installing the manufacturer drivers rather than the generic W11 ones, even the optional ones from update didn't work well. It might be worth seeing if it comes to life more with 16gb ram as well.

[RyanT001]

Try installing the Dell Command Update tool from Dell's website. This should pull all the needed drivers and firmware for the device. We have quite a few Latitude 3520 models (of the same spec and roughly the same age), and they can be a bit stroppy using generic drivers.

[MrEprise]

the SSD would be my guess, especially if they're starting to fail or if these are an off-brand model.

Edited May 22, 2025 by MrEprise
Forgot the full stop.

[Olliedawg]

Check the disk health, amount of reads/writes etc.. we use Crystaldisk to do this

 

8GB of memory isn't much nowadays especially with Windows 11

Edited May 22, 2025 by Olliedawg

[TwistedHelixis]

Thanks, Ill wipe a laptop, re install OS, then download the original Dell drivers.

 

Ill then check the SSD.

 

If it is the SSD, can I use non Dell branded drives? The Dell ones are twice the price.

[Olliedawg]

You can use any, just buy a decent brand like Kingston, WD, samsung etc..

[PotNoodleTech]

8GB of ram is not great but shouldnt cause a PDF to hang - SSD could be the culprit you can get some very weird behaviour on old/worn out SSDs