Customer Ratings & Reviews

WOW, this laptop has the goods, 16g Ram, Infinity Edge UHD monitor, 1tb ssd drive, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, Sculpted CNC Enclosure. This well optioned laptop is perfect for the home office. It will take about everything you throw at it. Granted this is not a gamer laptop, this one is great for large file CADs, Big Raw picture files or High Quality Video etc. The XPS Ships with the latest Win 10 (20H2) after starting it up for the first time and running updates I uninstalled a few Items (I consider bloat ware) then installed Light room and Go Pro Quick. (Tip: Upon first boot, for those who do not wish to log in to a WINDOWS account. Skip adding it to a Wi-Fi network or plug in to one. It will give you the option to skip it, otherwise you are locked in to creating or logging in to windows.) My previous laptop wouldn’t even play high quality capture from my Go Pro, the thing bogged down making it very difficult to clip or cut videos where I wanted. My first test was to take my GoPro time lapse file pictures from the Grand Canyon and make a video of sun up and sun down. I was able to complete this and edit it in under 15 minutes with no clipping or bogging down. I got the results I was looking for. The UHD Touch Screen Monitor really rocks. Very crisp through the entire screen. Next up took a ton of my raw picture files (24mb plus) and imported them, ran my usual tweaks to all my photos in a batch file in light room. And they were finished in record time. The 16gb of ram and the I7 8 core processor did the trick. When the unit was processing it got hot pretty quick and the fans cooled it down fairly quick. It was hot enough I had to remove it from my lap until it cooled down. The CNC enclosure is extremely tough and helps protect the 17 inch touch screen, but man is this thing heavy. It weighs in at about 6 lbs. more than the usual laptops of this size but when packed with this many goodies, the weight is not an issue. The speakers are very nice and clear, if anything maybe a slight adjustment is needed to the mid tones but not bad at all. The keyboard has bigger keys, great for us slow typers ha-ha, the Touch pad is extra sized which I found very useful while do the picture edits. I ran a couple of Benchmarks that came back great for the laptop (see pics) In Novabench the score was a very respectable 3245, which ranked it in the 97 percentile and 84% better than the average laptop (score of 1759) when compared to a much more powerful laptop as you can see if fared very well. The CPU score was only -7% compared to a I9-10885, but the best thing was the overall score. it was 7% better than a I9 or a Ryzen 9 4900hs with GTX1650 or Radeon pro 5500M I would not hesitate to recommend this to family and friends, this one will last for some time to come!!

This laptop makes its presence known out of the box. From a distance it may look unsuspecting but upon closer inspection you’ll find this is a beautifully designed chassis. It’s no lightweight but the symmetry of the in/outputs that couldn’t be more convenient make up for anything it lacks in the weight department. The hinge is very sturdy. Sturdy enough to make it difficult to open the lid. But in all honesty, this is a desktop replacement. For the amount of power under the lid I feel it’s an understandable tradeoff. The screen is super responsive to touch controls. I could not get this to stutter when attempting to stress test it. Everything was fluid with my input in Office programs, various browsers, CAD files, etc. So long as I knew exactly what output I was supposed to get with my touch, it was a completely fluid experience. I feel that responsiveness made it much easier to adapt to a new program on the fly. The palm rest is a very soft and almost velvety feeling cover. It provides enough grip and comfort and doesn’t come close to digging in on your hands over extended periods of time. I also didn’t feel a substantial amount of heat being dispersed on my hands either which was a pleasant surprise as well. The trackpad is generously sized. And if you are not used to something like that, it might actually be a bit in the way. What you can’t take from it is the precision it offers. I habitually use a trackball no matter what computer I’m on and I found myself using the trackpad more than I would have expected. The keyboard is very clean. It’s not something that really stands out but it does give that feeling it’s there for the long haul. It’s comfortable and the key response allows for a comfortable typing experience. The illumination is excellent and subtle. On startup you will need to get a few updates. This model required a few firmware updates so you are going to want to keep this plugged in and charged to full before you do anything along those lines. Registration options are offered for Dell’s included warranty on this first startup as well. Performance values shown are straight out of the box. Drivers and software were all updated but nothing was removed from anything that would be running out of the box. There is definitely work that can be done that can improve these values. And I would very much suggest doing so. Even without any fine tuning, I was easily able to work through files and projects my desktop can even struggle with at times. 2K video from my Sena and 4K video from my iPhone files were easy to work with and render using this laptop. Photo editing has been incredibly smooth. You can’t argue with such a quality product like this. Particularly in this market where you can’t find a GPU like this unless you stand in line overnight. This is the whole package if you need a serious upgrade and want to take it on the go. And you won’t go wrong with this decision.

Buckle up! There is a LOT that I have to say about this laptop. Packaging: Dell put a log of thought into the unboxing experience...as they should. In the era of YouTube it's important to feel good about your purchase when opening the box! The laptop was shipped inside a box within a box and the inside box had a nice matte black finish with magnetic lid that flipped open. Impressive! All the accessories were tucked away underneath the laptop so that all you saw was the clean aluminum presented to you. Setup: Standard Windows set-up here. Pretty boring if you ask me. It's a little underwhelming for your first viewing experience on what is undoubtedly a gorgeous screen to be a big blue box with a list of countries and an annoying Cortana voice announcing to your wife that another gadget has entered our home. This is not Dell's fault. Do better Microsoft. Hardware impressions: This thing is a BEAST! It's not exactly portable in the sense that you'd want to lug it around all over campus, but certainly movable. The top/bottom aluminum is sleek and very classy. No notes there! Inside I would have rather seen a continuation of the same aluminum finish rather than the carbon fiber finish. Screen: Oh my god. The screen. Yes. Please. Finally a Windows screen that I can love. If you're debating between the UHD+ or a FHD+ display it's so worth it. Colors are great and it's so sharp. I can never go back. Thunderbolt: :) Yes. Thunderbolt. The Windows unicorn. I have a LG 5K monitor that I use with another fruity laptop. It's Thunderbolt only and and I've been dying to get a Windows laptop that I can use with it. I'm happy to report that it works with flying colors! I have an ethernet cable, and micorphone plugged into the monitor and when plugging the one thunderbolt into the Dell everything sprung to life and worked perfectly! Beautiful! Trackpad: I'm not going to dock any stars for the laptop overall, but here is an area where I'm not exactly impressed. The trackpad is HUGE and it feels smooth enough. I did have trouble knowing where to click. I thought I was clicking in the lower left corner and it would trigger a right click. There is also an audible creak when you lightly rest your thumb in the lower middle of the trackpad. I find that I prefer using a mouse to this trackpad so far. Performance: I dabble in video editing and this was the main purpose for wanting this laptop. I use Adobe Premier and was interested in a larger screen with high resolution for editing and a more capable processor and GPU for rendering. I was absolutely blown away by how responsive the software was to my edits and how smooth the rendering was before export. The additional screen real estate and color accuracy was a godsend as I was editing and correcting some old VHS captured footage. Processing power was also best in-class. I was able to export a 15 minute video in under 90 seconds with some basic titles and transitions. Battery: As expected for something as large as this, with a screen this impressive, battery life isn't that great. I was able to us Adobe for around 3 hours before it was pestering me to plug in. Again - this probably isn't for someone who needs ultra portability and the ability to go all day without plugging in. If you're setting up shop at a cubicle or at a Starbucks with access to an outlet - then this wouldn't be a concern. Overall, I am REALLY impressed with the XPS line. It's premium in every sense of the word and will really improve my productivity!

Dell certainly did a good job imaging and designing this computer. First, we have to look at the way it comes packaged. It comes in a sleek, black, magnetic close tab box-very sexy and classy. So, right out of the gate, this certainly presents itself as a great and beloved present to not only yourself, but to anyone special who would benefit from a computer like this. The silver outside with the graphite keyboard is smooth and stylish, yet not too gaudy of a design. The box that they place it in is thicker and well insulated against bumps and bangs which was a good thing since the outer cardboard box that this designer box that this computer was nestled in arrived in from FedEx shipping took a little bit of abuse during the shipping processing As you unwrap and open the “gift” box, you see the laptop and It is wedged in the stamped plastic pretty good, so watch trying to get the laptop out. When you first feel the laptop in your hands, you can feel the time and precision Dell put into this computer. In fact, this unit is quite weighty, but not so much that it is not portable. It is not made of cheap plastic molding; again, you can feel the weight of all that they did to make sure the components are kept safe. When you first power on the computer Cortona walks you through the whole setup stage, from the keyboard style, to the facial recognition, all the way to the WIFI setup and registration of the computer. I also enjoy how I can log in under my Microsoft account, I was seamlessly able to jump right into my existing emails and download my Word programming and all my saved documents and files. With the amount of RAM this device has, I have no problems updating and downloading software. I love how the keyboard is made out of carbon fiber and has matte black color design, alleviating fingerprints and other stuff that makes a mess. All the keys seem to respond without any noticeable lag. Also, the keyboard is backlit making it easy and enjoyable to use in the dark while not interrupting anyone else that might be around you. This laptop can be used in any type of business and the one thing that was not included on the keyboard touch area was a 10 key pad, which some of us like to use as we do number digit data entry. The monitor allows the user a fully immersed experience and displays beautiful and sharp imaging, crisp and clean colors that aids the use of this laptop during the creative process, whether the user is an amateur or a professional in either videography, photography, business that requires printing, like a restaurant's menu or a salon's listing of services and associated pricing. In fact this would be great for not only a student in their middle and high school years during their AV classes, but the teacher that needs to prepare their handouts to their students. The use of creativity is part of the business world, and the software that drives and allows the user to do these jobs, must have a computer with a fast processor, a good or great video processor and plenty of RAM memory for power to multi task and do many things at one time, leaving numerous tabs open and the ease to go back and forth between tasks. To that end, I know that most low-cost notebooks and laptops are simply not going to have the umpf to do the job. Overall, this laptop is great-plenty of speed, precision, storage, and memory that allows the gamer, the coder, the videographer, the photographer, the student, the teacher, the business person, etc. the ability to do and use any software, no matter how difficult the task i

This is the newly updated 17" version of the XPS lineup, and the 11th generation Intel processors paired with nVidia's 3060 GPU gives it a respectable boost in performance. With an impressive 4k touch screen at 16:10 ratio screen, it gives you the 17" screen experience in a 15.6" laptop package. On paper, this laptop is quite spectacular and even more so in person. FORM: The laptop itself is built really solidly. While no aluminum feel on the palm rest, the rest of the chassis is metal and little to no flex around the laptop at all. None in the keyboard, and very little on the lid when closed. This is quite impressive as it is a slim laptop design and very few have been able to achieve that. Speakers located on the sides of the keyboard gives you a little more fidelity than the ones that are usually above. Overall, there are no complaints about the form of the laptop. PERFORMANCE: For the most part, the laptop's hardware performs as expected. Userbenchmark shows all hardware landing at or above average. The given hardware is needed to handle all the extra pixels in the 4k screen. So far, every day usage has showed no slowness or lagginess when moving things around the screen. The laptop is extremely responsive and has one of the highest single core performance available. The multicore performance is also respectable, comparable to the 4800H from AMD. Overall, a lot of horsepower to get you through your tasks. FUNCTIONALITY: This part of the review can be subjective, as a lot of it is opinion based. To be frank, the usability of this laptop does not match up to its specs. It just feels like corners were cut when designing it and that is not what is expected from such an expensive laptop. For starters, the thermals are all over the place. Many times, it will hit it's cap at 100 degrees celsius doing basic tasks and running programs, and the cpu will throttle down. If you want to use this as a gaming laptop, your games may start lagging partway in as the high temperatures force the gpu and cpu to throttle. I was unable to keep constant framerates without using a dedicated laptop cooler. The touchpad is also huge, which seems great at first, but you will soon find it quite annoying as your palms will continuously rest over it while typing. On the topic of typing, the keyboard is very lacking. It is not fun to type on as the keys don't have enough bounciness and feels a little sloppy resulting in more typos. Once you get used to it, you'll start to realize that there is a lack of useful function keys. This may be a 15.6" form factor, but they could have done with putting media keys separately above or something. There's no next/previous, and there's even a key that has no extra function. At the very least, the F9 key could have been a touchpad disable/enable function. If this laptop was meant to be productive, it should have gave the users a more functional keyboard layout. Also, no light or even an image on the power button? There's definitely some questionably design choices and it affects day-to-day usability quite a bit. For reference, I've been using this laptop to program remotely. One last hindrance is that this laptop has NO USB-A ports. Another questionable design as even plugging in your mouse or a USB drive will be a hassle. The do provide you a dongle that has just one USB and HDMI port, but it attaches flimsily and not something you'd use rigorously. CONCLUSION: So you've landed on the laptop and want to see if it's a good fit for you. It does have an impressive screen, one of the best I have used thus far. Very sharp and bright images, which will be extremely useful for the creative user. Price to performance, this laptop falls short. This is NOT a gaming laptop and just passable as a programming laptop. However, for the creative crowd who are into video editing or graphics on the go, this may be a very viable choice. It has the power and tools necessary to give you the edge in creating your best product.

Pros: * Amazing UHD Touchscreen with minimal bezel * Full size and comfortable keyboard * Fast! * Great built-in speakers * Great built-in webcam for Video Meetings * Fingerprint reader for security * Great battery life * Small and light for its screen size Cons: * No numeric keypad * Bulky power adapter Summary: This 17” Dell Notebook will definitely be cross-shopped with other Windows notebooks, but probably also with a MacBook Pro 16” (which I also own). The days of Mac vs. PC are pretty much over and you can do more less everything you want on either. You can switch between both seamlessly if your files are on cloud drives, considering that most creative and professional apps work as well on both. So it basically comes down to which package do you like? The 16” MacBook Pro is no slouch, but this 17” Dell Notebook is faster and has a much better screen in a chassis that just 1/2” wider but otherwise the same physical size! That screen is stunning… full UHD 4k resolution with a bright and accurate color palette. The combination of the huge trackpad and a full touchscreen makes navigation a breeze - especially if you have a lot of apps open at the same time on that high-resolution screen. For greater security and ease of use, you can enable Windows Hello with the camera or the fingerprint scanner; both worked equally well with Windows 10. I’m a User Experience Designer by trade and spend my days designing and documenting UIs and sitting on video meetings. I threw all of my normal apps at this Dell; the full Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, the full Microsoft Office Suite, etc.. I was able to juggle more than enough to fill up my screen (and day) while also joining live Teams video meetings. This notebook would not slow down or heat up. What more can you ask for? I only have a few small suggestions for improvement. While the keyboard is full-size and easy to type on, a numeric keypad would be a welcome addition. I’m sure one could be fit in with not too much difficulty. The second is the power adapter; it’s a standard Dell design but USB-C on the end instead of the older-style barrel plug. You can wrap that captive PC-side cord around the adapter body, but the wall-end cord still has to dangle and won’t easily wrap around… at least you can unplug that end if you want to be totally tidy. While the adapter is not as large as other Dell notebooks that I’ve used, it still can’t be called “small” by any means. Overall, this attractive Dell notebook has a comfortable keyboard, a beautiful 4k screen and tons of power under the hood in a chassis that doesn’t weigh you down or take up a full desk. It’s easy to carry around everything you need and still have room to spare in your bag. While I love my Mac, this Dell notebook is what I’ll spend my days working on.

Immediately after taking the XPS17 out of the box, I was shocked by how small the chassis is. It is just slightly bigger than my 15” Precision 5530, which has been my daily work driver for the last 2 years. The aluminum finish simply looks sleek and elegant. The carbon fiber palm rest area is great for resisting smudges and fingerprints. Based on my experience from my previous model, the material stays fairly in good condition after daily use. I am also glad that the top can be opened with one hand (don’t know why I care so much) and stays up with minimum wobble. The chiclet keyboard has good travel, decent spacing, and feels great to type on. There is very little deck bending. The keys light up brightly and precisely. While I miss the Numpad that most 17” laptops have, the extra space allows for bigger speaker grills, and in the end, I didn’t really mind at all. The trackpad is huge, which I absolutely love. It is very responsive with gestures and taps but does feel a bit mushy and not as clicky as my Precision model. It certainly makes dragging and selecting a bit less satisfying. This model is compatible with Windows Hello as well as fingerprint access biometrics, which is excellent when one is wearing a mask nowadays. I was a little bummed that this laptop had only USB-C ports since I still use legacy devices. It is a good thing that Dell included a handy dongle with USB-A and HDMI support, although I still recommend getting a more versatile USB-C hub. Even better, all ports are Thunderbolt 4, which is ideal for a dual monitor setup without the need for a docking station. Plus, you can use any port for charging. I am glad that Dell still decided to include an SD-card reader and a 3.5mm audio jack. When it comes to upgradability, Dell made it so easy. Simply open the back, and you can add another MVMe.2 SSD on the empty slot, which already has a heatsink, and also upgrade the memory as needed. I appreciate the XPS17 features Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, which makes it a bit more future-proof. The 97W battery lasted short of 5 hours of work use and light gaming, which is typical. It does take a bit over 2 hours to fully charge. By the way, that 130W power brick can get a bit toasty. Now, I am honestly and utterly amazed by the gorgeous 17" UHD+ (4K, 3840 x 2400) display. Personally, I am a fan of the 16:10 aspect ratio, which allows more of the web pages on screen, as well as worksheets, and presentations. Although the black bars are wider when watching wide and ultrawide aspect content, I got used to that quickly. At 500 nits in HDR, it is bright enough even in sunny conditions, and the anti-reflective coating helps. Even if it is not OLED, 4K HDR content looks amazing with deep blacks and bright white contrasts. The IPS display covers 100% sRGB, AdobeRGB 99%, P3 91%, and NTSC 93% color gamut, which makes it excellent for my light video and photo content creation. Although I do not like to smudge the beautiful screen, this model also has a touch display which comes in handy, especially when zooming. Sadly, it has no s-pen support. Another nice surprise is the sound quality, which usually is not the best in Windows laptops. The quad forward-firing speaker setup delivers loud, clear sound, and even some welcomed bass. A fellow co-worker commented on how well it sounded and thought I had external speakers. Great job dell! When it comes to performance, I am happy to say that I am impressed so far. This particular model has an i7 11-gen processor, 16GB RAM, and an RTX 3060. I found that this is a great combo for medium/heavy workloads, quality video editing, and moderately layered photoshopping. For those who like benchmarks, the unit scored as follows: Geekbench Single-core: 1568, multi-core: 8781 Cinebench R15 All cores/threads 1760, OpenGL 192 fps, CPU 4450 Adobe Premiere 15.4: 622 3Dmark Time Spy: 5920 Please keep in mind that the XPS17 is not marketed as a gaming laptop. However, since some of us like to wind down with a little gaming after work (or in between), and this laptop does have an RTX 3060 (70W), I am happy to report that I was able to play current games at high/ultra-settings at decent frame rates. Sure, I was not able to crank up the resolution to 4K and get good frames with AAA titles, but at 1080p and 1440p I always hit the performance I wanted. Since the screen is only 60Hz, going over 60 fps is kind of pointless anyway. Below are some games with no raytracing at 1440p that hit at least 60 fps, and look great on this display: Forza Horizon 4: 112 fps. Battlefield V: 85 fps. (Ultra) Doom Eternal: 93 fps. (Ultra) GTA V: 116 fps. (Very High) The Witcher 3: 69 fps. (Ultra, hairworks on) Red Dead Redemption 2: 70 fps (High, DLSS) Cyberpunk 2077: 63 fps (high, DLSS) If you want higher frames, you can always hook it up to a higher-refresh monitor as I did (1080p, 240Hz). Having put the laptop through some heavy stuff, the thermals were much better than expected. For such a small chassis, the laptop stayed at around 80c average when gaming, with a couple of stress tests pushing it above 90c. I did not experience noticeable throttling. This is an impressive feat of engineering on Dell’s part because of the thin form factor. Yes, the fans can get a bit loud, but that’s to be expected. If there is a real negative about this laptop, is the terrible 720p .09mp camera, which looks incredibly awful, especially in dim lighting settings. The microphone is not all that great either. In a workstation setup with an external camera and microphone, this is a non-issue. Sure, the cam/mic combo works well enough in a pinch, however, at this price, it is rather disappointing. In the end, I am overly impressed with all the bells and whistles Dell managed to cram into this relatively small device. The way I use it, it covers all bases, and I would even consider it a legit desktop replacement. OK, so the XPS17 is not cheap, that is for sure. Nevertheless, if you are a content creator or serious about your work, and do not want to walk into a meeting with a full RGB gaming laptop, this 17” little giant will do perfectly.

============================ >>>>> Bottom Line Up front: <<<<< ============================ The Dell XPS 17 9710 is a well thought out and executed 17-inch class laptop. From the smooth matte silver aluminum CNC chassis, to its thin bezels that hold an eye popping 4K touch screen display – the XPS 17 both looks and acts like premium laptop in every regard. Generally speaking, most notebooks in this class are often going for a “desktop replacement” focused design and performance theme – meaning maximum size for increased productivity on the go - usually at the expense of reduced portability, diminished battery life, and increased unit weight. In my opinion, I can honestly say Dell didn’t let any of these major pitfalls affect the XPS 17 9710 in any major way. If you’re not looking to acquire a “hardcore gaming” style laptop, but still want to have top shelf components, capable of handling application development, video editing, and encoding without breaking a major sweat – the XPS 17 9710 should be super high on your list. ===================================== >>>>> Packaging/Unboxing/Aesthetics: <<<<< ===================================== Aesthetically speaking, one word – wow. From an exterior perspective, the XPX 17 9710 looks like it was cut from a solid piece of matte silver aluminum. Thanks to the CNC design/construction, the main chassis benefits from tight panel gaps, sharp looking design angles, and overall exudes a minimalist style that checks of the “professional” style boxes in my book. The carbon fiber palm rest area and chicklet style keyboard only “ups” this fact even more. Input wise, you can easily identify the x4 Thunderbolt4/ USB-C ports (2x on each side), cable lock, head phone jack, and even an SD card reader (gasp!) with just a simple glance. Just lifting the laptop out the box you can feel what I can only describe as a “substantially good” heft to it. Its not like the XPS 17 9710 is super heavy or anything like that, but I have handled more than a few laptops in this size range that have felt like cheap plastic toys, that creaked at the hinges or suffered from screen/chassis flex under regular usage scenarios. I am happy to report that is not the case here. From a packaging and unboxing perspective, If you have any familiarity with Dell laptops or components in the past, you’re not in for too much of a surprise. For those folks who are uninitiated, Dell always does a good job of packing and supporting their notebooks and corresponding goodies safely and securely for shipment. Unboxing the XPS 17 9710 consists of removing the laptop from its somewhat understated all black outer cardboard shipping box, and then removing/peeling off all of the plastic tape and wraps. I like the fact Dell uses 100% recycled plastics inside of the main laptop box, and even goes so far as to print that fact on the packing material with little graphical whales to catch your attention. You’ll find you have everything you need to get up running within minutes of plugging in, but there isn’t any kind of blatantly obvious “quick start” graphical guide plastered to/around the box (or inside the laptop itself) that some people prefer to have. That being said, I think if you’re looking at purchasing this type laptop, you already know most of the basics already. Most of the documentation is located in the little black carboard insert box, however the documentation may not be the most reader friendly sized font. I was also pleasantly surprised at the included Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) adaptor/dock dongle that was included in the box as well. This makes it super easier to add an HDMI 2.0b and USB 3.1 Type-A (1st Gen USB) device/display if needed right out the box. ============================================= >>>>> Personal Usage Observations/Performance: <<<<< ============================================= This XPS 17 9710 is packing some of Intel’s and Nvidia’s latest and greatest tech for this generation, and it showed. The fact that it is Nvidia Creator Studio qualified means you’ll be able to knock respectable content creation tasks out the door thanks to high performance parts inside required to meet that certification. Without going into super detailed technical specifications just knowing it has Intel’s latest “Tiger Lake” series Core i7 (11800H) and Nvidia’s RTX 3060 graphics paired together, should pretty much surmise what this laptop is capable of. Throw in a stunning 16:10 aspect ratio 4K touchscreen display, a very fast and very large 1TB NVMe (PCIE 3.0) M.20 SSD … in addition to 16GB of DDR4-3200 of system memory … and I only further my previous statement. I normally spend a good amount of time working within an integrated developer environment so the extra screen real-estate that the XPS 17-inch screen provides me is much appreciated. The fact the 4K touch screen is capable of reproducing 100% of the sRGB color gamut keeps piling onto what the 9710 is graphically capable of. I spend a fair amount of time working with Adobe Lightroom from time to time and it was an absolute pleasure to work with a desktop quality 4K screen when I needed to. As I mentioned before, the 9710 has an 6GB NVIDA RTX 3060 handling the graphical duties, so nothing I threw at really made the laptop break a sweat, but keep in mind that there are more graphical attuned laptops with more powerful GPU options if video editing and production is your sole reason for purchase. From a day-to-day perspective, I found the XPS 9710 super easy to use. Thanks to the 16:10 aspect ratio, you can fit a reasonable amount of text/documents on the screen at any given time. The mousepad was generously sized and had a nice centralized location. I didn’t have any issues with gesture recognition either. The sound provided by the duo up firing speaker grills sounded excellent and left me impressed with that amount of volume they push out. I was more than able to knock my daily dev work, juggle multiple spreadsheets and even get Adobe Lightroom work done at the same pace I normally do with my Alienware Area 51-M. The backlit keyboard was solid performer for my usage patterns, but wasn’t what I would consider my ideal keyboard type if your super heavy into data entry like I am. I am not generally a fan of chicklet style keyboards to be fair – as I prefer that tactile response a good mechanical keyboard provides for marathon data entry activities. I did miss NOT having a dedicated NUM pad as I use spreadsheets quite often, but it wasn’t a deal breaker for me given the key layout and general usability of the keyboard. The back light was spot on, with minimal light bleed and was adjustable, no issues there. There is also a dedicated key that can be configured as a finger print reader if that is more your thing/requirement. Generally, speaking I was able to have multiple VMware virtualized environments (3-4 at a time), and my regular development software running without any major performance dips. Yeah, there were some minor dips in overall system performance when I tried to do that while having 6-8 Chrome tabs, Microsoft Office suite products like Excel, and video multimedia streaming going on simultaneously.. Under this type of usage conditions, I could noticeably hear the system fans come to life, which was only made more noticeable since i could barely hear them otherwise. This is where I would say there is one area, I would recommend thinking about sizing up to an XPS 17 model with 32GB of system RAM if you find yourself pulling similar workloads, but everyone else you should be good to go. I found the 720p webcam to be a little underwhelming, but it worked well enough. Everything tended to come out on the “washed out” side, and it seemed to over saturate colors in low light. That’s in no way a deal breaker for me, and I don’t think it will be for most. I also play more than my fair share of games while not “on clock” and I was pleasantly surprised how well this 9710’s configuration handled games … especially considering its not outright “gaming” dedicated machine. Given its hardware configuration, you shouldn’t be surprised to see it mentioned in some comparisons with Dell’s own Alienware laptop line (my other “main” driver) in addition to ASUS or HP’s offerings as well. I found I was able get a very smooth and highly detailed (read: most eye candy) experience with almost all of my favorites like Fortnite, Battlefield, Call of Duty, The Division -SO LONG AS YOU KEPT IT AT 1080 resolution. Once I started kicking it up to 2K, the eye candy and frame rate started dipping into 30-60FPS - depending on the game. And while the 9710’s 4K screen is truly stunning, the RTX3060 inside is still a “mobile” variant that doesn’t quite perform on par with a desktop system or more dedicated gaming laptop that has les system performance restrictions. ========================= >>>>> Closing thoughts: <<<<< ========================= If I had to pick one laptop to do it all – this would be it. The XPS 17 9710 manages to be and do all things that I need – while looking super professional at the time. Be it for my development work, or just a quick gaming session on the go – this laptop handled it with aplomb. As much as I like my other 17 inch “desktop replacement” – this does everything just as well, actually better in most cases, while lasting more than a couple hours away from a wall outlet. Yeah, there are some other competitors that may be a tad lighter, or mildly more powerful CPU/GPU options – but I think this 9710 really strikes the right balance. Invest in a dedicated web cam if you need top quality video conferencing, however the built camera is passable. Just watch out for irritated wrists caused by the sharp exterior angles of out carbon fiber palm area and you should be just fine.

Best Buy Tech Insider Network Review Dell - XPS 17" UHD+ Touch Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060- 1TB SSD - Platinum Silver --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't really feel good about doing a review on the above-mentioned product but I will review it as I received it. I generally receive new products through Best Buy's TIN program but the PC I got was obviously refurbished. I have had several problems operationally with this system. I have had to reboot several times and muscle power down twice in about three days. The system looked good when I received it but since I have tried to use it, it has been frustrating so far. I don't blame Dell or Best Buy for the issues I am having but my review will reflect what I received. I received this elegant PC with dynamic specs as a part of the Tech Insider program. This is my review: The specs: Intel i7 Processor 11th Gen (VERY FAST) 16GB RAM 17" UHD+ Touch Screen (BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY WITH 2 PIXELS UNLIT) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 306 1TB SSD - Platinum Silver (VERY FAST AND LARGE STORAGE) Backlight Keyboard and large touchpad mouse 4 Thunderbolt (USB-C) Ports SD Card Reader (SDXC disks come with adapters Headphone Jack Included an external HDMI and USB port (Connects to USB-C) 4 Speaker stereo - The sound is ok but PC speakers have always been inadequate in my opinion ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As listed, it is easy to determine that this is a well appointed laptop. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The issues I have had since I started using this device: I had one absolute lockup for no apparent reason The Screen went black once for no apparent reason Some normal Windows functions failed or seem non-existent Still having network issues connecting to other local computers but I need more time to investigate why. Some other minor frustrations. I have only had this PC for a few days and I am willing to try to smooth out some of these issues. I think if I was in the need of a high end laptop like this one, I would not have any problem recommending it. I might need help from Best Buy or Dell to smooth out some of the hardware issues I'm having. I still have hope that I will be able to depend on this PC as I have others I have purchased for the last 35 years.

For someone in need of a desktop replacement PC for creative content that doesn't want to lug around a gaming PC, this machine looks the part with a machined aluminum shelf, and carbon fiber center body, which has a slightly rubbery feel much more pleasant than either plastic or aluminum in other systems. It's fairly thin and while it weights over 5 lbs., it's very reasonable considering this has a 17" 4K+ screen. The screen in this particular model is the center of attention: 17" in 16:10 4K+ configuration (3840x2400), and HDR capable. I much prefer the 16:10 format for editing images than the more common 16:9 on PCs. Movies also work great because the controls and don't necessarily overlap with the image. The screen is also touchscreen, and has the thinnest of bezels I've seen on a PC, so it covers about the whole shell, in every side. Note that this is not a 2-in-1 so while it's touchscreen, it does not support active pens. Also note that while it's HDR, it's not calibrated and the standard colors are too saturated. Keyboard is good, with good travel on its island-type keys. It's comfortable to type as far as laptop keyboards go. Something I find odd is that the left/right arrow keys are oversized while the up/down keys are half-size, packed on one slot. My preference would've been an inverse-T configuration. It's backlighted with two dim levels and off (white). The trackpad is massive and very responsive. I like it a lot. The key in the top left corner is an unmarked key that is the power button if pressed and also acts as a fingerprint sensor. I've seen this same configuration in other newer Dell laptops and find it confounding why it has no labels for such important functions. The web camera sits on the top bezel, and has IR sensors, so it works with Windows Hello (So this laptop can use either fingerprint or camera for authentication). The camera is 720p, which works fine but expected better for a PC at this level. Low-light is acceptable but on the blurry side. CPU is the now-current 11th gen i7 (8 cores), paired with 16 GB RAM (DDR4, 3200 MHZ), which is expandable, and a very capable 1 TB SSD. Ports: it has four Thunderbolt4/USB4 ports: Two (primary) on the left side and two on the right. There's also a lock port on the left and on the right, the headphone jack and SD-Card reader. Power comes from a rather large adapter: Rated for 130 W, USB-C connector (I know USB-C PD is generally limited to 100W, but this adapter is indeed rated for 130 W). Because of this, about any other USB-C adapter I tried, it warns that is charging slowly. It does not warn when using a dedicated 3rd party USB-C PD 100W adapter. The system comes in with a neat port adapter: One USB-C to USB 3.0 and HDMI 2.0. And of course, this model comes with an NVIDIA RTX 3060 with 6 GB RAM. While this does not outperform the best gaming laptops, it's more than capable for video processing as well as games, being much thinner, lighter and runs cooler. Wi-Fi is very good, better than other 11th gen laptops with WiFi-6 that I used. In measuring speeds, it can sustain about 400 MBPs upload and download being right next to the base station, and about 200 Mbps while being about 30 ft away with some wall obstructions. The battery is 6-Cell (97WHr) but the large 4K screen and GPU can take a toll on it so it might not last as much. External displays: Mixed feelings here: The embedded video (Intel) can drive the laptop's 4K+ screen and one 1080p monitor but adding a second 1080p monitor via a thunderbolt dock, it could only mirror the screen in one of those. To wire the thunderbolt ports to the NVidia GPU, I found the only way is to go to the BIOS (Pressing F2) and enable "Direct Graphics Controller Direct Output Mode". This is of course nowhere to be found on the system itself and found it searching online. The good thing is that it can be done. Bundled software: Fairly clean of 3rd party promo-ware, except for McAfee, for which I needed to run an uninstaller downloaded from McAfee since uninstalling it from Windows doesn't completely removed it, and it was installed even while I did not accept it on the initial setup screen. It also installed Alexa for PC and Spotify. This was simple to remove. There were also a couple of 'promo' stuff that was easily removed. What amused me is the plethora of Dell-branded utility tools this comes with, some of them redundant. Some drivers installed via Microsoft store or Microsoft upgrade, others via Dell Support Assist and others from Dell Update. There's also a collection of tools from Intel, NVidia, audio and Wi-Fi 'helper' tools. A bit too much for someone that prefers clean installs. Anyways, all of this works fine and it's to be expected in about every Windows laptop. Packaging: Arrived in a Del shipping box, with inside contains a nice black reusable box (made of recycled materials) and the computer and each component came wrapped in a cellophane-like cover. The only caveats for me, is that for a system intended for creative work, the screen should've come calibrated and management of the external ports (GPU vs Intel) could be improved. Also, Pen support would've been useful even though it's not a 2-in-1 system. Overall, very pleased with this system, considering this is Dell's current-flagship system, it's as good as it gets on a 17" professional Windows system.

The XPS line has always been the premium line among the Dell consumer laptop lineup, and this XPS 9710 laptop featuring an Intel Core i7 11th generation processor, 17” UHD+ Touch 16:10 4K Screen, Nvidia RTX 3060, 16GB of ram and 1TB SSD is no slouch. The laptop chassis has a sleek aluminium body that weighs a hefty 5.9lbs; this is no lightweight carry on either. It’s built to be a mobile desktop replacement, a go anywhere, do anything kind of machine. Built for the creators, this machine can also be used for gaming. The top-notch specs are more designed for the video and graphics editors, programmers and other creators than say gamers, but that said, this laptop can do it all should the need arise. I absolutely love this laptop. The packaging was unique, a box within a box. Well protected, the XPS was actually hard to remove; between the weight of the laptop and the tight fit, it really was quite the struggle. The laptop comes with a warranty card, a 130W USB-C power adaptor and a USB-C to HDMI / USB-A dock. The laptop features are unique to this class of machine, as it supports windows hello, a feature that shoehorns an infrared camera in the ultra-thin bezel of the screen to allow your face to unlock your computer, but if that wasn’t enough, there is also a fingerprint sensor on the power button. The laptop design is robust and should hold up rather well in the long run. I was thrilled to see an actual real-world ‘cooling’ solution for this laptop. Huge vents exhaust hot air below the screen, and while the top of the keyboard and the metal strip between the keyboard and the screen can get very hot, the fact is there is actual airflow cooling this CPU and GPU under heavy loads is reassuring. It may be necessary to raise the bottom of the laptop a bit as the intakes are on the bottom, and as such, using it on a soft surface is not recommended. Booting up the laptop for the first time was no hassle, but I did find that I had to run the Dell Update, along with the Microsoft Windows Update, before I could install any of my applications. There were a number of bios and firmware patches, along with software and driver updates; these required the laptop to be plugged in to complete. I also manually update the Nvidia driver to the latest version as the Windows update did not do that. This Dell laptop did not have much bloatware; if there was any, I did not see anything out of the ordinary. It does come with 20Gb free Dropbox storage for a year should you need some online cloud backup. The keyboard and trackpad experience is very good. The backlit keyboard is amazing for a typist. I did find the keyboard just perfect for typing; the feel of the keyboard and keystrokes are actually quite perfect, almost pure joy. I will admit, I am missing a 10-key number pad, but your use case may not require one. The trackpad is smooth and large, button-free and features multi-touch including zoom, one does not need an external Bluetooth mouse, but I would recommend you get one anyway. From the creator standpoint, the 8 core, 16 thread Core i7-11800H is plenty powerful. I have been editing videos and images on my regular workstation; I moved files over, installed DaVinci Resolve 17 and got to work. The editing workloads were completed quite fast, and I’d say a good 10-15% faster than the older generation desktop that I’ve been using thus far—Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator After Effects loaded and worked plenty fast. The colour accuracy of the screen is very good, and I did not have to do much colour calibration prior to getting work done. The only downside to the bright screen, it’s reflective, so your editing may require appropriate ambient lighting to suit your needs. Given the specs, this machine allows for one to go on the road, not having to be tied to a desk for your creative needs. Interfaces for the laptop are a bit troubling if you have a lot of USB-3 and USB-2 devices in USB-A format, as this laptop requires a USB-C Dock or adapter to work legacy devices. The laptop only features USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, which can be used for video output (up to 4 screens), data and power. The laptop does support a built-in SD Card reader and a headphone/microphone with 3.5mm output, so in a pinch, you can transfer images/videos and use a spare wired headphone. The USB-C only interface did cause me a bit of an issue as my drives are not USB-C, but this can be solved by getting a USB Hub or a USB-C dock to provide additional connectivity. Overall, my experience with this laptop is positive. It’s good for a student going to college, a social media star, or someone who works in the creative fields, be it writing, editing or video or graphic design. The weight of the laptop and lack of legacy USB ports may put people off, but they are not a huge issue for most people. The weight can be an issue, but that comes from the solid build quality. Pros: * Windows Hello Face & Fingerprint sensor * Real cooling for the laptop CPU and GPU * The keyboard and Touchpad feel * Bright 4K screen quality and good touch responsiveness featuring HDR10 (when plugged in). * Battery life is acceptable when running unplugged, managed for 3+ hours without hassle. Cons: * No 10-key, hard for someone who uses the 10-key for random things * Heavy, but also very well built * USB-C only

I typically veer away from Dell when shopping for laptops, but I must admit this one won me over. Out of the box the first thing I noticed was how sturdy this laptop feels. The aluminum shell gives it a premium feel from the typical plastic most laptops are built with, with the only tradeoff being that it feels slightly heavier. As advertised, this laptop comes with a 17” UHD infinity edge screen but the body of the laptop is the same size (if not smaller) than most 15” laptops. I was so surprised by the compact size of this laptop that I had to measure the screen because it didn’t seem like it could possibly be 17”. Sure enough, the screen does measure at 17” and when placed side-by-side with my 15.6” laptop, the two bodies are nearly the same size. While the bodies between the two laptops are nearly identical in size, the screen of the Dell is noticeably larger and superior. The screen is crisp, with vibrant coloring, and the infinity edge means there is practically no dead space within the body of the screen – as opposed to the wide borders on the screen of my 15.6” laptop. The touchscreen is very accurate as well. The keyboard has more of a soft touch aspect to it than my older laptop, and its size and layout makes it very comfortable to use. The mousepad is much larger than many laptops but doesn’t appear to be problematic when typing. The mousepad is also very responsive and accurate, but I still prefer to use a regular mouse. Since the only available ports are the four thunderbolt / USB-C ones, Dell is kind enough to include a small adapter with one USB-A port and one regular HDMI port. The laptop also comes with a built-in SD card reader and, surprisingly, a headphone/microphone jack. The performance of this laptop is excellent, as expected, as it is well equipped. The included features are not only superb for performance but also longevity, which is why I think this would be an excellent laptop for a college-bound student. It’s definitely a bit of splurge in the price, but between the equipped features, compact size, and aluminum shell, this laptop should be very dependable for many years. This would even be a great laptop for the self-employed professional. PROs - Performance & features - Compact design - UHD infinity edge screen - Soft touch, backlit keyboard - Aluminum shell - Battery life - Included USB-B and HDMI adapter - Almost zero fan noise CONs - Numeric keypad is not included - Adequate cooling still a concern - (After loading a big Windows update, the bottom of the laptop felt really warm, but I could not feel the heat on the keyboard side. I did not have any noticeable heat when running multiple programs including Adobe Lightroom.) - Price - Slightly annoyed with the location and lack of identification of the power button – it’s on the keyboard, top right button next to the delete button, without any marking on it.

The Dell XPS 17 UHD+Touchscreen Laptop with an Intel Core i7-16G Memory/Ram-NVidea GeForce RTX3060-!TB SSD-Platinum Silver all-aluminum shell simply put is in a class of its own. This Laptop is your Quentisential high-end production laptop for creators and coincidentally has the Graphics power for gaming as well and can easily serve as a dual-purpose machine. This Laptop is equipped with hardware that has the power to speed up processing for workload and graphics power for on-the-go gaming as well as a large one terabyte SSD to store videos, pictures etc. This Dell 17 inch laptop is very compact comparable to the size of a 15 inch and just oozes with high-end quality. While at the same time it still provides plenty of ports to plug-in accessories. The 4k screen is just outstanding and the best I have seen on a laptop easily. Combine that with accurate colors and a factory calibration meant to satisfy the professional creator and you have a Laptop that will satisfy the most demanding customers. I have had Dell monitors for years and now have 3 Dell Laptops in our family and as far as I am concerned Dell’s products are unrivaled in the industry when it comes down to the higher-end products. I am constantly amazed by the 4k screens and even my two Dell 2k 27” monitors. For years Dell has been the leader in high-end Displays and while the XPS backlit keyboard could be improved upon, I am not sure what else they could do besides make better keys as far as the backlighting goes. What I do know is that Dell is the only company I have heard of using Windows 10 software that is pulling away some MAC users just because the quality of their product is on par with Apples. If you want a laptop for professional use to create and edit videos and pictures this Dell XPS 17 is a great choice!

Great display, does not feel like it's only 1080p - almost feels like it's a 4k display. The performance for the specs is great - really like the NVDIA GeForce RTX 3050 display driver, smooth gaming and movie experience. The large touchpad is a bit too large, and the palms accidentally trigger mouse events when not intended while I am trying to type. Hooking up with an external keyboard and mouse would be the only work-around I found that is less annoying with this issue.

Great laptop. Super fast. Graphics are amazing. The only negative thing that I could say, is it has four USB-C ports, and no USB-A ports, so while the computer is amazing you will need to buy adapters if you want to plug in a mouse or a printer. Other than that it is a phenomenal laptop

Great touch screen, great life battery and great size

Runs my CAD programs well. Fast fingerprint reader. Video is good as long the source is good. I am still old school. I do miss the CD drive. Could be lighter, and I do miss the hex pad

Like Dell updated features, but miss dvd slot. Graphics clear and computer is fast.miss Hdmi port, have to use converter, same with USB as the ports are usb c types

Awesome laptop great for everyday use the screen is something else I loved watching content on it the only thing that gets me mad about dell is why is it they always have issues with their speakers and knowing they have good sounding speakers they almost always come defective (popping sounds or distorted) if it wasn’t for that I most likely would’ve kept it even though it’s only 60hz come on dell we need 120hz on a UHD panel it’s about time

Excellent work a day laptop that offers the capabilities of doing graphical work.