Dell XPS 17 9700 Core i7 Laptop Review: Pretty Much A MacBook Pro 17

[Redaktion]

Can dell dominate the 17-inch market the same way it captured the 15-inch market? The XPS 17 is surprisingly compact with specifications that read like something twice the size, but a few small details miss the mark.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-17-9700-Core-i7-Laptop-Review-Pretty-Much-A-MacBook-Pro-17.480975.0.html

[benkennard]

weird how reviews for macbooks with small bezels aren't titled "basically an xps with mac os"

[PETR VALKOUN]

pitty it has the slow, buggy and overheating intel piece of crap inside.

[_MT_]

Does it actually support S3 sleep? If it's pulling idle power or more than idle power while sleeping, something is wrong.

[Ben6]

Amazing review as always! But isnt it a little unfair to call it "Pretty much a MacBook Pro 17", especially in the title? You call it unique in the review, but in the end just like any other XPS review on here it comes down to comparing it to a MacBook pro, even if there is none to compare.

Why not just call it a very nice or pretty or unique Laptop, or something?

[Yngmar]

USB-C power delivery standards only go up to 100W - that's why the power supply can't deliver more than this over USB-C. Dell cannot fix this while remaining compatible with the standard.

If they would cook their own proprietary extension of the standard, it will only work with the Dell power supply (and cable), which loses them one of the key advantages of having USB-C in the first place - a single cable that delivers power and docking connectors.

So I don't expect there will be a "fix" for this. It's just something to consider before purchase.

Apart from that, I agree with most of the review. The display is the key selling point here, although I wish there would be a non-glossy, non-touch option for the UHD+ display. I loathe gloss and don't need touch. But there is hardly anyone else doing 16:10 displays yet.

Only Microsoft's Surface does good displays in non-Netflix aspect ratios, but their hardware is all glued together with zero expansion or repair options. This one at least has sockets and can be opened, although it sounds like it's still a bit annoying to do.

I would've liked some more connectors too, especially since USB has a sad history of never quite working right. No idea why the "Killer" brand Wifi is such a thing these days, Intel must be heavily discounting this nonsense for OEMs.

I also don't find temperatures well over 40 degrees near the keyboard acceptable - it's painful to touch!

And of course there's no trackpoint :-(

[Phil995511]

Not USB 3.1 type-A connector, only 3 non-standard USB type-C connector ;-(

Almost no one uses this non-standard USB type-C format with fragile connectors !!! Personally I don't want it on my machines !!!

This not a laptop for my...

[doa379]

They still can't get products right.
With all the flexing going on, I'm sure it feels flimsy. They could well afford to bolster the structure of the unit up to make it less flimsy feeling.

[DMagic]

How is it that MSI Creator 17 with fancy mini-led display with local dimming, high brightness and HDR has worse contrast than XPS 17 with plain regular IPS display?

[sdfsdf]

Damn, man... Top Rated Award, 88% overall score, 97% application, 95% games and this laptop can't sustain more than 3GHz and over 1400 score in cinebench during cpu *only* load. Two huge ~65mm fans with the vapor chamber (but still loud as hell) and it can't run games for more than 30 minutes without regular low dips. And that is even with 100W cap on power. I'm sorry, but this one is clearly a garbage, especially when one considers its price: 3k USD. WTF. The rating system should definitely incorporate the price. Such rubbish products should never get these high scores.

[AlexS]

No matte display kills it for me, then the fact that all this power and superb screen ideal for 3D work but can't use it because it uses battery when even when connected to the socket so what is the point?
What are we really paying for 3000?

[Richard235]

weird how reviews for macbooks with small bezels aren't titled "basically an xps with mac os"

Well, that would be invalid because the point of the XPS being similar to the Macbook Pro is the change from 16:9 to 16:10 screens. That is the main selling point in this XPS entry.

[Ihor Yatskiv]

Disappointed by noise level so much. I have expected XPS 17 will be much quieter  :(

[Sterlinger]

what a waste of money, too bad, 4K+ screen is one of a kind at the moment and design is nice but too many problems, and it is not for gamer, not for audio production (DPC Latency problems) and the power supply does not work and the battery will die fast if it is drained that often

[_MT_]

USB-C power delivery standards only go up to 100W - that's why the power supply can't deliver more than this over USB-C. Dell cannot fix this while remaining compatible with the standard.

If they would cook their own proprietary extension of the standard, it will only work with the Dell power supply (and cable), which loses them one of the key advantages of having USB-C in the first place - a single cable that delivers power and docking connectors.

So I don't expect there will be a "fix" for this. It's just something to consider before purchase.

Yes, Dell is pushing 130 W through USB-C. Yes, you need their supply to do it. If you have a generic 100 W USB PD supply, then you'll be limited to 100 W. The problem is that some configurations of XPS 17 can't reach 130 with a 130 W supply and appear to be capped at roughly 100. While other configurations can. XPS 15 can as well.

It means that their solution has an edge over the generic solutions. The laptop is still compliant and is going to work with the generic solutions (e.g. you can recharge on the go from any USB PD charger, even a phone charger). But they won't give you 130 W. It's up to you. And I imagine the supply is compliant as well. If you connect it to anything else, it's going to behave like a 100 W USB PD supply. So, you can use it to recharge other USB PD devices.