Dell XPS 17 9710 11th Gen Intel Laptop Review: Small Changes That Matter

[Redaktion]

The first generation XPS 17 9700 was one of the best-looking 17-inch laptops with Core-H and GeForce RTX graphics, but it had some under-the-hood peculiarities that needed to be ironed out. The new XPS 17 9710 addresses the underlying issues while boosting performance by quite the margin.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-17-9710-11th-Gen-Intel-Laptop-Review-Small-Changes-That-Matter.551056.0.html

[splus]

Why did the battery life go down so much?
Great review, btw!

[Paul Soh]

Actually you can never have enough Thunderbolt 4s, let alone TB3s. However would be nice if 1 USB A even if only one is added to the 4 ports it has.

[Krim]

Previous 9700 models experienced coil whine, did you have that issue with this model @Allen Ngo?

[Yngmar]

Nice, most of my issues with the 9700 were resolved, except for the missing port selection, and apparently that can be had for an extra 135 EUR with the Dell WD15 dock that has Ethernet and USB and all that stuff.

Is there any word on the quality issues Dell had with the new XPS line? Reddit's r/dell seemed full of complaints about quality issues and crap service, but perhaps it always is.

So now it's between this and the Lenovo X1 Extreme Gen 4. Hope Lenovo hurries up with that, I need a new computer soon. It has the missing ports in the laptop itself and also a Trackpoint, which is a great bonus, but the display is an inch smaller. It supports RTX 3070/80 though.

Looking forward to comparing reviews!  8)

[ariliquin]

Potty they didn't have an AMD option for better thermals and battery. Next MacBook Pro 16 M1x will be a significant step up from this XPS in every way except touch screen.

[fsdfasdfasdfas]

Meeeh, no.. I'd rather go for something like Medion X20, which is lighter, cheaper and packs significantly more powerful nvidia 3070 140W. Why Dell, oh why are you so clumsy..

[Qyygle]

Imagine buying a 17" laptop that didn't manage to fit a full size keyboard with numpad, nor USB A ports, yet manages to thermal throttle at 100*C when running loads.

Oh, wait, right. Dell actually only is selling a warranty, with e-waste attached. Sorry, my mistake.

[accounting dude]

No numpad?

On a 17" laptop? Brutal and fatal design flaw.

[AHA]

It's much better thermal performance make this a significant performance step up from the 15" which is more of a premium notebook all rounder. It's a big hefty beast that isn't going to travel well so most folk post lockdown would be better off with the 15" and an external monitor for their desktop workspace. Those looking for a better bang for their buck should look at the HP Envy 15-ep0008na which is still crazy good value more than a year later.

[Leon Q]

This look good but I am still concerning about quality control of XPS 17. I tried ordering the last year model and went through the exchange then finally gave up on it and returned for refund. Also, I watched the review of this model on The Everyday Dad channel and he actually did mention about the mushy click pad (again).
Furthermore, I am waiting for the review of the new Blade 17 with 11th gen for comparison. It seems to be a better deal at the similar price range for double the storage and higher screen resolution of 1440p with 165hz, also with higher TDP 130W RTX3060 and more I/O friendly.

[Mike Baldwin]

It's overpriced , other, better spec gaming laptops are cheaper, and
there's the problem with Dells QC...all of which means...I still bloody love it.Yes i'm a complete Tart  ::), I admit it and would still buy it if I had the money spare !

[baconstein]

Some of these comments are truly baffling. It's like there's no awareness or understanding of the design compromises Dell made to create the wins they did for this laptop. I understand people talking about QC issues as Dell is really hit or miss, as well as the lack of USB A ports, but man, I sure would love to hear how they suggest Dell cools a 140w 3070 in such a razor thin chassis. All ears on that one lol. I suppose you could argue Razer does it, but their abysmal reliability makes me skeptical it's worth the apparent tradeoff...

Also, to the "no numpad on a 17" laptop" folks, that's the measurement of the SCREEN, not the body. Since the bezels on the new XPS are so tiny, the footprint measurement of the body on this laptop is actually identical to many 15" screen ones, like the Precision 7530. Now, that device DOES include a numpad, but the keys are much smaller and go right up to the edge of the chassis. This means the speakers are downward firing and sound much worse as opposed to the topside firing ones on the XPS. So again, design choice, not "flaw."

If you want to talk about an issue, let's talk about the loose trackpad issue. It's a damn shame they haven't managed to solve that one yet. There should be absolutely no variance here.

[Dorby]

but man, I sure would love to hear how they suggest Dell cools a 140w 3070 in such a razor thin chassis.

Look up Eluktronics Max-17.

It's a 17 inch laptop that's lighter than the XPS 17, and managed to cool Ryzen 5900HX and a full 140Watt RTX 3070, and used a QHD screen, 92Wh battery, and Advanced Optimus to get better battery life than the XPS 17 on a lighter, more powerful system.

And I think it's safe to say, that most people prefer a lighter weight laptop to a razor thin one when it comes to making compromises for portability.

[baconstein]

Look up Eluktronics Max-17.

Ah, a Clevo rebrand. I've heard mostly positive things about these. I owned one myself back in the early 2000s, but a lot has changed since then.

The added thickness would definitely help with performance, so it's fair to say that a chassis like could adequately cool a higher power GPU, much like Razer's stuff. You are giving up a lot of the creature comforts the XPS features, like the USB-C charging via any port, smaller power brick, upward firing speakers, fully bezel-less display and a thinner, sleeker design. I also won't doubt the battery life optimizations but partly because I'm not familiar with "advanced optimus" versus whatever Dell's using. I'll need to read up on this more.

It's a 17 inch laptop that's lighter than the XPS 17

XPS 17 without touchscreen - 4.87lbs
MAX-17 - 4.7lbs

While you're not wrong here, I'm not sure this is a difference you'll be able to notice in the day-to-day. I know some people do prefer a touchscreen and will accept the substantially higher weight (5.34lbs) because I am one of them.

I think it's safe to say, that most people prefer a lighter weight laptop to a razor thin one when it comes to making compromises for portability.

Is it safe, though? I mean to be honest, I don't really care myself either way, but I definitely don't have the data to support a claim like that... just this ethereal idea or feeling of who and what the laptop buyers market is actually like based on my own preferences and my circle's. People are weird and like weird things for weird reasons. You never know.