Dell Precision 17 7730 I7-8750h 16gb Ram Review

Our Verdict

The Precision 7720 is a giant, long-lasting workstation.

For

• Lengthy battery life
• Vivid display
• Comfortable keyboard

Against

• Tedious SSD
• weak webcam

Laptop Magazine Verdict

The Precision 7720 is a giant, long-lasting workstation.

Pros

• +

  Lengthy battery life

• +

  Bright display

• +

  Comfortable keyboard

Cons

• -

  Tiresome SSD

• -

  weak webcam

The 17.iii-inch Dell Precision 7720 is not your typical battleship-sized workstation. While we wait giants like this to be short on battery life, this auto lasted more than ix hours on a unmarried charge. It also sports a bright, vibrant display; stiff sound; and a comfortable keyboard. Add in optional components such as a Xeon processor and Nvidia Quadro graphics, and yous accept a laptop that's expert for 3D modeling, professional person video editing or engineering. Nevertheless, the tiresome-moving solid-state drive in our unit had a noticeable consequence on its performance scores.

Design: Do you even lift, bro?

If the Road Runner were speeding around the world, that dastardly Wile E. Coyote could forgo Peak-branded anvils and just drop the big, beefy Precision 7720 instead. The notebook's size and heft brand information technology such a colossus that it's too cumbersome to utilize in your lap, unless you beloved weight lifting.

As difficult as the Precision is to lift, it's yet easy on your fingers. Its soft-affect, carbon-fiber-coated chapeau and soft keyboard deck feel great and brand for a better overall experience.

Weighing seven.vi pounds and measuring 1.four inches thick, the Precision 7720 is similar to the 17.3-inch Lenovo ThinkPad P70 (7.6 pounds, 1.ii inches) and heavier than the MSI WE72 7RJ (6.2 pounds, 1.3 inches). The 15.6-inch Dell Precision 5520, the 7720'southward smaller sibling, is a more than portable, iv.4-pound car that measures 0.four inches thick, every bit is the 15-inch ZBook Studio G3 (iv.6 pounds, 0.7 inches)

An abundance of ports is a major upside to behemoth-class notebooks such as the 7720. On the left, you'll find a USB three.0 port, a Thunderbolt three port, HDMI-out, a mini DisplayPort and a smart bill of fare reader. The right side includes three USB iii.0 ports, a headphone jack, a security lock slot and an SD card reader. An Ethernet jack and the ability port are tucked away on the rear.

Durability and Security: Pay-per-option

The Precision 7720 is congenital to withstand the rigors of business organisation travel. According to Dell, the laptop passed fifteen MIL-SPEC durability tests, including those for extreme temperatures, grit blasts, shocks and drops.

IT managers will appreciate the 7720'due south many security and manageability options. The machine comes standard with a smart card reader and TPM encryption. Y'all tin too pay extra for a fingerprint reader or an NFC sensor. If you lot configure the laptop with a compatible CPU, it will also have Intel'southward vPro remote direction technology inside.

Brandish: Shines so bright

Our test unit of the Precision 7720 features the notebook's optional 1920 x 1080-pixel display panel, which offers vivid colour and crisp particular. When watching a Spider-Man:Homecoming trailer on the Precision 7720, I noted vivid cerise, blue and aureate tones in Spidey's and Iron Man'southward outfits, as well as the grain of the videotape footage of the vintage Captain America's Fettle Claiming.

Co-ordinate to our colorimeter, the Precision 7720's reproduces a stiff 126 pct of the sRGB spectrum (anything above 100 is good). That's just college than the 122 pct category boilerplate and better than the reading from the Dell Precision 5520 (113 percentage). Higher marks came from the HP ZBook Studio (169 percent), the ThinkPad P70 (158 percent) and the MSI WE72 (196 percent).

The Precision 7720 produced accurate colors, netting a 0.iii on the Delta-E test, where lower numbers are better, That beats the i.35 desktop-replacement average, also equally the scores from the ZBook Studio (2.4), the ThinkPad P70 (0.7) and the Precision 5520 (ane.v). The MSI WE72's 0.4 brings it to a close second place.

Emitting upwards to 317 nits of brightness, the Precision 7720 outshines the 290-nit category boilerplate, too as the readings from the ZBook Studio G3 (241 nits), the ThinkPad P70 (277 nits) and the MSI WE72 (200 nits). The Precision 5520 (335 nits) gets fifty-fifty brighter. Unfortunately, the display isn't strong enough for its colors to stay vivid when you view the screen at 45 degrees to the left or right.

Keyboard, Touchpad and Pointing Stick: Great, solid and proficient enough

The Precision 7720's input devices provide comfortable means for typing and navigating the system. When I tested out the keyboard on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I striking a rate of 81 words per minute, which narrowly tops my eighty-wpm average. Its keys offer 1.8 millimeters of travel and require 69 grams of force to actuate; both measures autumn within the range we hope to observe (1.5 to 2.0 mm, 60 grams).

The notebook'due south 3.nine ten two.0-inch trackpad is flanked past 2 sets of left, right and center buttons that give a solid feel to each click. It as well tracks input accurately and accepted Windows 10'southward three-finger navigation gestures.

Dell gave the Precision 7720 one of its concave pointing sticks. It's OK merely still below the standard held by Lenovo's TrackPoints (found in the ThinkPad P70). That's because, although Dell's may be authentic, Lenovo's convex version doesn't require as much effort and is easier to utilize.

Sound: Potent and sweetness, after tuning

The Precision 7720'south speakers smash enough volume to fill our large briefing room. While testing it out with a variety of tracks, I heard strong bass and crisp drums, simply I wanted vocals (such as Carly Rae Jepsen's singing on "Run Abroad With Me") to sound clearer.

I fixed that issue and gained more than balanced audio past adjusting the settings in the Waves MaxxAudio Pro sound utility.

Functioning: Check RAM before clicking Buy

Armed with an Intel Xeon E3-1535M v6 CPU, 8GB of RAM, Nvidia Quadro P3000 graphics and a 256GB PCIe Grade 40 SSD, our review configuration of the Precision 7720 packed enough brawn for speedy performance. I saw no slowdown subsequently splitting my screen between a streaming 1080p YouTube video and 15 Chrome tabs that included Google Docs, Slack and TweetDeck. The organization, which sports a CPU made for enervating programs such as AutoCAD, stayed zippy as I loaded more than apps, including OneNote, Camera, Photograph and Edge.

Unfortunately, although our unit came with a PCIe NVMe SSD --the fastest type -- the Toshiba XG4 drive Dell equipped it with was slow and held dorsum the Precision 7720's scores on a number of tests. If you configure it with a 512GB PCIe Form 50 SSD, it could be faster.

This Precision 7720 scored a 11,402 on the Geekbench three general operation exam, which falls below the 15,833 desktop-replacement average, as well as the xiv,276 from the ZBook Studio (Xeon E3-1505M v5, 32GB RAM), the 13,518 from the ThinkPad P70 (Xeon E3-1505M v5, 16GB RAM), the xiv,702 from the MSI WE72 (Core i7-7700HQ, 32GB) and the 15,437 from the Precision 5520 (Xeon E3-1505M v6, 32GB RAM).

The 256GB Grand.2 PCIe SSD in the Precision 7720 duplicated 4.97GB of multimedia files in 30 seconds, for a rate of 169.64 MBps. That's slower than the 531.34 MBps category average, likewise equally the speeds from the 512GB PCIe SSD in the ZBook Studio (508.92 MBps), the 512GB PCIe Thou.2 SSD in the ThinkPad P70 (848.2 MBps), the 512GB SSD in the MSI WE72 7RJ (848.two MBps), and the 512GB G.2 PCIe SSD in the Precision 5520 (462.66 MBps).

Our Precision 7720 took a relatively slow iv minutes and eight seconds to match 20,000 names with their addresses in OpenOffice Calc. That'south longer than the three:26 category average and the times from the ZBook Studio (3:23), the ThinkPad P70 (3:23), the WE72 7RJ (3:22) and the Precision 5520 (iii:08).

Graphics & Gaming: Mixed results

If you want to exercise 3D modeling, the Precision 7720 could be right up your alley. The Nvidia Quadro P3000 GPU with 6GB of memory enabled the Precision to score a solid 2,143 on the 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra test. That's amend than the 825 from the ZBook Studio (4GB Quadro M1000M), the 1,856 from the ThinkPad P70 (4GB Quadro M4000M), the one,324 from the MSI WE72 7RJ (4GB Quadro M2200) and the 980 from the Precision 5520 (4GB Quadro M1200).

The Precision 7720 can run demanding games, every bit it played Metro: Last Lite at 32 frames per 2d, which cleared our 30-fps playability threshold. That's beneath the 59-fps category boilerplate, tied with the ThinkPad P70 (32 fps) and smoother than the ZBook Studio (14 fps).

Don't let the VR-Ready badge on Dell's page for the Precision 7720 confuse y'all. Our test unit notched a 5.6 on the SteamVR test, which ways that it just barely supports virtual reality, rendering titles in lower allegiance. The 9.i category boilerplate means other desktop-replacement notebooks do a better job. For solid VR experiences, upgrade to the Quadro P4000 or P5000 GPUs, which, respectively, cost $280 and $i,109 more than the P3000 version.

Battery Life: Much more than nosotros look

The Precision 7720'south majority makes information technology a pain to lug, but it can survive for a while when away from an outlet. It took 9 hours and 34 minutes for the Laptop Mag Bombardment Exam to drain the workstation of its juice, which is longer than the iv:29 category average and the times from the ZBook Studio (5:08), the ThinkPad P70 (v:53) and the MSI WE72 (2:57). The Precision 5520 (xi:57) lasts fifty-fifty longer.

Webcam: Yep, some other meh-cam

Finding a low-quality webcam inside a nearly $three,000 laptop feels like sitting down to dinner at a 5-star eating house with a plastic spork. Selfies I took on the notebook softened my face so much that I looked similar a grapheme in rotoscoped films such as Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly.

Heat: Nothing to worry about hither, folks

The Precision 7720 is cool to the touch. After we streamed 15 minutes of Hard disk video on the notebook, our oestrus run registered adequate (beneath 95 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures on its touchpad (70.5 degrees), G and H keys (74.five degrees) and underside (86 degrees).

Software: Standard and useful

The Precision 7720 comes with a few useful Dell utilities, including SupportAssist for arrangement data and help, and Precision Optimizer for improving operation. Unfortunately, it also has all the bloatware that Microsoft bundles with Windows 10: Candy Beat Soda Saga, a trial of Sling TV, and Minecraft.

Configuration options

Our $ii,863 test unit of the Precision 7720 features an Intel Xeon E3-1535M v6 CPU, 8GB of RAM, discrete Nvidia Quadro P3000 graphics, a 256GB SSD and a 1920 10 1080-pixel display.

That'south a major pace up from the $1,599 entry-level version, which packs a Core i5-7300HQ processor; 8GB of retention; a 500GB, 7,200-rpm hard bulldoze; integrated Intel HD 630 graphics; and a 1600 10 900-pixel panel.

Dell sells the Precision 7720 with a variety of brandish options, starting with a 1600 x 900-pixel panel, which is pretty weak for a laptop that costs at least $1,599. So make sure y'all spend the extra $29 to upgrade to the 1080p panel we had on our review unit, which offers sharper images and ameliorate color.

I'd recommend getting 32GB of RAM for $440 (bringing our config to $iii,303). If y'all want to run demanding software, yous should spend $392 for a Xeon E3-1505M v6 CPU, and if you're interested in quality VR experiences, yous'll need to spend at least $721 for the Nvidia Quadro P4000 graphics.

While the Precision comes with just 6-cell, 91-watt-hr batteries, yous have 2 options. Yous can get either the default battery, which offers faster ExpressCharge refuels, or spend $50 to upgrade to a "Long Life Cycle" version, which volition probable retain its ability to hold a lengthy charge for more years.

Lesser Line

The Precision 7720's brilliant display is delightful, its lengthy bombardment life is better than near workstations' and its performance is more than adequate for 3D graphics work. The only major downside we found is that its SSD was far slower than others we tested.

If you can make practise with a smaller screen and no VR, consider the less expensive Precision 5520 ($2,621), which is faster and longer-lasting. Withal, if you lot want high performance and a behemothic screen, y'all'll find the 7720 worth the investment.

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Dell Precision 7720 Specs

Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.1
Brand	Dell
CPU	Intel Xeon E3-1535M v6
Card Slots	SD memory reader
Company Website	http://www.dell.com/en-us/piece of work/shop/productdetails/precision-17-7720-laptop/xctop772017_us_sapp?selectionState=eyJGUHJpY2UiOjIzODYuMCwiT0MiOiJ4Y3RvcDc3MjAxN191c19zYXBwIiwiUXR5IjoxLCJNb2RzIjpbeyJJZCI6MywiT3B0cyI6W3siSWQiOiI2NEc0RDQiLCJQcmljZSI6OTIwLjB9XX0seyJJZCI6NDczLCJPcHRzIjpbeyJJZCI6IlNQQUNFUiJ9XX1dfQ%253D%253D
Brandish Size	17.iii
Graphics Card	Nvidia Quadro P3000 w/6GB GDDR5
Hard Drive Size	256GB
Hard Bulldoze Blazon	Thousand.2 PCIe SSD
Highest Bachelor Resolution	1920 x 1080
Native Resolution	1920x1080
Operating System	Windows 10 Pro
Ports (excluding USB)	Headphone/Mic, Mini Display Port, security lock slot, USB iii.0, Smart Card Reader, Ethernet, Thunderbolt 3, HDMI-out
RAM	8GB
RAM Upgradable to	64GB
Size	xvi.4 x 11.1 ten one.4 inches
Touchpad Size	3.viii x 2.0 inches
USB Ports	4
Video Memory	6 GB
Warranty/Support	Basic Service 3 Years Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis
Weight	vii.6 pounds
Wi-Fi	802.11ac
Wi-Fi Model	Dell Wireless 1820 802.11ac

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Source: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/dell-precision-7720