Dell G7 17 7700 Any Good?

[Ginger Penguin]

Hi all,

 

This is one of those laptops that I can't seem to find much coverage of but I really like its design. Essentially, I'm on the market for something to replace my Clevo laptop which I've been using for about 9 months and don't really like very much. I'm planning to build a desktop for 4K video editing in November/December and this would be supplemental to that. I mostly need something for general use I can take around with me but every so often during busy periods, I do need a bit of power to get some editing work done when I'm away from my desktop. There's a config I can get fairly cheap that's a 10750H and 1660Ti which is essentially the same as my current laptop (9750H + 1660Ti) but the build quality and battery life should be a lot better.

 

I'm worried about thermals and the display quality, though. Obviously the display doesn't need to be fantastic as I've budgeted for a good external monitor for my desktop setup (still choosing on that so any recommendations welcome there!) but reasonably accurate with fair contrast would be good just for rough editing proofs as well as watching content. The other options I was looking at were the Aftershock Apex 17R Lite (RP-17 but for the Australian market though it only has the smaller battery for the foreseeable future unfortunately) and the Aero 17. Both would be more expensive than I could find the G7 for at the moment. The Apex by about $200 and the Aero by about $1400 but they're both 8-core + 2060.

 

Worth a look or should I hang on to my Clevo for a little while longer? The plan is to sell it once I've got my new laptop and am happy with it to offset the cost a bit fingers crossed!

[genexis_x]

Avoid Dell G line for now

 

What's your budget?

[Ginger Penguin]

Oh, really? Are people not talking about it because it's rubbish, then? That's a shame because I liked the design and from the few reviews I'd been able to find the keyboard and trackpad were of a much higher quality than others in that price bracket.

 

I was planning for around $2000-$2500AUD so that's probably around the $1500USD mark. The RP17 equivalent is $2090AUD which is a good price but I'm worried about the build quality (and the keyboard looks really damn ugly) and for on-the-go stuff, until Adobe supports NVDEC, sometimes that H264/5 hardware decoding really speeds things up, so for a laptop I'd prefer an Intel system. I'm going AMD for the desktop, though, don't worry! I'm not completely insane. Oh, and I much prefer the form factor of a 17" which probably limits things a bit.

[genexis_x]

28 minutes ago, W.D. Stevens said:

Are people not talking about it because it's rubbish, then?

below average compared to other options, not worth considering

28 minutes ago, W.D. Stevens said:

I was planning for around $2000-$2500AUD

No preferences on weight and battery life?

[Ginger Penguin]

4 minutes ago, genexis_x said:

No preferences on weight and battery life?

Not really on weight. My current one is around 2.6kg I think. I'm fairly strong and capable of carrying it around but lighter doesn't bother me. I'd like to get at least 3 or 4 hours out of it just doing regular tasks, though. It's annoying having to get out the power cable out all the time if I'm on the go. Doing anything heavy, I have no problem being fixed to a wall socket as I'm aware that will drain the battery way more than just watching YouTube.

[genexis_x]

If you prefer 17 inch, there aren't much decent choices

 

Apex 17R Lite fits your requirements and according to my sources, the RMA rate is fairly low so it's quite reliable too

[scousler]

I purchased the G7 - 7700 and it is a very good laptop and a bargain for the hardware it has installed.  Have not experienced any cooling issues - at max GPU load it does get warm, but consistently stays well under 80 degrees C.  I did take the time to download and install several updates to the machine including a bios update.   I also purchased the Cooler Master NotePal U3 PLUS - Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad with 3 Moveable High Performance Fans (Black)   to help with any heating issues - but really it hasn't been needed yet.  

 

The issues I have had with the machine  -

1) Delivery was delayed 2 weeks due to an apparent Killer Wi-Fi parts shortage

2) The RGB lighting config software from Alienware is pretty obtuse - flickered badly in one game, so ended up just disabling completely because I run an external monitor, SteelSeries keyboard,  and mouse anyway.  An issue to be resolved in the future if I ever need to go more portable with it.  Right now it's more of a desktop replacement box.  

3) Could use an extra USB port on either side.

 

It is a hefty laptop - 7 lbs, but with a beautiful, bright, and responsive screen - see no lags or tears in any games.  Power brick is pretty big too. 

Killer Wi-Fi is just amazingly fast.  

GPU Nvidia 2070 super has effectively tripled FPS rates in most games I play - much sharper details,  fan noise not noticeable. 

Even the cheap Realtek audio onboard does not sound too bad.  

This laptop is a real win/win - don't think you'll find a gaming laptop with better hardware installed for the price ($2089) and I looked pretty hard.  

[Ginger Penguin]

11 hours ago, genexis_x said:

If you prefer 17 inch, there aren't much decent choices

 

Apex 17R Lite fits your requirements and according to my sources, the RMA rate is fairly low so it's quite reliable too

Mm, I'm aware I'm fairly limited but 15" is just too small for me. Yeah, it was definitely the forerunner until I saw this but I was hoping something better would be announced in September.

5 hours ago, scousler said:

I purchased the G7 - 7700 and it is a very good laptop and a bargain for the hardware it has installed.

That's interesting. I did ask Jarrod from Jarrod's Tech as I saw he had one in for testing for some initial impressions and the screens really seem to be fairly comparable and the battery life was about 5.5hrs (XMG-17 w/48WHr) vs 8hrs (G7 17 w/ 97WHr). Both are much better than what I've got at the moment. Apparently he has his full review of the RP-17 coming later in the week so if I can find out when this Dell sale ends, I might wait and see what he has to say about that.

5 hours ago, scousler said:

2) The RGB lighting config software from Alienware is pretty obtuse

3) Could use an extra USB port on either side.

 

It is a hefty laptop - 7 lbs, but with a beautiful, bright, and responsive screen - see no lags or tears in any games.  Power brick is pretty big too.

This laptop is a real win/win - don't think you'll find a gaming laptop with better hardware installed for the price ($2089) and I looked pretty hard.  

I don't plan on using the RGB much but I do like to have a backlit keyboard for night-time typing. I feel you on the USB front (or back as the case may be). 4 would be ideal but most only have 3 and I'd rather have a third one at the back that's USB3-5Gb/s (to save confusion with decimal points and gen numbers) than 2 USB3s and a USB2 which is what my current one has and what the RP-17 has. Over 3kg is pretty heavy, though. I can carry my 2.6er around with me but that might be a touch heavy. I'll try and find something that heavy and see. Or maybe just put a 500g bag of something on my keyboard!

 

For $1800AUD it certainly seems a good deal for a six core and a 1660Ti (the 2070 version is $2000AUD but I feel like the downgrade might help with thermals and power since I'm mostly doing CPU work on it). For reference, my Clevo 9750H/1660 Ti was $2300AUD though I got double the RAM, a second M.2 drive and a 2.5" HDD, some of which I'll probably remove before selling. Thanks for weighing in!

[Astrowizzle]

I brought a Dell G7 for programming purposes - Wanted the 17 inch monitor.

 

If i could throw this laptop at Dell i would

The touchpad is a joke. 

If you are using this without a mouse you might as well go buy a bucket of bricks and use them as your computer

 

if you are usingit as a laptop the case has sharp angles on the front 2 corners so they constantly stick into your hands and make it uncomfortable to use. I honestly find it hard to believe they actually tested this thing using it on your lap.

 

So i you are using with a dock or mouse and keyboard its a pretty good laptop, if you are like me and like working on the lounge without keyboard and mousei wouldn't touch it.

 

I have had dell for over 20 years

Never again