Review Dell’s XPS 17 (9730) Review: Big-Screen Prosumer Performance

[Admin]

Dell’s XPS 17 delivers performance, style, and a stunning 4K touch screen, but with a few notable shortcomings.

Dell’s XPS 17 (9730) Review: Big-Screen Prosumer Performance : Read more

 

[pixelpusher220]

'Stuck with 4 thunderbolt ports' gave me a laugh. While a lack of Type A is certainly something, I'd think the vast majority of people will be using a USB-C dock that will have plenty. Hell, use two!

 

[cyrusfox]

I half expected to see an AMD chip in the top line XPS, Still Intel I see and still obscenely priced as is normal for an XPS. Weird sodimm and not the new dell format (CAMM), also soldered wifi card... why. Stuck with wifi 6e or whatever they bundle.

 

[healthy Pro-teen]

The review was good, but the Galaxy Book Ultra 16 inch tops out at an RTX 4070, not RTX 4050, so the review should be edited to reflect that, thanks. (Source: Samsung's own website)

 

[yrrjnmt]

Buyer be aware ! The XPS ( like it seems nearly all Dells ) uses MaxxAudio pro /waves to give an " immersive" sound experience . This can give a nice effect with the built in speakers , but it can't be fully turned off for the line/HP output. It creates distortions and arctifacts and enhances=distorts ridiculously , with loudness , spacial and treble/bass .
Uninstalling it still leave traces (like compression and other) . This is a premium machine but is uses awful 2 $ Realtek audio chips that can't even use 24bit/96K audio files or more . Sound out of this computer is certainly not great (via HP jack and even possibly USB audio) , not for audiofiles who want straight pure audio, my old XPS m1710 from 2006 is much beter! The maxxaudiowaves cr_p is not entirely deletable and parts of it are in the Realtek audio driver. Other drivers without it in , will not install. I guess for power saving the Realtek chips are inactive when no sound is played after a few seconds , you can hear a mute or chip disable click , when listening to it with a HPamp , less with a low impedance HP straight . Worst are the clicks you hear when playing systemsounds which activates the chip again. Alot of bloat ware from Dell (and it leaves a lot in the registry after uninstalling) . Only thing useful is Dell premier colour and Dell power manager . Better alone than the MyDell bloadware , where it is integrated.

 

[yrrjnmt]

'Stuck with 4 thunderbolt ports' gave me a laugh. While a lack of Type A is certainly something, I'd think the vast majority of people will be using a USB-C dock that will have plenty. Hell, use two!

Yes stuck with 4 puny USB C ports is bad for some of us that don't use a dock. Mice still come with USB A , Older webcams , because the one on there is NOT great. Dongle for LAN and the power cord and it is full. Better would be a dedicated LAN , HDMI and USB A (which are sturdy ) and a barrel power connector . Extenal DAC because the audio is not worthy of a 3000 $ machine and ext drives (most still USB A) are recommended to use straight , not via extenders or docks.
Man , I'm so disappointed with this XPS17 ! Dumb choice.

 

[kaalus]

60Hz screen? No USB-A port? Sorry, not for me.

 

[Greg7579]

60Hz screen? No USB-A port? Sorry, not for me.

 

[Greg7579]

I'm a photographer and don't game. What we care about is color gamut and productivity and that amazing screen at perfect.
Why does Tom's knock every laptop with no USB A port? That is ridiculous. Do you realize how incredible it is to have four USB C 4 / TB4 ports? Use the dongle if your peripheries are outdated. That port capability is astonishing. You guys are like a jet fighter pilot wishing they had a prop plane....
I would never buy a laptop with a USB A port in 2023. You guys are seriously retro....

 

[newtechldtech]

I'm a photographer and don't game. What we care about is color gamut and productivity and that amazing screen at perfect.
Why does Tom's knock every laptop with no USB A port? That is ridiculous. Do you realize how incredible it is to have four USB C 4 / TB4 ports? Use the dongle if your peripheries are outdated. That port capability is astonishing. You guys are like a jet fighter pilot wishing they had a prop plane....
I would never buy a laptop with a USB A port in 2023. You guys are seriously retro....

If you are a photographer then MACs are your best choice .

 

[Greg7579]

If you are a photographer then MACs are your best choice .

Mac vs PC is the oldest argument since the Crusades. Both are great now. I'm a PC guy because I build my own rigs and am dug into Windows. But my point is, Tom's infatuation about USB A ports makes no sense. I just don't get it. They have been listing that as a negative for every XPS laptop 13, 15 and 17, for the last 3 years. It is ridiculous. There is zero need for a USB A port if you have a USB C 4 port. You can do anything with that USB 4.0 port way better and faster. USB A is dead. Dell will never give you a USB A port on their XPS and for very good reason. Tom's lists a big positive as a negative.

 

[kaalus]

I

Mac vs PC is the oldest argument since the Crusades. Both are great now. I'm a PC guy because I build my own rigs and am dug into Windows. But my point is, Tom's infatuation about USB A ports makes no sense. I just don't get it. They have been listing that as a negative for every XPS laptop 13, 15 and 17, for the last 3 years. It is ridiculous. There is zero need for a USB A port if you have a USB C 4 port. You can do anything with that USB 4.0 port way better and faster. USB A is dead. Dell will never give you a USB A port on their XPS and for very good reason. Tom's lists a big positive as a negative.

I use a Logitech unifying receiver external mouse and keyboard. Unifying receiver only comes in USB-A form because of the size needed for the wireless. I have 3 large and fast pendrives, which use USB-A.

How about Dell gives us 4 USB-A ports, and a dongle to convert to USB-C instead? You will be able to heed your own "advice" to use the dongle then whenever you want to connect anything.

 

[Greg7579]

I

I use a Logitech unifying receiver external mouse and keyboard. Unifying receiver only comes in USB-A form because of the size needed for the wireless. I have 3 large and fast pendrives, which use USB-A.

How about Dell gives us 4 USB-A ports, and a dongle to convert to USB-C instead? You will be able to heed your own "advice" to use the dongle then whenever you want to connect anything.

That won't work because USB 4 / TB 4 are USB C only. But I get your point in terms of connecting external spinners. I have those too (12 GB backup spinning rust drives for my images) and I must admit that on my PC I plug them into one of the bazillion the USB A ports..... Connecting external SSDs, which is what we are all going to be doing soon enough, is of course best on USB C at faster speeds,
But you can connect those big external spinners to the USB C port via a tiny little adapter and it won't do anything to slow down an already slow spinner. Then you have that USB 4.0 TB 4.0 port when you need it, which will be soon enough. But yes, I get your point about the big external hard drives.