Dell’s Precision 17 7730 laptop is powerful and durable and perfect for professional use. It has a large screen, a fast processor, and plenty of memory.
Dell’s Precision workstation series features the most powerful and accurate tools in the industry. The Dell Precision 7730 is a high-performance computer designed to support your demanding workloads and save you time.
Dell is continuing its race to be the number one provider of mobile workstations. Although their competitor, HP, has stepped up their game in recent times with competitive prices, Dell does not seem to be letting up. This year, Dell will offer a new generation of mobile workstations including the Precision 7730 and Celsius H980.
The Precision 7730 is a replacement for the Precision 7720. It still has the same shape and size but has different inputs instead and more ports.
You can take a look at our full review below.
Specification
| Processor | Intel Core i7-8850H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon Pro WX 4150 (4GB GDDR5) |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Screen | 17.3″, Full HD Display (1920 x 1080), IPS |
Pros
- Sharp, vibrant 4K display
- Performance that is blistering
- Comfortable keyboard
- Durable, premium design
- Graphics that are powerful
Cons
- Battery life is below average
- Warm runs
- The most expensive configurations are outrageously costly
Design
The Precision 7730 is a thinner laptop than its predecessor, but it’s still pretty sleek looking. Those who want a more professional-looking machine can opt for the Lenovo IdeaPad l340-15. Another option is the HP ZBook 17 G4 (16.5x11x1.3 inches), which is larger than both of these models.
This machine is high-end and features premium materials like a carbon-fiber lid and a soft-touch deck. The machine’s design is eye-catching, but not over the top. It features a tough, black-and-silver color scheme.
The device has a thin layer of protective rubber on the outside but is otherwise smooth and has a fingerprint magnet. The deck features dual vents with metallic trim, while the front lips have a thin LED indicator.
Performance
The Precision 7730 is a powerful machine. The Precision 7730 has 32GB RAM and an Intel Core processor. It was able to quickly load 30 Microsoft Edge tabs as well as stream Fortnite on Twitch at the same time.
A workstation designed to be able to handle 3D rendering and video encoding was able to open the Xbox and 3D Paint apps with no problems. It’s awesome, but not too surprising since it was designed for this kind of work.
The Precision 7730 completed 65,000 name-address pairs in under one minute and at 1:31 the average workstation speed was only a fraction slower.
You don’t need to be a hardware guru to know that this laptop is amongst the world’s best. It scored 23,130 points on Geekbench 4, which is significantly more than the scores of the Lenovo ThinkPad 17 G4 (15.972) and HP ZBook 17 G4 (15.839), and the average workstation (15.252).
This laptop boasts amazing high-speed storage. The Precision’s 512GB M.2PCIe SSDs copied 97GB of mixed media files in just 9 seconds, which is 3 minutes faster than the Lenovo ThinkPad 71 (463 MBps) and the average workstation (505.6 MBps). This falls short of the speed of the dual-SSDs in HP ZBook 17G4 (848 Mbps).
This workstation can transcode a 4K video in less than two minutes, and it does the task at least twice as fast as the average workstation.
Ports
The Precision 7730 offers a variety of ports. This is ideal for connecting multiple devices and is located around the device.
On the left is a Thunderbolt 3 port with other optional ports, an intelligent card reader, and extra storage.
There are two USB 3.1 Type-A ports on the right side of the case, as well as a Kensington lock. There is also a headphone/mic combo connector.
This back panel features an HDMI, a Mini DisplayPort, and an Ethernet port. It also has a DC power adapter and a third USB Type-A port.
Display
The Precision 7730 is an attractive computer that offers a theatre-like viewing experience. It has a bright 4K panel with high detail and rich colors that make it easy to see what you are working on.
I saw the trailer for Green Book, an autobiographical film about Mahershala Ali, in my eyes. I watched the wide shot that showed Mahershala’s spacious home and Viggo Mortensen smoking from Mahershala’s Chevrolet.
Our testing found the display’s exceptional qualities. We also found that the panel reproduced a staggering 211 percent of the SRGB gamut. The meetings of the HP ZBook 17 G4 (173 % ) and Lenovo ThinkPad P71 (183%) were also impressive, but they weren’t nearly as vibrant as the Precisions. At 149 percent, the average workstation is lower.
The Precision 7730’s matte display and high-peak brightness would make it easy to use in bright environments. The maximum brightness reached by the show was 330 nits.
Battery life
The Precision 7730 has an optional 97Wh battery, but it will run for only about 14 minutes of continuous web surfing at 150 nits brightness on a single charge. After 4 hours and 14 minutes, the machine shut down. It’s important to note that the Lenovo ThinkPad 17 G4 (5.57) and HP ZBook 17G4 (5.23) lasted more than an hour on a single charge, but they still fall below the average workstation time (6:49).
Keyboard and Touchpad
The chiclet-style keyboard is for typing for long periods of time. It is satisfying and very easy to type on. It has a 69g actuation force, a soft key travel range, and backlit keys that are well-spaced.
The touchpad is 3.9 x 2.1 inches and responded quickly to my gestures including pinch-to-zoom, four-finger tapping for settings, three-finger swipe to change apps, and four-finger tapping for open environments.
The Precision 7730’s keyboard has a rubber nub in the middle. It’s easy to find and doesn’t have a visible ring around its pointing stick. The pointing post and secondary set left-, right, and middle-click buttons make it easy to navigate websites with ease.
Software
The Precision 7730 comes with Windows 10 as a standard and this is packed with useful software like Dell Power Manager, which tracks the health of your battery, and PremiereColor, which lets you adjust display color, brightness, and white balance.
The Dell-branded apps provide warranty and tech support and help you optimize the workstation’s performance. One notable program is the Dell Precision Optimizer, which uses AI to auto-optimize applications.
People who use a Microsoft Surface Pro, Surface Book, or Surface Studio are unlikely to find the bloatware that typically comes with Windows 10 on the Precision 7730. They’ll still need to worry about some of Microsoft’s famous apps though, like Solitaire Collection and LinkedIn.
Final Thoughts
The Precision 7730 is an excellent workstation, with performance that outshines all the others in its class. The laptop comes with a bright 4K display, a comfortable keyboard, and a capable GPU. It just needs to last on a full charge for a few hours longer, and its chassis doesn’t get too warm when running heavy workloads.
Overall, the Precision 7730 is a good all-around workstation. I recommend it to those who can afford it.
