Dell XPS 17: The ultimate content creation laptop

With a giant screen and thin profile, the Dell XPS 17 is perfectly built for content creators on the go.

- GORDON MAH UNG

Warning: Dell’s XPS 17 9710 is no gaming laptop (go. pcworld.com/nogl). If you just wrinkled your nose up in disapproval, that’s fine—from Dell’s point of view, anyway. That’s because the XPS 17 9710 is seemingly designed to appeal to content creators, not those focused only on gaming.

You might have difficulty wrapping your head around the concept since gaming laptops with a higher-resolution screen typically pass as content creation laptops. We admit we thought that too, but over time, we’ve come to finally understand what Dell is doing here—very successfully too. Adobe users in particular will love this notebook.

SPECS

CPU: Intel 8-core 11th gen Core i7-11800H.

GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop at 70 watts TGP.

RAM: 32GB DDR4/3200 in dual-channel mode.

Storage: 1TB Samsung P9A1 PCIe Gen 4 SSD (up to 2 M.2 drives).

Battery: 97 watt-hours.

Network: WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

Panel: 17-inch touch screen with 10-bit color depth and 3840x2400 resolution.

Webcam and biometrics: 720p IR camera with Windows Hello support and fingerprint reader.

Weight and size: The laptop is 14.74x9.76x0.77 and 5.4 pounds with touch screen (4.9 pounds without) and 1 pound for 130-watt power brick.

Ports: We’ll let the pictures do the talking but there are four Thunderbolt 4 ports, a UHS-II SD Card reader, and a combo analog audio jack and wedge lock port, which you can see below.