Dell M5520 vs M7720?

Newcomer here, I'm kind of split between the Dell M5520 and M7720.

The XPS-based 15.6 M5520 with an i7-7820HQ + 512GB M.2 Class 40 + 32gb Ram and M1200 4GB, is $500 cheaper, weighs a lot less, but has a smaller screen. Alternatively, I can get it with the Xeon E3-1505M v6.

The M7720 with an i7-7820HQ + 1TB or 512GB M.2 Class 40 + 32gb Ram and P3000 6GB, is more expensive and heavier, but does get a more comfortable 17.3 inch screen. I could also spec it with either an i7-7920HQ or a Xeon E3-1535M v6 on Dell's outlet page, but of course, the price goes up.

I am a professional power user with dozens of open windows and tabs at any given moment, and use resource-intensive photo editing programs etc. I don't expect any of these two to replace my custom desktop, but I need a fast, powerful, reliable and quiet laptop while traveling and working abroad.

I don't care that much about portability and could live with a 15.6" screen, but I do care about being able to use the laptop without massive throttling and deafening fan noise. Does anyone here have experience with both systems? Will the M5520 be as quiet and stable when pushing it as the M7720?

 

I presume that you are referring to the Precision workstations which, for some reason, no longer have the "M" in front of the model number.

 

Your post says that you want it for travelling and while working abroad but that you do not care about mobility.

I cannot comment on the particular models you talk about but will give you the following advice based on my experience.

I travel internationally by plane a lot and can tell you that the M6600 (a 17.3 Precision) is amazing and, if you spec it out right, will last you for about 5 years or so. However, the laptop and power adapter are heavy and this can cause some issues at the airport depending on carrier and carry-on weight restrictions etc. Also if you are in economy class forget all about using a 17.3" on a plane unless you are at the front with nobody reclining back into you. The small meal trays are also not ideal as they are too small and not very strong.

My M6600 is used as my desktop to do video and picture editing etc. It is great but feeling its age now. It has been around the world with me many times, but now I leave it at home or the office when I travel as I take my newer 13" Inspiron 5370 which is 8th gen i7 as it can do the urgent things I need while away - including video editing - and the rest I can do when I get back.

I will be looking very closely at the Precision 7730 but for now I can cope with the two laptops I have.

 

5520 is more likely to encounter throttling and kick up the fan than the 7520 or 7720. The cooling systems in the larger laptops is a good bit beefier. Discounting cost, you should get 5520 if you are more interested in portability and 7720 if you are more interested in performance, there's a bit of a trade-off there even though you can get a 5520 with pretty high specs. (7720 can certainly replace a desktop unless you absolutely need the latest high-end desktop GPU or perhaps tons of storage space.)

Regarding traveling, I can see how that could be a hassle. I did recently travel with my M6700 and I was required to take the power adapter out of the bag for scanning in addition to the laptop itself, because it is an "electronic device larger than a cell phone".

 

I've taken my M4800 around the world several times. For me the 15.6" form factor is the best balance of performance, mobility, and value of the three Precision tiers.

I've never tried plugging it in on the plane, but I believe those outlets are limited to <100W, so the 180W charger will definitely trip the breaker.

 

I'm an owner of a Precision 7720. I primarily use it as a tethered workstation, but the mobility is something I've used more than once. It's especially handy while the car is being maintenenced and I still have my full workstation environment available. It's much more portable than my older HP 17" 8770w. That said, it's very driver sensitive - more than once, an automatic Windows update updated my laptop to a driver that would cause it to intermittently bluescreen, which makes it vital to update to a fixed set of drivers via Dell Command Update and disable Windows Driver Update. It's also fine for running 1-2 VMs, more than that and everything starts to choke, as it's only 4 cores.

It looks like a Precision 7530 will soon be available, and looking at the specs, it seems like a huge bump over the previous generation of laptops in virtually every way - 6 core Xeon CPUs, up to 128GB ECC RAM (!!!), plenty of NVMe storage, and a P3200 GPU. I'd wait for a review just to see what kind of heat management it has, but if I were in the market for a new laptop, I'd look at one of these first.

 

The 5520 is very portable as it's little larger than some 14" notebooks. The 180W PSU will only draw the power needed by the notebook (plus a power conversion loss) so it won't automatically overload the power outlet. More than 100W of power will require full CPU load plus full GPU load and some battery charging.

John

 

I've read that it may trip the breaker on a plane but you can still use it, you just have to unplug/reset/plug in a few times in quick succession. (The PSU must use more than 100W briefly to charge a capacitor or something and after that it will operate at low power.)

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ps15-power-adapter-on-airline-flights.785439/

 

My own fix is to travel with a 65W or 90W PSU (plus DC plug dongle) in the hand baggage as it's smaller/lighter to carry. The 65W is adequate for battery charging and light usage (or full CPU load if the battery is charged). Plus, ever since I had a PSU die on me during a trip some years ago I like to have a backup. Then, if I'm on a work trip, the bigger one sits in the office where I'm working and the smaller one stays in the place where I'm staying so there's less to carry between the two locations.

John