17" Laptop for travel I5, I7.or I9

[powerscol]

OK my Alaska trip is on. I have business discount with Dell so looking at the 17" XPS line.

However I am not computer savvy. So I need a solid basic computer for travel. I plan to have the Microsoft Office and Adobe installed so can do emails etc. Looking at 1T SSD hard drive for data storage (lots of pictures) and would like the option of doing a bit of gaming and ultimately replace my ageing desk top. I am choosing 17" for my aging eyes. As for graphics card I was looking at the 3060. I don't think I need a touch screen.

The big cost difference is the chip choice. I5, I7, or I9..I have always gone with the best available, but things have appeared to stabilize.

So in the Dell XPS 17 line what do I need or get to have something solid to last say 5 years?

Thanks

 

[triplethreat]

Here is the one that I recently purchased to tote along for camping and some home use. I wasn't terribly concerned about the SSD size, as I have a 6Tb external hard drive that is compact enough to take along for storing pics and video on at the end of the day. Here is a link to Costco, where I bought mine....if it will let you access it without being a member....maybe...

https://www.costco.com/dell-inspiro...rce-mx450---windows-11.product.100804976.html

I went with 15.6" screen (previous was a Surface Pro with a 12.3" screen) because my eyes are getting older and the larger screen was to me, a good compromise between screen size and weight between the 15.6 and the 17" screen. I also like having a touch screen for times when I don't need to break out the wireless B.T. trackball.

Anyway, this is what I got and I'm very happy with it.

PS....as far as installed software.....I use, and have used for the last 5 or 6 years....eM Client for my email....it solid and free for you. I don't use any of the Microsoft office stuff....none of it. I've found the Libre Office does exactly what I need and it's another one that is free for downloading and use. It is an open source software and in my opinion, does an excellent job of replacing the Microsoft Office software....and it even allows you to save documents in the MS. file format.

 

[Scott'n'Wendy]

When you are deciding CPU, look at the cache sizes, the more cache the better and you can't have too much memory. A well equipped I5 can outperform an I7. So it's not JUST picking a CPU version - see what it's pkgd with for cache and motherboard chipset.

 

[Second Chance]

Moved to Mobile Tech - Connectivity on the Road.

We each have 15" ASUS laptops with OLED displays. Anything larger becomes bulky and heavy for travel in the RV or by air.

Rob

 

[Ynot4me2]

As soon as you mentioned gaming, the priced double. For regular day to stuff like surfing, emails, office any one will do. Screen size is a personal preference. The larger the heavier. We have a 17in but we also use tablets to carry around. The 17 is great for watching movies when boondocking if the TV is not available. Touch screen is also a personal preference. Storage, well SSD is more expensive but no moving parts, quicker and lighter. Size depends on your needs. If that is your only storage then the bigger the better. We also have an external for backups. RAM the more the better but 16 I think is the minimum for the long-term. More and quicker memory is better for gaming. CPU cache as mentioned before is important for gaming, same with the video card. But it also depends on what type of gaming. Solitude card game doesn't require much. Lol. Then there's budget..... Most of today's laptops will last 5 yrs just be sure that it's recent and not one that has been on the shelf for 2 years.

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[Captcolour]

XPS is the way to go. Newer i5's are actually fine. No need for i9 for sure to save some money. So either i5 or i7 depending on the package from Dell. 16GB RAM is good. More is just overkill. Not sure what type of gaming you would do as needs can vary a lot.

 

[ManageIT]

You start getting into i7 and for sure i9 in a laptop and you find that the power consumption and heat production become quite significant. So much so that often an i5 will out perform due to the the higher level chips having to "power down" to mitigate heat. An XPS doesn't have a lot of ability to get rid of heat.

Discrete graphics is more important for gaming anyway.

 

[ajg617]

I've had my personal Toshiba 15.6 Satellite now for 7 or 8 years - upgraded to a 2TB Samsun EVO SSD and increased the RAM. For office work/streaming it is fine but not for gaming. It has an early I7 (latest at that time) in it but as @Soctt'n'Wendy pointed out, the newer I5s with larger cache out perform an I7. The company bulk ordered HP I5s which even with all the company bloatware, still were very quick. Neither are gaming.

The reason I went with this model was backlit keyboard and number pad on the right which I have always found very convenient and which was hard to find on a 15 inch laptop.

We did have a HP 17 inch and far too bulky - I wouldn't even call it a laptop - table top.

 

[powerscol]

To close this out I ordered a 17" XPS this morning, I7 with large Cache (double what the I5 had)


Partial details
12th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H (24MB Cache, up to 4.7 GHz, 14 cores)
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
17.0" FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch Anti-Glare 500-Nit Display
16GB 2x8GB DDR5 4800MHz
NVIDIA(R) GeForce RTX(TM) 3060 6GB GDDR6 [60W]

Probably more than I need. Now to find a good case and Mouse - I hate the touch pad on DW 8 year old 17" Toshiba. I looked and they don't appear to make them anymore and my Toshiba business contact phone number is disconnected.

Thanks for the help

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Good choice with the 17", the new ones are not that much heavier than some of the 15.6" with a hard drive instead of the SSD. I love the 17" for the ability to have my programs open in large windows, especially my mapping program, and photos. These old eyes just need things a bit bigger.

Just a thought, but you might look into using a trackball instead of a mouse. No need for a larger footprint to move the mouse around on. Trackballs suck at gaming, but work very well in small spaces.

 

[MoonShadow_1911]

Good choice with the 17", the new ones are not that much heavier than some of the 15.6" with a hard drive instead of the SSD. I love the 17" for the ability to have my programs open in large windows, especially my mapping program, and photos. These old eyes just need things a bit bigger.

Just a thought, but you might look into using a trackball instead of a mouse. No need for a larger footprint to move the mouse around on. Trackballs suck at gaming, but work very well in small spaces.

+1 For the Logitech Marble Mouse Trackball!

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[Hoopy Frood]

Yeah, I use the Logitech M570.