Since there's very little on the internet on this model from the users so I thought I'd share my impressions after first 24 hrs of setup, cloud sync and few hours of initial work.

My spec is pretty much full-spec:

• Intel Core i7-11800H

• 32GB RAM

• SSD 1TB

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

• fingerprint reader

I'm coming from working on a MacBook Pro 15" for the last 11 years. The reason for switch is not being fed up with Apple/MBP - it's because MBP switches to M1 processors and I rely heavily on proprietary Windows software (running via Parallels) and my MBP (mid-2015) is pretty much shredded now and no longer is good enough for the work I do (3D/CAD design).

I'll follow u/coolio9876 step-by-step impressions... (thanks for your impressions btw. - it helped me make the decision).

Build quality - as I'm coming from a MacBook I really wanted the aluminium body. The alloy is indeed a little bit thinner than MBPs making it feel marginally cheaper and I do handle it with a little bit more care than the MBP. It is very good and looks very slick though nevertheless. And the blue is not as blue as in some marketing materials and I am happy with it. I like the keyboard very much (aside from the arrows). I'm still getting used to the non-Apple touchpad, but I hardly use it. It is fitted properly unlike some reports from other users.

Screen - Very nice and it is not too dim for me. I don't work outdoors and my second monitor (12yo Samsung) is much dimmer. I'm very happy with the screen.

Battery - don't much care since I'm 98% time plugged in. I like the fact, that Dell Power Manager has the option to run it in "plugged in mode", although I do not know whether it will save the battery life over time.

Thermals - no objections there. My MBP runs hotter and louder than that. I do keep it on a raised laptop stand and it's bottom has quite a bit of clearance. My office noise is at around 40-55dB and so far I haven't heard it. I do have one external monitor permanently plugged in via HDMI .

Speakers - don't care, can't judge.

Performance - I don't care for benchmarks either, but I do have a direct comparison to some other laptops in my office. Mostly Lenovos (i5 gen. 10, with 32GB RAM and GTX1650). We have one ASUS ZenBook with last year's i9 in it - I can say the Dell is quicker. It is awesome and in my line of work I expect to see approx. 30%-50% time reduction in projects I work on. It is absolutely mighty.

SSD - I wanted to put another disk inside since we're running a hefty Dropbox (~800k files) which wears SSDs a bit. I've seen some videos where the factory fitted SSD was a 2230 (short one). So if you wanted to put another one you just get an ordinary 2280 one and job done. This is not the case here (maybe due to 1TB drive, although Dell has 2230 1TB drives). Mine is 2280 and I'm only left with 2230 slot which makes my life difficult at the moment as I had different plans for it (Samsung 980 Pro for system at 2280 port and original 1TB at 2230). I may end up getting 1TB for the 2230 port though to get max speed on system drive. They are not easily accessible and the ones from DELL are a bit on the pricy side.

USB slots - Jesus Christ on a stick they are tight. I have a software licence key on a small GoodRam USB stick - I had to use pliers to remove it from the slot.

Overall - I am very, very happy. For the price it is absolutely awesome machine with very high quality build. It's not up there with XPSes or Alienwares but it doesn't come much shorter to be honest.

Logi MX mouse + keys and Bluetooth lag - I did experience this for those interested. The registry USB suspend options solve that issue for me.

OCD rant - The stickers on the laptop are all over the place, not lined up, not even sticking properly on. They go off immediately.

I'm open to questions if anyone has any.

// EDIT 13th August
Tested the battery a little today. After 3 hrs of work, mainly CAD / 3D with an external monitor I got it down to 50%. I'm satisfied.

// EDIT 1st November 2021
Ok, the touchpad is a complete shite. First time I'm using it and it's useless. I won't be sending it back because of it though - it's my main machine and I work with mouse anyway.

Hi,

I'm looking for laptop meeting the following criteria;

• 8th Generation Intel i7

• 32GB ram (or upgradable to it)

• 1TB SSD (or upgradable to it)

• Light (<5lbl)

• Good battery (>10h)

• Not overheating

• 14-15"

• Webcam where it's supposed to be (otherwise I'd just go with XPS 15 :( )

My budget is $1500-$2500, is there anything worth recommending?

I was looking at Dell Inspiron 15 7000 as they can be upgraded to 32gb ram, however I'm not sure whether I can also upgrade them to 1TB SSD?

Thanks!