- Display: 15.6-inch Full HD IPS
- Processor: Intel Core i7 8750H
- Storage: 128 GB SSD / 1 TB HDD
- RAM: 16GB (2X8GB) 2,666MHz
- Weight: 2.63 kg
A couple of years ago, the term ‘gaming laptop’ was better suited to marketing brochures than as part of a gamer’s daily set-up. That said, the advances in chip technology — which have enabled manufacturers to produce smaller processors which use less power and therefore produce less heat — have improved the amount of performance that can be crammed into a device that does not look and weigh as much as an average wardrobe. The biggest beneficiary of this trend has been, no prizes for guessing — the gaming laptop.
All this modern technical wizardry is in full display in Dell’s new G7 7588 gaming laptop, which complements the company’s Inspiron Gaming series, but brings in the added firepower of Intel’s 8th-generation processors.
On the outside
The G7 is clearly intended for the gamer with sophisticated taste. Our review unit came finished in white, with a sharp blue accent (there is also a black version available). The outer cover is all white, save for the blue Dell logo, while the keyboard and base are black, with the keys also getting a blue accent as well as blue backlighting. The backlight has only two brightness settings and no fancy lighting modes, and the only other indication of this laptop’s gaming credentials is the subtle marking on the W, A, S, and D keys. The trackpad has ample room and the small round power button also has a fingerprint sensor compatible with Windows Hello.
The G7’s 15.6-inch Full HD screen does not have touch support, and has a substantial amount of bezel, but the panel is a sharp IPS set-up with an anti-glare coating, which produces crisp images and very little colour shift. The back of the device has a couple of exhaust vents with a subtle blue accent within, as well as a G7 badge, and a small white light on the front indicates the laptop’s status.
The G7 is well-specced in the connectivity department too, with its left side housing the power input, card reader and USB port, while the right side gets two more USB ports, a Thunderbolt 3-capable USB-C port, a headphone jack and a full-size HDMI port.
A modern heart
Special Arrangement
Underneath the unassuming exterior, the G7 packs some of the latest hardware from the houses of Intel and Nvidia. The 8th-generation i7-8750H is from the six-core Coffee Lake family, making the G7 more than competent at handling demanding multi-core applications, which has been the Achilles Heel for laptops in the past. Add an Nvidia GTX 1060 with 6GB memory and an efficient Max-Q design, and you have a potent powerhouse, the results of which show in real-world scenarios as well.
The G7 happily waltzed through everything we threw at it, making short work of some of today’s most demanding AAA titles, as well as multi-player games and less-optimised indie titles, while keeping temperatures within acceptable levels. The display is not a high-refresh rate affair, but we suspect that will not be a deal breaker for most.
Who is it for?
At an asking price of ₹1,05,924, on Dell’s website (exclusive of taxes), the G7 technically undercuts the pricier version of the Inspiron Gaming line (which also has a GTX 1060 Max Q) by around ₹7,000, though the latter has a 256GB SSD out of the box, compared to 128GB on the G7. This, combined with the newer processor, makes the G7 ideal for performance-hungry gamers and anyone who works with resource-heavy applications, like video editors, who are also likely to appreciate the subtle design of the laptop.
For more firepower, Dell also has a version of the laptop with a Core i9 8950HK processor, though we did not get to test that version. For those interested in gaming only, the 1060 Max Q Inspiron gaming with the last i7 generation processor is a good buy if it can be found cheaper, but at the current price point, the G7 is one of the lowest entry points for a GTX 1060-powered configuration, and the newer processor makes it an excellent value-for-money recommendation.
