Dell Precision vs Lenovo Y700

yvawda

Commendable
Nov 7, 2016
2
0
1,510
Hi,

I'm looking for a laptop and have a choice between the following: Dell Precision M6800(Refurbished) and Lenovo Y700(New).

I'm a student and require the laptop for CAD, rendering as well as multimedia and light gaming.

Dell Precision M6800:
i7 4800MQ up to 3.7Ghz Turbo Boost (8 Cores)
16GB ULV Ram
256GB Seagate 600 Pro Enterprise Solid State Drive (20x faster than hard drive, boots under 3 seconds)
1TB Hard Drive
17.3" 1920 x 1080 Dell UltraSharp LED iPS Anti-Glare Display with 99.% Adobe RGB Color Spectrum Accuracy (200 Degree Bendable)
AMD FirePro M6100 2GB Workstation Graphics


Lenovo Y700:

Intel Core i7-6700HQ 3.5GHz 15.6" Full HD (1920X1080)
16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 2133MHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB DDR5
1TB HDD + 128GB SSD

I know the Dell is more suited for what I require it for but I'm not sure about it being Refurbished,as well as having a 4th gen i7 instead of the Lenovo's 6th gen.

Could someone help regarding what I should go for?

Thanks
 
Solution
For CAD and rendering the amd firepro should have the advantage as it has specialised drivers. This assumes that the 3D cad software is compatible with it. Also the SSD might help as you can put more programs on it. However for gaming the nividia card should be better as they are more geared for gaming.
 


Greetings, yvawda:

The Dell is clearly aimed at (business) professionals, while the Lenovo is slated as a gaming machine. I agree that the Dell seems to suit your needs better, but I can also understand your concerns about 'refurbished' machines.

A refurbished workstation is still a workstation, meaning that the previous owner(s) probably treated it the same way you would treat it - think about that for a moment. Personally, I would only buy a refurbished machine if I could hold it in my hands and check for dents and cracks, especially around the screen/bezel.

The Lenovo is a gaming machine, and while it's new and has newer and better specs (CPU and GPU), they may not be relevant to your career. And Lenovo isn't known for putting great display panels on their devices - quite the opposite. You need to check the display specs very carefully with all Lenovos. Dells, on the other hand, are widely known for their superior displays - but they're also generally more expensive than comparable Lenovos.

And you're really comparing apples to oranges, because the Dell Precision competes with Lenovo's ThinkPad P70 and not the Ideapad range. But if these are your options, I'd say: Take a leap of faith and get the Precision. You need a high-quality screen more than you need gaming power. A new 17-inch Precision starts at $1.450 (with lesser specs), which may not be a relevant proposition at this time in your life.

Best of luck,
GreyCatz.
 
Solution

yvawda

Commendable
Nov 7, 2016
2
0
1,510





Thanks very much for the reply. I'm just not entirely sure if getting a 4th gen processor is worth it, and being a refurbished machine is also a slight risk.

The only reason I have the option of the Precision is because it's refurbished and is the same price as a new Lenovo Y700.

Regards

Apologies if my reply turns up in the wrong format/ place, I've just signed up and it's my first few posts.