XPS 17'' 9710

@jphughan 

I'm very sorry, but I forgot one thing ..
for the xps 17 '' 9710, what do you recommend? fullhd resolution or a 4k?

4k is better but maybe for a 17 '' the characters are too small, what do you think?

thank you so much

@aleangiulli  I recommend FHD for several reasons.  I bought an XPS 15 9530 in 2013 and got the 3200x1800 display for "futureproofing", but when I replaced that system with another 15" laptop in 2019, I got FHD instead.  Here's why I do NOT like the 4K display:

• Although the small text issue is fixed by using display scaling, some Windows applications still don't support scaling very well, and if an application has poor support for display scaling, it can end up looking WORSE on a 4K display than an FHD display where you would not need scaling.
• The 4K display noticeably reduces your battery life, by a few hours on average.
• The 4K display is glossy rather than matte/anti-glare.  I don't like seeing my own reflection or the reflection of overhead lights in my display, so I much prefer matte/anti-glare.
• The 4K display is a touchscreen, which I don't care about.
• The 4K display is thicker and heavier (partly due to the touchscreen).
• The 4K display costs more.

So for me, the 4K display is a bit list of drawbacks AND you spend more money to get it.  I admit text does look very nice on the display for applications that support scaling properly, but that wasn't enough to outweigh all of those drawbacks for me.  That said, if you think you will use the built-in display and external displays simultaneously, then the priority should be to choose a display that will ideally allow you to run the same scaling setting across all displays.  Windows does support using different scaling settings for different displays simultaneously, but that can introduce even more scaling artifacts.  I personally have a 15" FHD display and two 27" QHD/1440p displays, all of which are comfortable to use at the default 100% scaling.  I don't have razor sharp text, but all of my applications work properly.

@aleangiulli  I use my laptop more than 90% connected to external displays, but in that setup I also have the laptop lid closed.  If you would be using the built-in display and the external display together simultaneously, then what size is your 4K display, and what scaling setting are you using?  Unless it's only a 24" 4K or a large 40" 4K display, it's likely that there won't be a single scaling setting that will work optimally with your external display and either of the XPS display options.  In that case, you might end up seeing scaling issues no matter what you do if you want to use those two displays together.  You might want to consider just getting another display so that you don't have to keep using the built-in display when you have your external displays attached.

@jphughan 

I always have the laptop closed, I only use the 24 '' monitor.

but if I want to change monitor and take a 27 '' (4K) what happens to the resolution? since the laptop is fullhd does the monitor also work in fullhd?

@jphughan 

thank you very much.
I agree with everything you said.
and now I'm even more convinced.

but I use the laptop at 90% connected to the monitor, if the computer is fullhd, what's the use of the 4k monitor?

thank you

@aleangiulli  If your laptop lid is closed, then the resolution of the built-in display doesn't affect how the external display works at all.  I would not recommend a 27" 4K display though.  That results in a pixel density of 163 ppi, which I consider to be the "worst of both worlds".  The pixel density is high enough that you need to enable scaling to keep things readable, but not high enough to give you razor sharp text.  If you want a 27" display mostly for work, I think 2560x1440 is the sweet spot since it's crisp but still usable at regular 100% scaling.  Or if you specifically want 4K resolution, then a 24" 4K display will give you razor sharp text.  If your an it at 200% scaling, you'd have the same amount of workspace as a 24" 1080p display, but just with very sharp graphics.  But I know that 24" 4K displays are tough to find these days.  And 4K resolution doesn't become usable at regular 100% scaling until a huge display size like 40", which isn't practical for most people (but it does give you a ton of workspace since it's the equivalent of 4x 1080p displays.)  So I guess these days if you really want 4K resolution, then 27-32" are probably your only widely available options.  Neither one is ideal, but 24" and 40" each have issues of their own.  And in fairness, if all of the applications you use handle display scaling properly, then this isn't much of an issue.

@aleangiulli  As I said above, if the laptop lid is closed, then the resolution of the built-in display will not affect the resolution used by any external displays. Even if the laptop lid is OPEN, then as long as you are in Extend mode, you can still set the resolutions of every available display separately. The resolution of the built-in display also does not affect the maximum resolutions of external displays. So yes you can still run 4K external displays even if you have an FHD display.

@jphughan  perfect!!

so buying a laptop with 4K or fullhd resolution is it only for when using from the laptop?

if i have a full hd laptop and i use it at 90% attached to the 4K monitor, will the resolution be 4K?

@jphughan  I'm sorry but it seems strange to me. the 4K video stream is not decided by the laptop's video card? if the laptop is not 4K how does the monitor output in 4K? for example you connect a fullhd satellite decoder to a 4K TV, if the signal is not 4K how does the TV transmit in 4K?

@aleangiulli  You’ve now found three different ways to ask me the same questions, and I’ve already answered them twice.

@aleangiulli  The resolution of the built-in display is not the resolution of the entire system. There’s no such thing as a resolution for the entire system. If you had a desktop system with two external displays of different resolutions, you realize that the desktop system’s GPU would be able run each external display at its own resolution, right? (If you didn’t realize that, now you do.) Well, the built-in display of a laptop is just another display connected to the laptop’s GPU. The fact that the display is physically attached to the laptop body and the video cable is built into the laptop rather than being an external physical cable doesn’t make any difference at all. So just like the desktop system, the laptop will be able to run different displays at different resolutions. There are separate video streams going to each display. There isn’t just a single video stream based on the built-in display that gets passed through to the external display. And the GPU is capable of running 4K resolution — in fact in the XPS 17 9710, even the Intel GPU can handle 8K resolution — so as long as you have a display that supports the resolution you want to use and a way to connect that display that can carry that signal, that’s all you need. Once again, the resolution of the built-in display has absolutely no influence on the resolutions you can run on external displays. The displays are treated completely independently (unless you use Duplicate/Mirror mode instead of Extend mode).

@aleangiulli  Yes.  I really don't know how many other ways I can say this.  If you have a 4K display, you will be able to use it at 4K resolution from an XPS 17 9710.  The built-in display you choose will not make any difference.

@jphughan 

so recap... the xps 9710 laptop is capable of transmitting the signal in 4k, but its monitor is fullhd.

the laptop transmits the signal in 4k only if we connect a 4k monitor. I said right?

thank you and sorry for my English

@jphughan 

excellent!!
so surely it is better to buy a fullhd laptop, with a 17 '' is the right resolution.

even more if I can use it when I want in 4k, connecting it to a monitor or a TV to watch a movie in 4k.

I thought that a "fullhd notebook" was not able to reproduce a signal in 4k.

thank you very much for the explanations, you are truly a super expert.