For a gaming laptop, the G7 15's 60Hz IPS display is a bit of a letdown. You can tell from the start that color is washed out, and testing color accuracy I got back 66 percent sRGB and 49 percent AdobeRGB. It gets bright enough for most scenarios and has an anti-glare display, and you can always connect to an external monitor when not on the go.Contributing a bit to the overall bulk and outdated look of the laptop is the rather large bezel around the display. You get about an inch on each side, so if that look drives you nuts, you might want to look elsewhere. Overall, the display isn't that great, but that's a tradeoff you have to live with for the price you pay for the complete package. I'd much rather have great performance than a perfect display, and that's what you get here.

The size of the G7 allows for a full keyboard with number pad, with keys evenly spaced with a good amount of room between. The WASD keys have blue highlights inked on, and you get a blue backlight that fits nicely with the outer alpine white shell. Keys don't seem to have a ton of travel, but they make a satisfying click and can certainly get the job done. You have a standard set of functions along the top F keys, and overall there's not much to complain about.

The touchpad is big — about four inches by three inches — and uses Precision drivers for full gesture support but it's placed directly below the spacebar in an off-center spot. If it were only an aesthetic issue, it wouldn't be a big deal, but its placement puts it in the way of my left hand when working the standard WASD section while gaming. Unfortunately, there's no shortcut key to disable the touchpad when a mouse is plugged in, and worse, my thumb rubs against the edge. Once immersed in a game I forget about it, but it's there.

These laptops are advertised as VR-ready on Dell's website, and indeed the G7 7588 handled what I threw at it. The GTX 1060 with Max-Q design handled the load without overheating, and the six-core CPU was more than enough. You might be lacking a USB-A port for a full three-sensor Rift setup, but as for Vive and Windows Mixed Reality, you're good to go with no need for adapters or dongles.The back of the laptop is held on with a single Philips-head screw and plenty of clips, allowing you to get inside quickly. Once there, you have easy access to RAM, both SSD and HDD storage, and Wi-Fi card. This will enable you to upgrade later on, helping keep your investment relevant for longer, and also allowing you to save some money at checkout. The cooling system is also evident; dual fans help keep the laptop relatively cool, though you will hear them running. Even while gaming, the plastic chassis never got uncomfortably hot.

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Testing standard PC games, I played some Rise of the Tomb Raider, Dying Light, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG). With settings on High, I averaged about 60 FPS in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Dying Light, with settings on Best, I averaged 114.6 FPS. Finally, in PUBG with settings on High, I averaged about 87.1 FPS. Altogether, the hardware inside will allow you to play modern games without much trouble.

One of the biggest selling points for a gaming laptop is its battery life. Most of the time it's pretty scary, especially in budget options. The G7 has a four-cell 56 Wh battery, and I managed to eke about four hours from it while going about usual tasks. When gaming you'll want to keep it plugged in for best performance, as the battery will drain far quicker.I recently reviewed Lenovo's Legion Y530 laptop with a similar price (about $1,300) and different design. Comparing these two, you essentially choose between performance and style. The G7 looks a bit outdated, with its thick bezel and chunky body, but for the price, you're getting a lot of gaming performance. The Y530 delivers less performance, but it has a minimal bezel and not a lot of extra plastic, weighing in at about a pound lighter.

The G7 certainly has its share of perks, like easy post-purchase upgradeability, six-core processor, and lots of ports. If you don't mind the chunky look or the washed out display, it will easily power modern games. It doesn't get too hot under load, and the battery is average for a gaming laptop.
Anyone who likes an aggressive design and doesn't mind a big bezel in exchange for great performance should check out the G7 15. It will get the job done every day, and it's even suitable for powering VR. There are Core i9 and 4K models available, but I would stick with the FHD display and Core i7 models for best return on your money when it comes to performance.

Lenovo makes a wide range of ThinkPads, with the T-series and X-series models sitting near the top of the pile. I have here the T580, which offers a 15.6-inch display (the rest of the T-series ThinkPads are set at 14 inches), full keyboard with number pad, hot-swappable battery system, and a bunch of the extra security and ease-of-use features you expect from a business laptop.I used the ThinkPad T580 for about a week, coming away generally impressed but not without a few reservations. Let's take an in-depth look at this big laptop and see whether or not it's the right device for you.

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Lenovo loaned Windows Central a review unit of the ThinkPad T580. This specific model has inside an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8650U vPro processor (CPU), 16GB of DDR4-2400MHz RAM, a 512GB PCIe M.2 solid-state drive (SSD), and a 15.6-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) touch display. This specific configuration costs about $1,770 from Lenovo. Models start at about $980.The ThinkPad look hasn't changed much, especially in the T-series corner, but that's OK. The outside has a soft-touch finish and the inside, around the keyboard and touchpad, is more of a hard plastic. Just about everything here is made from glass-fiber reinforced plastic, but it still weighs in at 4.29 pounds (1.95 kg) and up depending on whether you opt for the 4K display or a larger external battery. It's not the most portable laptop — it's also 0.79 inches thick — but its performance I think makes up for the size.

The plastic body has a bit of flex when twisted, but the lid is held sturdy with two tight hinges. Working in a moving vehicle shouldn't be a problem, and the T580 has undergone 12 MIL-STD 810G certification tests to certify that it can put up with the perils of the road, like heat, cold, shock, vibration, and humidity. Optional LTE support makes this laptop more mobile so that that extra durability will come in handy.The T580 is a big business with stellar performance, a good selection of ports, and security features users and admins alike can appreciate.

Most ports are located on the right side of the laptop, including Ethernet, HDMI, two USB-A, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones. There's lots of spacing between so you won't get any overlap when trying to use multiple peripherals. On the left side is a USB-C port that doubles as a charging port, and next to it is a Thunderbolt 3 port coupled with a Lenovo Ethernet side dock extension port.The T580 comes with some built-in security features that users and admins alike an appreciate. This model includes a vPro CPU for remote management, and it likewise has a discrete Trusted Platform Module (dTPM) 2.0 chip for extra encryption and security. A fingerprint reader is set into the right palm rest, out of the way of your hand while typing. I tested it out plenty of times during use, and while it might seem like it takes an extra split second to log in compared to some other systems, it worked every time. There is an optional IR camera available (this model didn't have it), though with face recognition you'll lose the ThinkShutter, which is a quick and easy way to hide your 720p webcam without bits of paper or sticky tack.