Dell Precision 16" 5690 Anodized Titan Gray 2024

A purpose-built creator workstation with a killer display and marathon battery life, held back by a cramped SSD and a GPU that's allergic to gaming. Get the refurb deal and don't look back.

What surprised us most is how well this thing handles sustained creative workloads without sounding like a jet engine. The 32GB of DDR5 RAM sits in the 91st percentile for its class, which means you can throw massive Photoshop files or multiple Docker containers at it and it won't flinch. The RTX 1000 Ada isn't a gaming powerhouse, landing in the 69th percentile for GPU, but it chews through Blender renders and CAD models with a quiet confidence that's honestly refreshing. Just don't ask it to run local LLMs, that's a dead end with a score of 39.2.

The elephant in the room is the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max. It will obliterate the Precision in GPU tasks and AI workloads while sipping power, but you're locked into macOS and paying a hefty premium. On the Windows side, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is a compelling alternative if you want more gaming muscle in a smaller package, though you'll sacrifice the big screen and some of that professional GPU stability. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is the other contender, offering more raw power for less money, but it's a chunky boy compared to the Precision's relatively slim profile.

With a wild price spread from $2,275 to $3,399 across vendors, you absolutely need to shop around. The best deal we're seeing is the refurbished open-box unit from Newegg at the low end, which makes the value proposition much sweeter. At full retail near $3,400, you're dangerously close to an M4 Max MacBook Pro, and that's a much tougher sell. For the right price, this is a solid investment in a no-drama workhorse.

The Dell Precision 5690 is a workstation that knows exactly what it is, and it's not trying to be your gaming rig. This is a big, beautiful 16-inch machine built for creators and developers who need reliable power in a package that won't break your back. The one thing to know is that the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and RTX 1000 Ada GPU combo is a purpose-built tool for professional apps, not a benchmark crusher for the latest AAA titles. It's thin, it's light for its size, and that 100Wh battery is a beast, but you're paying for ISV certifications and stability, not raw frame rates.

If you're looking for a gaming laptop that can moonlight as a work machine, this isn't it. Go get an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or a Lenovo Legion Pro 7i instead. You'll get a high-refresh-rate screen and a proper GeForce GPU that won't choke on Cyberpunk, and you'll probably save some cash in the process.

Buy this if you're a professional creator or developer who lives in Adobe CC, Autodesk, or similar ISV-certified apps and needs a big, reliable screen with all-day battery life. The Precision 5690 is a focused tool that excels at its job without any gamer RGB nonsense. Just make sure you get the right price, and budget for a bigger external SSD on day one.