Choosing between the Dell Alienware m15 R7 and the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 depends on your needs and budget. The Dell Alienware is designed for high-performance tasks like gaming or engineering, with powerful processors and graphics, higher memory, and better screen resolution, but it's heavier and pricier. On the other hand, the Lenovo IdeaPad is more affordable and lightweight, suitable for general use with decent battery life, but it has less power and a lower screen quality. If you need top performance and can invest more, go for the Dell, but for everyday tasks and savings, the Lenovo is sufficient. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m15 R7
Good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Good for software development
Good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Good speakers
Very good keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15"
Good portability
Key differences
General Use
7.5/10
6.2/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1366 x 768
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
TN
300.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
220.0 nits
5.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.0 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
6.5/10
6.4/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good for general use, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is only fair.
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is rated higher for general use because it has a more powerful CPU, double the RAM for multitasking, a higher resolution screen with better color coverage, and a dedicated graphics card, but it is heavier and has just fair portability. The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" has a simpler CPU suitable for basic tasks, lesser RAM, a lower resolution screen, and relies on integrated graphics; however, it is lighter and has a higher portability score, making it easier to carry around despite its fair general use performance.
Gaming and AI
7.8/10
5.8/10
8.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1366 x 768
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
9.5/10
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
5.8/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.2/10
8.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is poor.
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 outperforms the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 for engineering and design use because it is equipped with significantly more powerful CPU and GPU, higher RAM and better screen quality, which are crucial for demanding tasks, whereas the IdeaPad has modest performance components that are not optimized for such intensive use. While the Alienware provides the necessary computational power and visuals needed for engineering and design, this comes at the cost of lower portability and potentially louder operating noise compared to the more portable but less capable IdeaPad, which also falls short in keyboard and speaker quality.
Content Creation
7.5/10
6.3/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.2/10
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1366 x 768
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
TN
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good for content creation, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.3/10
6.3/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1366 x 768
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
6.5/10
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good for software development, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
8.2/10
5.2/10
15.6in
SIZE
15.6in
2560 x 1440
RESOLUTION
1366 x 768
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
TN
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
300.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
220.0 nits
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has a better screen than the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has a high-resolution display providing crisp visuals, and its panel ensures vibrant colors and wide viewing angles, essential for engineering and design tasks where color precision is critical. Meanwhile, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3's lower resolution and dimmer screen fall short in providing the clarity and brightness desired for general use. However, for gaming and 3D applications, the Alienware's screen may not refresh as quickly as desired, affecting the smoothness of fast-moving images which could be a drawback for those high-motion scenarios.
Portability
Fair
Good
15.6in
SIZE
15.6in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
3.7 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" has good portability, while the Dell Alienware m15 R7 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
8.5/10
6.5/10
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has very good build quality, while the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,200
$360
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has a price of $2,200 and the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15" costs $360.
"The Alienware M15 offers solid gaming and leading endurance. It makes the most of its CPU and GPU while delivering stellar battery life for a gaming laptop. Opening the lid presents a full-size keyboard with honeycomb cutouts above it on the deck. An oblong RBG lightning element surrounds the entire rear panel and can be color-synced with the other lights on the laptop. There’s not a lot to dislike about the M15 Its productivity performance lagged in some areas, particularly in the storage benchmark, and it’s a bit heavy. Alienware has a clear winner here with the M15 based on its strong overall performance and endurance."
"The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is an enduring office notebook with a powerful Ryzen APU. Lenovo's office all-rounder easily handles office and internet applications as well as modest games - the Ryzen 5 5625U APU and 16 GB of RAM make this possible. The CPU and GPU can work at consistently high clock rates. The emission values are okay, but the noise emissions should be lower under medium to full load. The relatively light notebook (approx. 1.6 kg) achieves practical battery runtimes of about 10 to 11 hours."
Get a great deal on the Dell Alienware m15 R7 or the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15"
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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