Dell Precision M3800, A Macbook Challenger?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
Odd GPU combination. Or might I say an odd VRAM combination. If it comes with 2GB base then that's fine and dandy but if the highest species model has only 2GB then it's a big problem.

That's just so weird seeing how there are a surprising amount of notebooks with 4GB+ of VRAM with something like a 970M or 880M. At least 4GB of VRAM is a must when dealing with content creation apps.

*cough*Ubuntu worst distro*cough* (okay maybe not the worst)
 
"That's just so weird seeing how there are a surprising amount of notebooks with 4GB+ of VRAM with something like a 970M or 880M. At least 4GB of VRAM is a must when dealing with content creation apps. "

Those are gaming cards, not workstation grade, big difference.
 
How about you guys publish an actual review instead of an advertorial? And the resolution isn't 4K/UHD; it's 3200 x 1800 QHD+.
 
We have begun ordering this model at my workplace and I know the specs. If you care to look up some reviews you will see I am correct and the product page is wrong.

Like I said, an actual review instead of regurgitating Dell's incorrect PR would be good.
 
Still waiting for a 17" ultra-HD (3K would be fine) laptop, and it doesn't even have to be "fire breathing". Why on why won't they make any ultra-HD 17" screens? What's the problem?
 
@sullivang - "Still waiting for a 17" ultra-HD (3K would be fine) laptop, and it doesn't even have to be "fire breathing" - WHY? Why do you need 4K on a tiny 17" pannel? I ca BARELY tell the difference between a 27" 1080p pannel and a 27" 4K one - don't tell me your eyes are that good!

I've got a better idea! Bring back the 18,4" form factor - I shopped around for an 18,4" gaming machine for a whole year and had to settle for an ASUS ROG G751JY because the only 18.4" alternative is a 3600$ alineware machine witch was way-WAY over my budget.
 
@MrMaestro - "We have begun ordering this model at my workplace and I know the specs. If you care to look up some reviews you will see I am correct and the product page is wrong."

So you're telling us that the order page is wrong and if I ordered this with the 4K screen I wouldn't receive that? I have a hard time believing that they'd have something so colossally wrong on their website. It'd be one thing if it was just a PR page, but their order page shows its 4K.

This is what I can select as my display options
15.6" UltraSharp™ FHD Touch (1920x1080) Wide View LED-backlit with Premium Panel Guarantee [subtract $70.00]
15.6" UltraSharp™ IGZO UHD Touch (3840x2160) 4K2K Wide View LED-backlit with Premium Panel

And I did look at reviews. CNETs was for last years model (review dated May 2014), which did have a 3200x1800 res screen. This article is talking about the updated 2015 version, which has a newer processor (i7-4712HQ vs i7-4702HQ) in it and a better screen. So before you complain that someone is regurgitating wrong PR, do a little research and make sure you're looking at the right thing first. This was just released and they likely haven't received a review model yet, which is why this is just a spec article.
 


Well they must be "that good", because my smartphone's screen is definitely clearer than my FHD 15.6" laptop, which means I would benefit from an increase in resolution in my laptop. (again, I think 3K would be just fine, though) If you think it's a waste of time making a 4K 17" laptop, you must think Dell are REALLY stupid making a 15.6" 4K laptop!
 
So you're telling us that the order page is wrong and if I ordered this with the 4K screen I wouldn't receive that? I have a hard time believing that they'd have something so colossally wrong on their website. It'd be one thing if it was just a PR page, but their order page shows its 4K.
Click to expand...

I placed an order for one on the 21st with the i7-4712HQ CPU and 3200x1800 QHD+ screen. But maybe you're right. How about you order one and when they both arrive we can compare notes?
 
They didn't mention battery life. Essentially they skimped on battery life to get it thin and light. The Macbook has around a 50% greater capacity. If this Dell is like every other elite model the extended battery will jut out the bottom. The could have gone Macbook size which is good enough and used a better battery.

Also scaling still stinks in Windows. Hopefully Windows 10 will fix this.
 
Quote: And I did look at reviews. CNETs was for last years model (review dated May 2014), which did have a 3200x1800 res screen. This article is talking about the updated 2015 version, which has a newer processor (i7-4712HQ vs i7-4702HQ) in it and a better screen. So before you complain that someone is regurgitating wrong PR, do a little research and make sure you're looking at the right thing first. This was just released and they likely haven't received a review model yet, which is why this is just a spec article.

> I have a 4710 cpu AND a 3200x1800 screen M3800 in front of me.

Absolutely wonderful.

Can play MW3 on it (in-game set to 1920), and hit the 91fps limit too.

Max everything out, including resoultion, and you'll get 22fps. Unplayable.

Screen is best I've seen yet on a laptop. Touch thingy not interesting to me.

Oddly, the 4710 does some things faster than my 3920XM @ 4.5GHz too. Very surprising.

No internal NIC tho. Wireless AC only. Some places ship with a usb3 > GigE adapter tho, but not me. Using this adapter, its latency on speedtest is sometimes a couple of ms faster then my other comp's integrated NIC, so no complaints.

Highly recommended.
 
Dell just released this one or two days ago, so if you ordered on the 21st, you would have ordered last years model. The only reason I even mentioned the processor was because the spec sheet from CNET showed the 4702 and the updated (base) spec sheet shows the 4712, so they must have just updated the base CPU. All I was getting at was that your first reaction was to blast them for "having the wrong info" even though this was a spec article for a newly release version of the laptop and it was accurate.



 
Correction to my statement above at 8:12PM;

I have both a 4712HQ AND a 3200 x 1800 screen. Not a 4710, or 4702.

Inside it the two fans are joined by large heat pipes too, so you get double-cooling on whatever application needs it, say if something is CPU heavy, then the cpu has two fans to deal with it. Similar story if something is solely GPU heavy too. I can't remember many applications that are simultaneously GPU & CPU heavy at the same time.

Also, request Win7 DVD, burn USB key (no optical drive) and install. Set DPI to 200%, and you'll be just fine.
 
Quote: They didn't mention battery life. Essentially they skimped on battery life to get it thin and light. The Macbook has around a 50% greater capacity. If this Dell is like every other elite model the extended battery will jut out the bottom. The could have gone Macbook size which is good enough and used a better battery.

Care to substantiate this comment?

Battery capacity is 91whr. NINETY ONE.

Scaling for the most part is fine, set DPI to 200%. The worst offender has been Office 2010. Many applications / programs are fine.

How do I know? Bought one.


And the Mac you are referring to is?
 
Ok. Compared at Dell store with the retina Macbook.
With 16 GB and a 512 GB SSD this is slightly more expensive (but does come with a better GPU as well).

So purely on specs for specs, this is slightly better value but not by switch inducing margins.
Seems like a good laptop anyhow.
 
Quote: Care to substantiate this comment?

Battery capacity is 91whr. NINETY ONE.

Scaling for the most part is fine, set DPI to 200%. The worst offender has been Office 2010. Many applications / programs are fine.

How do I know? Bought one.

And the Mac you are referring to is?

The product sales page list 61whr as standard. 91whr is the extended pack. As I said if this is like other Dell's then the extended pack would jut out the bottom. If it doesn't then Dell finally fixed this issue with extended packs.

As for scaling. Whenever I have see DPI setting's over 100% there is always issues with text not fitting in dialogue boxes.
 
C'mon, Stuart... this is not a "fire-breathing" laptop! That would require, in the CPU department, an i7-4910MQ/4940MX CPU or even a desktop 4790K, like some new laptops are sporting. Dell "put a lot of thought" into a K1100 GPU?... I don't think so. You need at least a K2100 for serious work. And how about the ability to install 32 GB of RAM? Nope. I realize you mentioned this was a "slim" laptop, but if that's its main selling point, then don't talk about it being so great for content creation. Serious content creators would buy a new Lenovo ThinkPad W541, one of Eurocom's "pro" laptops, or a multitude of other options... including Dell's own Precision M4800. The M3800 can't hold a candle to any of these.
 
I bought one of these last January. My resolution is 3200x1800. Here's my review: it's fr*cking awesome! Love the screen. Some software does not scale well, but other than that, best laptop I have ever owned and I will definitely buy another after this one.
 
It will be interesting to see how Mac competes when they update their lineup this June. This Dell competes with the current Macbook, but the current Macbook is 7 months old right?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom