Dell Precision M3800 - 2013!

Pretty impossible imho. coz of current days sales/marketing psychology. Its all abt keeping the customers starving and wanting to have more. I understand where u come from coz i have been wanting the same. Plus a thunderbolt port as well. But the fact is that they wont make one. I would have purchased a mbp if it wasnt for those ty keyboard they put on it. No delete button and only a silly backspace. I want to see how 3800 performs and what all modifications I can do on it. I still use my vaio SB as my full time laptop coz its light. If my M4600 was light, I would love to carry that one around than this vaio. Basically I need something that can help me sell off 2 laptops and keep one single lightweight powerhouse. But unfortunately, thats how big companies play their game. we just gotta play around it.

 

Funny you mentioned that... Cuz I own a small company for part time ventures and I did try that ^^. I contacted motherboard manufacturers, trying to create my own dream notebook. Did a proper market research and came up with a number - more money than what I've ever made + what I will ever make. It's not the same as building a custom car. It's far more expensive. The cost can be reduced if you can make everything in-house except for mobo. Problem is, mobo design is the major investment. Come to think of it, it is possible that the situation has changed since then. Need to check again.

 

Makes sense, you're paying for the major R&D cost of building a laptop (which is usually spread out over the purchase of many thousands or millions of machines). Also, what if the darn thing has some sort of issue after you finally have it in your hands? Yikes. And then, the whole kit will be outdated in a few years.

 

In my opinion there is a chance that Dell will use the soldered FCBGA1364 i7-4702HQ for the production M3800 instead of the socked FCPGA946 MQ as reported online.
If that happens then you might be able to de-solder the CPU and replace it with the 47W i7-4950HQ + Iris Pro 5200.
Then you need to work out bios / firmware hooks and any power delivery issues, but that may be easier with Haswell's on-board voltage regulation.
Replace the screen with one from the ChromeBook or rMBP and add the necessary firmware / bios hooks.
Any product design firm with laptop experience should be able to skin around that and implement an adequate cooling solution.
That should get you everything on your list except possibly the 2nd drive slot at a "reasonable cost" for what you are trying to accomplish.

If the M3800 does ends up with a socketed CPU, then other motherboard candidates may be available, probably with an Iris Pro 5200 already onboard, but no discrete GPU.

 

Interesting thoughts, thank you! i7-4950HQ + Iris Pro 5200 would be my most desired component as of now. BTW, M3800 is supposed to have an ultra-high res screen, so no modding needed. Also, I'm still hoping to see a 13" wonder with all the aforementioned specs.

 

But therein lies the paradox: These customs designs tend to be large, heavy, and very expensive. To get cost down and make it attractive to manufactures, you need volume. Something you're never going to get in boutique items such as these.

 

I'm considering this, a lenovo ideapad, and an HP ultrabook (ENVY touchsmart 14) for my next laptop. I don't know what to get......help?
Specs I need:
4th generation i7
at least 8 gb RAM
SSD drive or acceleration cache
1080p or above screen
13-15.6 inch touchscreen
Discrete graphics
Under 1 Inch thick

I run CAD and photoshop and do gaming sometimes, so I need something powerful. But I'm always on the go and need something portable as well.
Help? Thanks!

 

The M3800 was made especially for you. Enjoy!

 

Cool!
But Dell has never been too good to me.....One computer DOA, another after a few months......are there any other computers from other brands with those kind of specs that would be good?

 

Samsung Ativ Book 8...but it hasn't been upgraded to Haswell yet. Though, even with Ivy Bridge, it gets > 8 hours of battery life thanks to a massive battery size. And for some reason the fully-specced out models don't seem to be sold in the US.