Dell Precision M3800 - 2013!

Hence the 37W quad core only, no 47W -- just the i7-4702mq to start.

Not super, but for content creation as opposed to heavy engineering, it should be fine

Per my company's rep, 16gb max, 2 memory banks, not soldered.

For broadband, USB (no word on thunderbolt which probably means no to it) ethernet will still be faster than the hotel's uplink. It's not like in-office use where gigabit to the lan is actually helpful.

(Technically, of course, USB3 is faster than 1gbps, but in practice I've never seen a native USB3 ethernet adapter, and even if there was one it probably wouldn't keep up with wire speed.)

MBP is 16gb max.

Odd, my rep was saying November.

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Funny part is with the low clock, this will probably be slower on the CPU than my current E6430 -- Haswell doesn't have much of an IPC bump. The GPU is much better, though, and the resolution, an extra inch of screen, and 1.5-2lbs lighter is worth giving up a little speed and the device bay.

Definitely hoping for wireless docking.

 

Here is an interesting video:
Siggraph 2013 - Take a Look at the Dell Precision M3800 on Vimeo
Aluminum topcase, carbon fiber bottom
Monitor covers 100% of sRGB, has 400 nits of brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio

 

I like it more and more!

 

this is the perfect laptop for me as an engineering student, full voltage quad core, quadro graphics, tons of ram and a biggish screen

i'm really looking forward to a lag free environment when working with Cadence and Altium

 

It might miss your mark for a portable workstation, but I suspect for 95% of people who really need a workstation (which is already a very small group in comparison to all the laptops sold), the specs are great. If you need 24GB+ of RAM in a laptop, you're a small niche within a niche. You aren't in this laptop's target group.

As for Ethernet, every Hotel I've been in has terrible bandwidth. A USB Ethernet dongle is inconvenient, but it'll far exceed what you'll get in Hotel.

Assuming the specs are correct, that's great news! At least nobody can say Dell wimped out on the graphics since that's the best you can get in a thin 15" laptop.

One point that's really interesting are the reports over the last few days that we'll see a Retina MBP with no dGPU. There's this article stating that Intel is going to be providing specially binned i7's with high performing HD5200 chips to Apple
Intel to Supply Apple with Special High-End Haswell Processors for MacBook Pro - Mac Rumors

Assuming the K1100 is like the K2000, which is like the 650M, that means that a highly binned version of the HD5200 would probably offer similar performance. My assumption is that the M3800 will be cheaper than the Retina 15 and it'll give people an incentive to get it - but if the HD5200 is just as fast and Apple can release a cheaper 15" rMBP by dropping the GPU...

Over the last year I've been increasingly disappointed with Windows laptops, Windows 8, and the direction of Microsoft in the consumer space and was ready to get a rMBP 15 at the end of this year. But the M3800 has me intrigued, especially after learning the K1100 should be equal to the K2000.

 

What I found particularly interesting is how this is entirely marketed to the entertainment industry, apparently. Looks like professional work=entertainment industry. Since we're not needed here, I guess us engineers and scientists should go work in China... No wonder, however, that nobody bothers to offer anything but that 16:9 garbage anymore.

 

Professional work certainly does include people working in media, so if Dell is facing competition there from for instance Apple it makes sense for them to go after that market aggressively. This machine is also being added to the Precision line, so the less portable, but presumably more powerful M4800 and M6800 will probably be revealed later. It should also be said that the only ad that has been released so far by Dell features its fair share of engineers and architects, so Dell is clearly not just marketing this to the entertainment industry. So you're incorrect on that note.

As far as the 16:9 aspect ratio is concerned, I would also prefer something that arranged the available pixels in a taller fashion. Luckily, the vertical resolution on this machine is so good that people's eyesight is more likely to be a limiting factor than pixels. The retina Macbook Pro is 16:10, so the screen is slightly taller and narrower than this, but offers the same amount of vertical resolution. Even 16:10 30 inch monitors only have 1600 vertical pixels. This is a different situation than a manufacturer offering a 1920x1080 monitor instead of a 1920x1200 monitor.

Here is a piece of speculation on my part: I've only seen information suggesting IGZO monitors in new ultra-high resolutions going up to 15 inches. I think it's possible that Dell will have to settle for 1920x1080 for the M6800, while offering 3200x1800 for the M3800 and M4800.

This website has several images of the device:
http://www.custompcreview.com/artic...hes-precision-m3800-mobile-workstation/18424/

The bottom does not have a docking port.
Connectivity: HDMI, mini-displayport, 4 USB ports, audio/mic, SD card, Kensington lock.

 

Hardly just entertainment; while the big GPU isn't much of a plus for software development (and more memory would be welcome, if not critical), the high resolution, high speed and portability are all a winning formula for a development laptop. 16x10 would be nice -- code is vertical, after all -- but expecting Dell to be able to dictate to flat panel manufacturers is a bit naive when their whole model has been to go with the tried-and-true and to source broadly, both in the aim of low costs.

 

A decent USB 3.0 network card will go over 600Mbps.

 

So, it is safe to assume Dell's WiGig dock (like D5000), which, by the way, is another way of getting Ethernet in addition to USB3 adapter.

The specs of the m3800 are getting pretty clear. My only question is whether there is any room for an mSATA slot inside. Probably not, but that would be really great!