Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

Starting to add pictures. Review will follow. Feel free to ask questions. Will answer what I can.


Compared to the M6700 Covet.



Top view compared to the M6700 Covet.



Compared to a non Retina 15" MacBook Pro. The M3800 is thinner and about 1/2cm wider.



Back view. Not much to see.



Left side view. The 5 lights are the battery status. Note the slightly smaller power plug. The M3800 comes with a dongle that allows you to use normal Dell power adapters too.



Bottom of the machine.



Interior layout.



Note the smaller form factor used by the Intel 7260 wifi.



Heatsinks covering CPU and GPU.



Speakers a large for a laptop this small. The large surrounds allow them to have a lot of travel as well.



Deep fins on the heatsinks. Hinge assembly.



Underside of the bottom cover. Lots of subtle bracing.



Vents.


Compared to Dell's other two 130 watt adapters, Dell's 90 watt adapter, and Apple's 85 watt adapter.


Side view to show thickness of the adapters.

HDMI on the U3014 ran at 2560x1600. The refresh rate was showing 59hz, which I did not expect. Most systems will only get 30hz via HDMI on the U3014. I was able to extend the desktop and also run the built-in panel at 3800x1600 at the same time.

Switching up, I ran DisplayPort to the U3014 at 2560x1600, and HDMI to a U2410 at 1920x1200. I was able to use the M3800 display, U3014, and U2410 all at their max resolutions at the same time.

In the pic below, the M3800 screen looks more washed out than the other two monitors. It was set to max brightness and was overexposed in the photo.



SPECviewperf 11 Results -

Viewset Composite
catia-03 36.68
ensight-04 21.18
lightwave-01 48.20
maya-03 49.53
proe-05 13.88
sw-02 40.93
tcvis-02 33.34
snx-01 28.44

 

Q1. Upgradeable components?
Q2. Screen as good as the specs suggest?
Q3. Weight in hand?
Q4. Build quality compared to regular x700, x800 precisions? Keyboard and Touchpad compared to other Precisions?
Q5. Fan noise/heat?
Q6. Battery life?
Q7. Comparison to XPS 15 Haswell, (whatever is available from specs/previews)?
Q8. Anything special to note?

Thanks a ton!

 

Q1. Upgradeable components?

2 RAM slots
mSata
Smaller battery model has a 2.5" drive
Larger battery model does not have 2.5" drive
Wireless card is M.2(NGFF), so it is smaller.

Q2. Screen as good as the specs suggest?

QHD+ on this one. Fully covers sRGB. VERY VERY crisp, contrasty, sharp. Great viewing angles.

Q3. Weight in hand?

4 pounds or so. Grips well in the hand.

Q4. Build quality compared to regular x700, x800 precisions?

Fewer options as far as ports. Tougher than it looks. Very stiff chassis.

Q5. Fan noise/heat?

Only if you let the bottom vents get covered up. Carbon fiber bottom insulates the heat.

Q6. Battery life?

4 to 6 hours with the 61Whr battery.

Q7. Comparison to XPS 15 Haswell, (whatever is available from specs/previews)?

No idea. Have not seen the XPS 15.

Q8. Anything to note?

I really like it so far. There are a lot of new things to take in on the machine. Being a very old school M6700 user, I took a very skeptical stance with the machine. It is tougher and faster than it looks.

 

Does it throttle under high load? (CPU and GPU)

 

No it does not. The CPU never comes out of turbo mode. The GPU has "wiggle room" on the clocks, and even then the system does not overheat or throttle.

It comes with a new smaller version of the 130 watt adapter that is basically the same size as the Latitude 90 watt thin.

 

Q1. Where did you get it? According to the press release, it's not supposed to be shipping until November 14? Or is it an evaluation sample of sorts?

 

What are the highest temperature readings on the CPU and GPU when they are under high load?

 

Get to know your Dell Reps. Many of them are great people. Give them lots of praise and criticism on their systems. Dell really does listen to customers. Sometimes they ask you to check out something a little early.

I also want to add that I do NOT work for Dell. They are not asking me to do this, and are not involved in anything I say here. They just told me I could talk about it after the 22nd.

80s CPU / 70s GPU (stock clocks)

 

CPU is a bit high for my taste.

What are the system specs of the one you have?

 

Thanks for the replies to my earlier questions, I edited one question to add this:

Q: Keyboard and Touchpad compared to other Precisions?