Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

After using the M3800 for almost 2 months now I can say I am very happy with the purchase.
Only one issue I cannot seeem to resolve;
After returning from sleep OR hibernation, about every third time the system is not responding.
I can move the mouse but it doesn't register any clicks forcing me to cold reboot.
Does anyone have this issue or know a fix?
I'd be grateful!

 

Hi all,

I'm a happy user of the M3800 now for about 3 month, running it with Kubuntu 13.10 (dual boot setup with Win 8.1).

Some (minor) issues:
- Keyboard could be better (I am used to older Thinkpads or Latitudes), not very friendly to power-users
- Issues with Bluetooth (seems to be a driver issue, no solution so far), so I have to stick with my cable mouse for now
- Power connector is not very firm - actually I consider it to be wobbly
- Touchpad is ok, but could be more precise - sometimes it does not recognise two-finger scrolling

Running prime95/mprime on it, CPU temperature is at 74-77 °C, if I lift the rear end by 2 cm (using a rubber as shim) - otherwise, having it flat on the table, temp rises up to 85 °C.

As there is no linux driver for the NVIDIA GPU (yet, I hope), I cannot test CUDA performance under Linux.

There is no DisplayLink support, what makes the D3000 DockingStation useless for Linux.

 

I have the same problem with my M17x R3. I found out it works if it is out of the plug. So I have to unplug it to wake it, then when it boots up I plug it back in. This only happens since I installed the ssd. Read somewhere that could be the cause. Hope this helps.

 

Hey fellas...

I've been reading through this thread a great deal the past weeks and the choice between XPS15/M3800 and MBP15 is now leaning significantly towards the XPS15.

Just a question for you 91WHr owners out there.

Can you confirm that the speaker assembly is the same as the pictured one on the 61WHr models or is it longer and makes use of the full width of the chassi?

The 91WHr model should have more generous space for the speaker assembly. However in this picture (don't know if it's production model) it shows as the same with a strange empty space where it could otherwise extend.

A secondary question is for the 61WHr owners out there. When listening to the speakers, can you detect that the sound is not quite asymmetrical with the chassi?

For me personally the single weak point is the front firing speaker. I've had this kind of speaker before on previous dell machines I've owned and they have always been inferior to the keyboard side mounted speakers I've now gotten so satisfied with. It forces the mid-range and treble to fire right into ones clothes when working on a sofa/recliner/bed. The sound gets very easily muffled and distorted depending on the position of the computer.

I know many would argue to just use headphones but as you can imagine, being used to use built in speakers 99% of the time and the money invested in a new machine makes it hard to accept a performance cut. That's why I'm seeking your advice.

I'm currently on an HP nw8440 and consider either the Dell or a MBP15. The MBP15 has reportedly excellent quality upward firing speakers. The nw8440 has great sound too.

Cheers /Mike

 

Whine noise varies from unit to unit, it seems, but most people on both the XPS 15 and M3800 side have it. A couple people have gotten motherboard replacements that fixed the issue, but others have gotten replacements that didn't. I notice it happens most while on AC and with the battery fully charged, and if I disconnect the AC cable the whine goes away. It also varies somewhat based on what I'm doing with the machine, i.e. scrolling makes the whine change a bit, and playing back certain videos changes its pitch and volume slightly as well.

The weight discrepancy is purely a publishing spec error, not indicative of actual differences. If you notice, all of the specs of both systems are quoted to weigh the same, which surely isn't the case. The best speculation is that the lower M3800 weight is because it can technically be custom-ordered to have the small battery AND no 2.5" hard drive, which would be the lightest possible configuration. Another possibility is that the spec sheets for each might have been based on different stage development prototype units; maybe the final weight increased or decreased for production and only one system had its specs updated. That's certainly not the only spec error on Dell's website, or even for this particular system (e.g. discrepancy between 6-cell 91WHr and 9-cell 91WHr, confusion about hard drive wording, incorrect picture of the XPS 15's keyboard showing an Eject key, etc). But equivalently spec'd machines will weigh exactly the same. Source: I spoke with one of the actual engineers involved with the M3800/XPS 15 project and got to see both side-by-side.

As for cooling, again, the two systems are identical except that the M3800 has a Quadro GPU and does NOT have NFC; the XPS 15 uses a GeForce GPU and includes NFC (and no, the NFC card wouldn't account for the weight difference). Other than that, at least in certain markets, the M3800 comes with a few additional items:

- An AC adapter dongle that lets you use regular Dell AC adapters (can be ordered as an accessory on the XPS 15)
- USB 2.0 to Gigabit Ethernet adapter that can also be used for PXE booting (again, orderable as an accessory on the XPS 15, but I'd get a 3.0 adapter for maximum speeds unless you require PXE booting)
- A Windows 8.1 installer USB flash drive (can be created on your own if you have an 8.1 ISO, or Dell will send you one for free if you request it).
- ProSupport rather than Premium At-Home Support (a few subtle differences that may be important to businesses, especially if they have other systems covered by ProSupport; but you can even get ProSupport on the XPS if you order it through Dell's business store)

Other than that and obviously their name, they are 100% identical.

 

My daughter got a m3800, and she has said it is getting a BSOD at idle times - over night, when at work. It's a Win 7 x64, about the only thing a little unusual in my mind is that the resolution being used is 1600x900, 100% scaling so it's more readable. I set the laptop up, didn't change much just added some generic apps she uses. I did add the latest NVIDIA driver, I think I am going to give her the latest on Dell's site instead, maybe that is the issue, as graphics drivers seem like they are prone to blue screens.

With the little I gave you in info, does it spur any ideas, and also what is the best way to track this issue down?

Thanks!

 

The specific error at the bottom of the BSoD would be helpful, but in the meantime I'd update all of the other drivers for which updates were recently published: touchpad, Intel graphics, Intel Wifi, touchscreen firmware (a couple people have reported bricking their touchscreen with this update, though mine went fine), and BIOS. Come to think of it, I'm not sure all of those updates apply to Windows 7, but it'd be worth a look.

 

Just posted about this a day or two ago in the XPS 15 thread:

 

I seriously doubt Dell would have bothered to develop separate speakers for the 91 WHr model, even if the space is there. Chances are you're going to be disappointed with speaker performance; I came from a behemoth Precision M6300 that had plenty of space for larger speakers (and a Precision M90 before that which included a subwoofer on the battery), and I was hugely underwhelmed by the speakers on my 91 WHr model -- but that's unfortunately the price you pay for thin and light, it seems. The MaxxAudio enhancements kind of help, but they also affect headphone/external speaker output where they make the audio sound worse IMHO, so you'll be toggling back and forth if you want to use that. Unfortunately this is one of those systems where you'll want some other audio output if that's important to you.

That said, the audio didn't sound asymmetrical; left and right channels are clearly differentiated and it doesn't sound biased to one side or the other.

 

Thanks, I think it may be current, although I am checking whether the BIOS A02 came out after I set it up for her.