Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

Thanks for all of the info. Why would you recommend installing Windows 8? I bought the computer partially because it came with Windows 7 (which was installed when it arrived).

 

Not 8, but definitely 8.1. It's just better optimized for things like HiDPI, touchscreens, and UEFI, and once you configure options like logging on straight to the Desktop and go through the new-for-8.1 tutorial that shows you how to navigate Metro (which would have singlehandedly avoided most of the negative press that 8 received IMHO), it mostly feels a whole lot like 7 and the Metro interface becomes usable rather than expletive-inducing. Once you realize the Start screen is the equivalent of 7's pinned Start menu items, the All apps area is laid out like the classic Start menu, and search is accessed by just starting to type, it's perfectly fine. And features like Fast Boot are handy compared to 7 as well.

And I say all of that as someone who tried 8.0 twice and both times ended up giving up on it in less time than it took me to get it installed. I'm now totally happy on 8.1. I miss a few things (certain features in Network and Sharimg Cemter in particular), but now that I've learned where some stuff has been moved I'm happy on it and feel that on balance it's a a bit of an improvement.

 

You'll find widely disparate opinions on Windows 8.x. For myself, I will not touch anything Win8 with a bargepole. I would be even less inclined to ever look at Windows 8.x now that it's clear that Windows 9 is just around the corner (well, spring of '15), which by all accounts will pretty much abandon all of that Windows 8 BS after the disastrous run that Windows 8 had.

Anyway, there is absolutely no reason to install Windows 7 from scratch on your new drive. Just get any one of a host of available disk imaging programs (many of them are free, such as Paragon's software), and simply transfer the disk image from your old drive to the new one. The advantage is that you will have an exact copy, including all the possible little tweaks that Dell may have included (and not all of which may be available from Dell as a separate download). And, it's much, much less work, too.

 

JP,
Thanks for all the help in guidance in installing the new OS. Everything seems to be running just fine. I have not installed any software yet so I cannot comment yet on DPI issues. But so far, I just love this machine....
I hope that I will be just as lucky after a few weeks of usage. I cannot report any coil wine, nor any track pad issues; no lock up on the touch screen or pad... or any other of the issues reported here. Granted it is only been a few hours, but I have worked on it plugged in and on battery and so far it has performed well.

The machine is just beautiful, and it runs extremely fast while installing drivers and others.
Tomorrow I will take more time and install a few software and report anything I may find that could be of interest.

 

Glad I could help. Enjoy! :thumbsup:

 

Can't remember if it was this thread or the XPS 15 one, but to whomever posted the tip about the Microsoft RDC Manager program as a way to get around RDP not scaling... THANKS!

For those who didn't see the earlier post, Download Remote Desktop Connection Manager from Official Microsoft Download Center -- RDC manager is intended for managing a whole lot of RDP sessions, but it also scales properly unlike the native Windows 8.1 RDP application. Very handy!

 

Sweet, thanks!

 

Browsing at idle will probably never even have the fans kick in. Even running software that presents a moderate load is fine.

Over the Holidays I did do some gaming on the M3800. All you have to do is make sure that you don't cover up the vent intakes in the middle of the system. I had no issues with 5+ hours of Civilization V running at 3200x1800 with details on High.

 

Thanks jphughan, that fixed it good and proper.

 

Hi lads,
anybody with any experience in CAD with this lovely machine.
It must be a workstation.The glossy screen, missing fingerprint and so on ...not a big deal.
In the end of the day all i need is my Inventor,ProE,SolidW or StudioMax to work on my machine.
All the reviews are about video or pic editing bur nothing about CAD .

Thanks in advance.