Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

How do you like the screen? Viewing angles good?

 

In addition to continuing to freeze when waking up from sleep sometimes, for the first time it just froze while I was working. Had to crash the computer

Is anyone else experiencing this? Would this be a software or hardware problem?

 

Pirx - the FHD screen is ok. To be honest, I see reflections in the glossy screen before the viewing angles start deteriorating. I'm used to the matte non-IPS FHD screen on my m4400, so the colors don't bother me as much as the gloss level. Collaborating / reviewing work on this screen isn't too bad. I'd say that My productivity has improved due to faster CPU/GPU than when I'm using my m4400. Glossy screen preference is more subjective.


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Nathand - No issues with waking from sleep or hibernate so far. Will post if mine start acting up.


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Thank you Pirx. Yeah windows 8 is out of the question.

that sounds great.
The reason why I am anxious about the M3800 is because Im buying it as a main workstation at work. I work at a startup company with limited resources and I don't want to ask my boss for a workstation that can't handle day-to-day work. And it's important it is mobile so i can bring it home for days I work from home or to meetings and presentations. I just love the design on the M3800 and the weight. the M4800 seems like such a brick. It's for me, but I envy the people that can live with it.

To bad there's not that many reviews on the M3800 yet (at least not with solidworks or any other CAD-application in mind) or the K1100M card either for that matter. And yes hehe I need a workstation like yesterday so I can't be patient and wait

EDIT:
Just read
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Precision-M3800-Workstation.110075.0.html
They werent very impressed by the M3800. granted my expectations might be higher than they should be. This is the first real workstation I have considered getting and the first quadro experience out of university.

 

Are there M3800 where the setting battery charge configuration works?

Battery charge configuration (it's a BIOS setting that allows to increase the life of battery) is not working.
If I set custom mode, and set max charge level to 90% and do not charge until level is higher than 50% the battery is always charged in violation of the conditions set.
Actually I set primarily AC only, but I didn't see any difference from others options, my battery is always charged until 100%.

 

I am in the same boat and I have be sitting and waiting to press the purchase button. I will be using SW13, PS and AI on this mainly, but before I purchase I need to know that A, this workstation will carry these programs smoothly for at least 2-3 years and B, actually just A haha.

 

Where are you finding these older drivers? When I uninstalled the current one listed on the Dell site (16.8.0.6), it's defaulting back to 16.6.2.1. I'm seeing much better performance on 16.6.2.1, though still not great.

I didn't have problems before yesterday when a tech replaced my display. He mentioned the antennas were a hassle to get back in place, I'm wondering if something is amiss from that and it's loose or having interference issues. Odd that one driver performs much better with it.

 

DaMightyTom and stewartlittle, for me I am an industrial designer, I use Solidworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, and photoview360/ keyshot. For me, this is my 2nd computer for work travel, personal use, and teaching at a college. At work, I have a Xeon workstation desktop. If my laptop is also my main workstation, for productivity reasons , I'd stick with a m4800 or m6800. It depends on your work too. I do more surfacing and deal less with tooling databases / massive assemblies. So for me, a m3800 is more than sufficient. Portability is the main reason I got the m3800, I got tired of carrying the m4400 and adapter. The awesome performance of the m3800 is a bonus for me.


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I am also an industrial designer and forgot to mentioned photoview and keyshot. For me, I rarely use large assemblies. Everything is surfaces, solids, in a part file. I also render quite a bit, so rendering speed is always something to consider. We also stick to Xeon workstations at the office, but are looking to move to a more portable working situation.