Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

As mentioned before, some pictures of the internals on the 2.5" drive model.











I tried to get a picture with a 2.5" 9.5mm in place, but it didn't come out showing anything useful about the size.

Note that the Crucial drive has the label on the bottom... (if you don't believe me, you can tell from the position of the connectors.)

 

Do you mean that 9.5mm drives does not fit into M3800?

 

It fits. I think he just meant that the picture with 9.5mm drive just didn't show anything interesting.

 

Sounds like a lot of things a mobo swap would fix. Or maybe the power brick is faulty and delivering bad power, resulting in system instability and damaged the motherboard. But yes, contacting prosupport is the way to go.

 

Wow! You should get a new machine. Mine has none of these problems... knocking on wood.

 

Thank you jphughan! I followed your instructions, and I installed windows8.1 and I downloaded the drivers from dell's website.
I realised, that some of the programs are missing. For example the nvidia control panel and so on. What programs do you recommend to install in addition to the drivers on dell's website?
Could you please or somebody give me list from the default programs which were installed originally? (on windows 7)

 

Guys, this may have been answered elsewhere.

But why on earth doesn't Dell allow you the ability to select either Windows 8.1 or Windows to install factory fresh. Seems so silly to not let them choose. I really want a factory install Windows 8.1 Pro, to do that, I have to get the fully customizable option at $300 extra (that's without the Windows 7 license!!, so I'm effectively saving them money).

Seems absolutely illogical to me. Yes, I could just install Windows 8.1 onto Windows 7, but in my 10 year history of Windows, OS upgrades never work as fast and often as smoothly as fresh installs. Given that I'd get the 512GB SSD, a format is out of the question.

Something so small could make the difference. **Facepalm Dell**

 

I don't understand - why is a format out of the question?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Which battery do you have, the 61 Whr battery or the 91 Whr? If you don't know, do you have an HDD as well as an SSD?

 

I don't understand why a format is out of the question either, especially since you're claiming that it's out of the question purely because you're getting the 512GB SSD. I got that version and did a format with no issues whatsoever. But in any case, whether or not you format your system, you could just do what I did: Buy a version with regular 8.1 and then buy the 8.1 Pro Pack from Newegg separately for $95. The upgrade with the Pro Pack is absolutely NOTHING like a typical OS upgrade. You simply add the key to an existing regular 8.1 installation, wait for two regular-length reboots (i.e. no lengthy installs) and presto, you're running 8.1 Pro. Note that if you DO format your system, you'll need to install regular 8.1 and then add the Pro Pack key; you cannot use a Pro Pack key to perform a clean install of 8.1 Pro directly -- but again, the upgrade is so painless it's a non-issue.

NVIDIA Control Panel is included with the NVIDIA drivers. I suppose they might have been removed from the version that Dell provides, but if you get the drivers from NVIDIA's site, the Control Panel will definitely be there. As for applications to install other than what's on Dell's site, there's nothing essential to the proper operation of the system. In terms of what apps various people consider "essential" for a good system overall, that list is too long and too varied from user to user to delve into.

No idea what was installed on the base Win7 image since mine came with 8.1 and I didn't bother to look into it anyway, sorry!