Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

Nope, not once in over two months, I didn't install all of Dell's drivers after reinstalling on an mSata, no quickset, wireless display, digital delivery, data protection, motion sensor drivers/software on my Windows 7 install.It's been a model of reliability so far :thumbsup:.

 

I'm glad you haven't had all the problems I've had..

I don't know what I should do about this computer.. The first one had a lot of hardware and software issues and the replacement they sent me has just as many. The replacement has:

1. Lots of dead pixels on the screen, in addition to some kind of foreign object that is an annoying spot just off the center of the screen.
2. Coil whine (the first didn't).
3. Crashes when the lid closed and put to sleep sometimes.
4. Often freezes when waking up from sleep (when it doesn't crash) and I'm unable to click anything on the screen, so I have to press ctrl+alt+delete and restart.
5. The WiFi card constantly stops working and the icon in the system tray shows the exclamation symbol. I have to run the troubleshooter, which resets the card and then it starts working again. The first M3800 had this issue, too.

To top it off, two days ago I dropped the padded case the laptop was in and the corner of the aluminum lid bent. The case was padded, but the aluminum lid is so incredibly thin that it hardly takes anything to bend it (try it.. just take your hand and try flexing the lid -- it's like an aluminum can). Talk about a lack of durability.

I literally feel sick about the amount of time and work I've lost due to all of these problems, and that I paid $1,800 for this thing. I wish to god I had returned the first one within the 21-day return period. I've had tons of laptops and desktops over the years and have never had even remotely this many problems with any of them. My previously most problematic computer was also a Dell, an Inspiron. I'm seriously thinking about never buying a Dell computer again.

 

Sorry that you haven't had a good run Nathand, maybe it's time to cut your losses, sell it and try something else?
Mine has a whining noise sometimes but is generally unnoticeable to my ears in the environments I'm in
People wanting a tank should get the M4xxx instead, as far as I know the 3800 doesn't meet any sort of milspec standards of durability being that in essence it's a form over function consumer product, in my opinion it's a bit of a stretch to expect something as thin and light as the 3800 to be as durable as the likes of the much fatter and heavier Precisions

$1800 US?...meh, try paying $3000 USD for the base model and that was a special deal!

 

Could you post pictures of this machine? I'd like to see it.

Also, ProSupport is very on top of things. They followed up with phone calls for my couple of issues and corrected issues asap. Have you been in contact with them and what is their response?

 

What pictures were you wanting to see?

I have been in contact with Dell support since I received the first machine. They replaced the first one, but wouldn't do a replacement for the second, instead saying they would send parts to a local repair shop who will come out and do the repair. That was about a week ago and I'm still waiting. I don't really have high hopes for the repair, but who knows.. If I hadn't dented the corner of the lid they might have allowed me to return the computer if I was adamant, but now I'm sure there's no way.

I'm losing so much time and work with this computer that I would be willing to sell it, but I'm sure I'll take a huge loss and who would want to buy computer with all of these problems? I would actually feel guilty selling this piece of crap for $1,000. Aside from the coil whine, dead pixels and debris under the glass, there's the constant freezing and crashing, as well as a WiFi card that often stops working and has to be reset. Both of the M3800's I've gotten from Dell have been defective, no doubt about it, but since I bent the stupid corner of the aluminum lid I doubt I could get them to take it back. Heck, they might even refuse to repair it now. Who knows..

 

without wading through the 203 pages, what's the fix for the spinning circle won't come out of hibernation when raising the screen?

I have the Win 7 pro, did not reformat, and the top end display and ssd

Thanks!

Erin C-H

 

There isn't a fix to my knowledge. My M3800 does the same thing, but with sleep mode. I've never tried hibernating it.

 

Hi All, I had issues with loosing focus and the spinning circle. I found surprisingly that just putting a couple of fingers on the touchpad and swiping rapidly up and down would make the functionality return to normal. I had tried all of the various focus fixes, including the power saving, etc, but this was the only thing needed. Hope it helps

 

the rapid swipe resolved the spinning circle for me. Thank you!

 

Can anyone tell me if their M3800 adaptive charging is working for them? I tried changing the bios settings and upgrading to A02 but nothing seems to help and it stays at 100% all the time. Tried talking to Dell but they told me the battery will be fine and nothing I can do. Running Win7x64