Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

I got mine today, the mid tier version with regular hdd and 32 GB msata ssd. No coil whine so far or other defects, and the screen is gorgeous, it is bright and sharp, just like the display of my iphone 5s if not better.

The keyboard is also good, it could've been better with a little more space between the arrow keys, but its not a big deal. The touchpad is not that good, its usable but fingers dont glide well on it, its too much friction.

Soon I'm going to install a 256 GB msata ssd and 480 GB 2.5" ssd and do a clean win 8.1 install. In which order should I install drivers so the system wont get messy ?

I also successfully booted Ubuntu 14.04 from a live usb and everything worked well even if the touchpad was a little jumpy from time to time.

Anyone here running Ubuntu on the m3800?

Regards

 

Driver installation sequence does not matter; there are no sequence dependencies on this system. The XPS 15 has one with its NFC driver requiring Intel Management Engine to have been installed, but the M3800 doesn't have NFC.

HOWEVER, make sure you switch the SATA mode in the BIOS to AHCI, and since you're going with 8.1 I would switch the BIOS mode to UEFI and enable Secure Boot. I believe the M3800 ships in Legacy mode for Win7 support. Then you'll need to make sure that you create boot media that supports UEFI mode booting, otherwise your boot drive won't be bootable, and if you switch to Legacy mode to make it boot, you'll end up installing Win8.1 in Legacy mode. Relevant XPS 15 Wiki article here: http://xps-15.wikia.com/wiki/Create_a_Windows_Install_USB.

I also actually posted a Rebuild Cheat Sheet for someone else in this thread a while back that covered doing all of the above and listed all of the required drivers, as well as some of my own personal setup preferences. Here's the link again: http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...owner-s-review-rebuild-instructions-m3800.pdf. Hope this helps!

 

Hey guys i found a really good offer for an m3800 and i bought it from a re seller, the item is brand new and sealed.

What i am wondering is if i could potentially extent the NBD warranty to the 3 years option though Dell?

 

I believe you can purchase additional warranty time through Dell. You'll have to call or chat with a rep to get an idea of pricing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

If you go to support.dell.com and check your warranty status, there should be an option to extend your warranty online.

 

Has anyone opened their m3800 up to clean it? I've been using mine to play games for an hour a day and I'm noticing some dust build-up on the vents near the fans on the backside. My old laptop is about to undergo some late spring cleaning with a new SSD, WiFi card and actual dust removal so I thought I'd give my m3800 a go as well. From what I've seen this laptop is very... opening-up friendly, so it shouldn't be hard to clean.

So I'm wondering if there's any particular area that gets very dusty that isn't directly visible that you guys might be aware of.

 

Yes, on the m3800 and XPS 15.

 

Hi All,
I just purchased the M3800 and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a second display. I will be using the computer mainly for Revit, AutoCAD, Photoshop...
Was looking at the Dell 28 Ultra HD Monitor - P2815Q...but it only @ 30Hz...I'm assuming I will need at least 60 Hz for high graphic programs like revit?
Was looking at Dell UltraSharp 24 Ultra HD Monitor – UP2414Q which has 60 Hz but is a little pricey.
Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance for any help!!

 

I use a U3014 with it via displayport. Works very well.

 

I don't think you would be happy with 30 Hz in the types of apps you're using. Even mouse cursor movement looks choppy at 30 Hz. Both of the displays you're talking about are 4K displays, and if that's what you want, then get used to display options being pricey. The only "budget" 4K display I'm aware of at the moment is the 28-inch display you already found, but that's because it's limited to 30 Hz. If 4K isn't a requirement, then you have lots of great options from several vendors like Dell, HP, ASUS, BenQ, Samsung, and others. If your work isn't color-sensitive and you're not worried about off-angle viewing, you can even get a TN panel to save cash. If color accuracy and/or viewing angles are important (and you're willing to pay the premium for those things), IPS is probably the way to go, and most if not all of the vendors I just named have solid IPS panels available. And then there are intermediate options like MVA and PVA.

This is kind of off-topic for the thread though, since there's nothing about the M3800 that would make one display better than another in a way that wouldn't also be true when used on another system.