Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

\

Excellent - thanks fellas...

I figured 2560x1600 might be 'tricky' - I'm running 6 monitors at work supporting various resolutions off my desktop; the 2560x1600 is via a Matrox9125 card and dual DVI links to a 30" HP monitor...

Was kind of optimistic that a laptop could "do that" natively...maybe some NVidia settings will make it so...that will be awesome (one laptop, all resolutions...)

Again, thanks for the empirical tests...

 

Since the QHD+ display is tied to the eDP connector of the K1100M you will need to test to see if the NVidia control panel will allow you to do the custom resolution.
You may also need to use drivers from NVidia instead of Dell.

 

I placed an order on 20/11, estimated delivery date is 3/12/2013 but I just got an annoying message from Dell saying that my order has been delayed. Anyone has this problem? I am from the UK.

 

Yes, my order has been "shipping" since 21/11 and two days ago Dell draw the money on my account, but still no computer. I called Dell today, but they don't know anything regarding shipping details, I told them if the computer was not recieved on monday 2/12 I would cancel the order. I find it strange that they have no progress details of the shipment after a week of shipping. This computer was supposed to be my first Dell computer, but maybe I pick another brand due to the missing service and long delivery time from Dell.

 

/e: Oh scratch that, new discounts for the XPS 15 are here.

 

I'm aware of the NVIDIA control panel's capabilities from other systems, but here the only sections available are "Adjust image settings with preview", "Manage 3D settings", and "Set PhysX Configuration". The PhysX area also shows a diagram that has all of the output connectors wired to the Intel GPU, not NVIDIA's. I don't see a way in the BIOS to disable the iGPU, so I don't think what you're suggesting will work.

What facts is that claim based on? See my response to the quoted post above. I can find no evidence that the QHD+ panel is wired directly to the NVIDIA GPU, and in fact what I'm seeing shows the exact opposite. Granted I'm running the XPS 15 rather than the M3800, but I don't see that making a difference for this.

 

A couple TINY quirks about this laptop I noticed immediately but forgot to mention:

First, this laptop will ONLY output to the built-in panel until the Windows logon screen; there's no way to get the POST and Windows loading graphic to display on an external display, even when the lid is closed. Of course unlike dockable models, there's no way to power this machine on without opening the lid anyway, but at my desk I have a display that sits a bit over the lid, so I can open the lid enough to press the Power button but not enough to see the display without swiveling the external panel somewhat. So if you run whole disk encryption other than TPM-only BitLocker or will be doing anything outside of Windows (BIOS config, pre-boot repair, etc), you'll be using the built-in panel during that time. I imagine this could be fixed with a BIOS update, but for now that's the way it is.

And second, I noticed a quirk with the audio drivers. I have one song that exhibits about half a second of corrupt audio at a certain point, no matter which playback app I use. And yes I'm sure it's the driver and not the file, since I played this exact file through AirPlay to my living room receiver and on my iPhone without any issues. But I've been listening to a LOT of music since then on this thing and haven't found that garble anywhere else, so other people might never have a problem at all. I imagine a driver update will fix this. I thought about trying reference Realtek drivers but decided against it since I know audio drivers are tuned by OEMs for the laptop environment (HDMI audio, docking connectors, etc), so I'll just wait.

 

M3800 is manufactured in China by Foxconn. For the laptops delivered to Europe Dell send them at first to Holand or Germany and only when the package has reached one of the two European Hubs, UPS take the lead and deliver it..
With "standard method" it will take from 5 to 7 business days from China to one of the European Hub, and from there a maximum of two days to your door. They usually charge you when the package is ready to leave China.

If you have been charged two days ago, expect the delivery between 4th and 6th Dec.
I'm in the same exact situation

 

You cannot ever disable iGPU, because it's used by Nvidia GPU to show everything.
If you disable iGPU you do not see anything.

 

Got new m3800 this morning. The first impression is good. Will test it later.