Dell Precision M6700 Owner's Review

Speaking of the weight of textbooks and the laptop, I am a contract engineer, so I have to take my office on the road with me. I recently tried out both the Wenger Patriot and Potomac rolling laptop bags, because they seemed roomy, and I like to bring my Shigley and Machinery's Handbook with me, because the places I go don't always have those references available. I also carry a 6" digital caliper, 12" scale, notebook (for writing), assorted writing instruments, Zune, Space Navigator, external mouse, USB hub, mouse pad and chill mat with me. Add in a lunch and cold non-alcoholic beverage of choice, and the load can be quite awesome. Thus the rolling bag. I found, however, that while the Potomac can't handle all that gear in one bag, and the Patriot can, the Patriot then becomes way too heavy to lift in and out of the car (I'm 5'2" on a good day, and not in the best shape). However, the Potomac's second bag is a major pain in the butt to put over the telescoping handle.

Do you have any suggestions for managing this load? I'm about to veer off into rolling-catalog-case-land for my reference materials and tools. Seems kind of silly to be dragging two rolling cases behind me, though. Although the Potomac and Patriot both have the handle straps on the back for attaching them to other luggage handles.

Just for anyone's information who cares, the Potomac has rectangular-tube handles. The Patriot has oval-tube handles. After two weeks using the Potomac and two days using the Patriot, I can definitely say the Patriot's handle is inferior. It twists, rocks and jiggles like the Potomac's does not. And be aware, if you buy one of these, that Wenger is now switching out the limited lifetime warranty for a 3-year warranty. I found that out when I went to exchange my original Potomac for a new one (because the last segment of the handle was sticking and didn't wear in).

Tracy

 

same mouse, same problem!!!!!

 

Hi everyone, was anybody successful in plugging the AJA IO Express into a M6700 laptop? gudrummer?

Thanks

 

I am currently looking at getting an m6700. I am trying to choose between two configurations. They are the same price. Both have the i7-3940XM processor. The main differences are as follows:

Unit A Unit B
16 gig memory 2 DIMM's 16 gig memory 4 DIMM's
AMD FirePro M6000 Mobility Pro Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA Quadro K3000M 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
17.3 inch Ultrasharp FHD (1920x1080) PremierColor IPS RGB 17.3" UltraSharp FHD 1920x1080 Anti-Glare LED-Backlit
Anti-Glare, Premium Panel Guarantee
750GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) (1) 256 GB Mini Card Solid State Drive
(2) 750 GB SATA 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Integrated HD video webcam and noise No Webcam
reducing array microphone, IPS RGB

So looks like one has the better IPS screen. How much difference is there in these displays? I don't do any photo or movie editing. I am a Controls Engineer and use AutoCAD and run a lot of VM's. But I will be looking at the display 6 - 8 hours a day.

Both have 16 gig of memory but one uses only 2 DIMM's so I could upgrade to 32 gig easier in this one.

One has an upgraded video card but it not the one with the better monitor.

One has the more hard drives but again not the one with the better display.

One has web cam and one does not. Really don’t use one often but for some reason I want it in case I need it.

So any pros and cons of these two systems. They both are just under $2500.00

 

I'm a software developer and I happily use the regular 1080p screen. It's quite good, the best laptop screen I've ever had. The IPS screen has better viewing angles and supports a wider color space... However, if you don't do graphics design or video or something along those lines, it would probably just be a novelty.

The NVIDIA GPU (without IPS display) will let you use Optimus which will give you better battery life. This is something you can't get either either the AMD card or with the IPS display.

The SSD will also make a big difference when it comes to general system responsiveness.

 

I'd go along with this. I bought the IPS display for photographic work and was surprised and disappointed to find Optimus absent. Quite honestly I didn't really want a machine with the size and weight of the M6700 and bought it purely for the full gamut screen. I would have far preferred something like the M3800 or latest XPS 15 with the new high resolution display, but sadly they didn't exist a year ago.

If you don't need the colour performance I'd save the money to put into other components and keep the potential benefit of Optimus on top.

 

Thanks for the reply's. I would be all over the one without the IPS and the upgraded video card but it would cost me twice as much to upgrade to 32 gig. And it doesn't have a web cam. Thanks again.

 

Ram is a minor consideration, but I say get the best graphics card you can afford. As far as I'm concerned, that's the single greatest reason behind purchasing a machine such as the Precision.

Besides, if you choose the higher card model, you can always connect externally to a higher display if you ever feel the need. In any event, you don't buy a Ferrari to drive to the supermarket to buy groceries.

 

You are correct that the dock does not support dual link DVI.
The displayport ports work fine however. My solution to running a monitor that required dual dvi was to buy an adapter from dell that converts one of the dock displayports to dual dvi. It works perfectly on my dell 3007 monitor and I suspect will work on any other monitor.
The adapter is available from dell here:
Display Port to Dual Link DVI Adapter : Connected Classroom | Dell

It's frustrating to have to spend $99 on another piece of kit to hook up a monitor but it does work perfectly! Note that the adapter requires a usb port for power.

Ken

 

Hey guys

i bought a M6700 second hand other day with a I5 chip in it. I bought a Genuine Precision M6700 CPU Heatsink Assy CRYV5 for the 55Watt CPU's just wondering would I notice much increase in FPS in games with say a 3920XM vs I7 3840QM?

I run emulation on my PC as well which is why I'm considering one of these chips.
Battery life is important also how much would an extra 10watts knock off in battery department been that the 3920XM is 55W vs 45W of the 3840QM?