Dell Precision M6700 Owner's Review

After reading through the thread (LOT of really good information presented here btw, it is definitely appreciated) I've come to the conclusion that the M6700 is the right laptop for me. I do a lot of virtualization (run 5-6 VMs at a time so need a lot of RAM space) and the # of drives this beast holds is definitely a plus.

I do have a couple questions on the machine, that I could call Dell TechSupport and they may or may not be able to answer - but I get the feeling I would get a much better answer here from the experts. If this post is in the wrong place, my apologies and please redirect me

So with the M6700 -
1. will it support UEFI secure-boot under windows 8?
2. when ordering the fingerprint reader, there are two - is the 'FIPS Compliant' the same form factor as the less expensive one (still built in etc) or does it come as an external device?
3. is the M6700 win8 compatible - I would assume it is, being that win8 is in RTM phase so I'm hoping all the drivers are native - but are there things that DON'T work in win8 (yes, I am on my way to reading the win8 thread - but the basic question of win8 compatibility)
4. will touchscreen definitely be coming for the M6700 - in other words, do I have to wait until the end of Oct to order my new machine, because I could really, really, REALLY use a new machine right now and I'd like to have touchscreen for win8 functionality
5. can you get a touchscreen-version NOW (maybe pay Dell $10k, volunteer to 'beta-test' hardware for them, anything? )

and finally - does pretty much everything discussed in the M6700 thread apply to the M4700 in case I have to go with a smaller form factor for travelling / instructing reasons?

thanks a lot of the expertise you guys share in this thread, definitely a gem to have stumbled across so much info collected in a single location for us a bit apprehensive about spending $2500 on a new machine

 

1. It boots UEFI without any trouble but the "secure boot" feature is not supported. (Not sure if they plan on adding this with a firmware update once Windows 8 is released and they start shipping it with Windows 8 pre-loaded — I think secure boot is a requirement for the Windows 8 sticker, but we've had no word on this from Dell.)

2. I have the FIPS compliant fingerprint reader and it is built-in. (Also doesn't work in Windows 8 .... yet.)

3. Yes, it works. See my posts in the M6700 owner's thread (2nd or 3rd page) for caveats. These should be resolved when Windows 8 drivers are released. I asked Mano about this during the Google+ hangout a few weeks ago and he said they plan on fully supporting Windows 8 on the M4700/M6700.

4. We have confirmation that the touch screen is coming but we do not have a timeline.

5. Doubt it but you can always try.

 

Wait, I though it was confirmed for introduction along with the launch of W8 in October? And speaking of W8, did you Precision guys get a voucher for a free upgrade when it is released?

 

Hi everyone. First I want to thank boken for the pics and the smart and very informative comments.

I have been building computers, mainly for gaming, for years now. I have had all kinds of laptops, mac, pc, small, big, alienware, convertible tablet .....
Long story short i have quite gaming for a year now. I am a doctoral pianist in Indiana university and I am doing some serious composition with the Sibelius 7. So I wanted a laptop that

had a big screen, anti glare, good quality and good viewing angles
had a quad core cpu
had a decent gpu
good battery life
a number pad, extremely important for my Sibelius 7
ability of multiple hard drives to make sure my files are safe
good build quality
ability of external monitors and different ports
usb 3.0
sd card
DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE

You might be surprised that in nowdays market there is only a handful laptops that can meet these specs. I have tried , bought and sold, bought a returned 15 laptops in the past year including 3 m18x (because of horrible built quality)
lenovo x220, sager gaming laptop, 17 and 15 inch macbook pro to name a few.

I have finally discovered the dell workstation laptops and ordered one couple of days ago.
Now here is my complaint and i know that the people reading this are not going to be able to change the world, but i have to share my frustration among an understanding crowd.
Why when you walk into a best buy or fry's whatever, all you see is this macbooks and stupid multimedia laptops with crappy built quality and glossy screens. Why can't we have something like a dell precision to try, know that it exists, that macs are not even close to being a professional machine. I actually think that every apple product is a joke, aimed for people who don't understand anything. The only product that i like is the ipod classic. Period. but you know why , especially for somebody like me, in a university environment have i never seen students with dell latitudes or workstations?

I will confess that if macbook pro 17 inch had a numpad, normal external display ports like hdmi and vga, usb 3 and matte finish as standard, i would go for it, but again i have been in many bestbuys, but not a single one of them would show of the matte screen 15 or 17. Is this really what the world is coming to? People selling crap and idiots buying it, without realizing that every time they buy crap, they are voting for it, so more crap is going to be coming by next year?

 

First let me state that I feel as you feel and agree with all that you've said. But in the grand scheme of things a company has to first and foremost make a profit. In that, Dell is not doing as well as Apple. PC sales are down and Dell is one of the hardest hit.

On the other hand, Apples penetration continues to grow, especially now that they've gotten us to adopted a tablet mentality; and I don't see things changing anytime soon.

Apple caters to an audience that is easily satisfied. and seldom complain about the items you mentioned before. Their computers don't do a whole lot, but since their customers aren't nearly as demanding as we are, they do more than enough. And although I feel your sentiment, you are not their target audience. None of us here are.

 

Why? Because demand dictates supply. Because most people don't need "working" instruments anymore, but stupid gadgets for idiots - to upload a picture of your drunk buddies to Facebook by a single finger. That's why. This civilization is heading for the toilet. That's why.

 

Agreed.

I have had arguments with non-technical friends on Facebook about this. They think Apple is better in every way because it is an Apple. This is the result of marketing and group-think.

In response to fact that Apple still only supports 8bit color and their laptop displays are 6bit with limited gamut, I had someone say "If Apple is not the best, why do so many photographers use them?". My response was that they are either tied to OSX, prefer Apple styling, or are ignorant of the fact that there are better machines out there.

Let a videographer or photographer SEE the IPS screen on an M6600 or M6700 - they get it then. Put the Precision side by with a MacBook Pro 17 and compare camera RAW images in Adobe Lightroom and let them SEE all the colors they are missing on the Mac.

The one good thing for Dell and HP is that Apple is abandoning the workstation market. There is supposedly a new Mac Pro coming next year, but for now there is nothing Apple has to compete with Desktop workstations or 17" mobile workstations.

 

About my CPU heat, Dell has make me update my BIOS (new version, less than 24H), nothing more.
They send me soon a new Heatsynk that I'll replace as soon as I get it^^ (1 screw is complety "wipe out", one other is almost as the other one, their robotics are not perfect yet^^).

If the HS didn't change anything, they will probably change the motherboard... (GPU has no problem, the maximum I get from the K5000M is 80/81°C, in FullLoad).

 

Can you get a pic of the whole heatsink and cooling fin assembly? I want to see the differences between the 45watt and 55watt versions.

 

Hello all,

Thanks so much for all the details here. I have read through them and tried to digest them myself. I have a few questions:

1) Got it with 2GB of RAM and fully expect to upgrade it. My question is, is it better to go with 32GB or 16GB of the faster stuff? 32 will cost ~$200 and 16 will cost ~$150 so my initial take is 32 is better.

2) I will be adding an m4 mSata 256 SSD, but it seems like I will be missing one screw in order to install in properly. Does anyone know the part number I need to order to get the correct screw?

3) I opted to get the M6000 since I didn't see value in paying the extra money for the video upgrades. I did want the IPS, but wasn't willing to pay $350 + the video card charge to do so. Is the IPS screen something I can add myself later once the support comes for the M6000? Any ideas when I will be able to get IPS and M6000 from Dell?

Thanks a lot.