Dell Precision M6700 Owner's Review

No. The only SATA-3 ports are the two main 2.5" bays. This is a chipset limitation (only two SATA-3 ports available).

 

The HP has some stylish cues that the more utilitarian Dell lacks, but it is hardly "better." Just different. I admire that Dell resists the urge to "beam" its presence from 50 yards away. That alone would influence my decision.

 

Well, the elitebooks still look professional, but i have to admit i like the "brick" aesthetics of the precision a lot. I wouldn't mind bringing either to a research group meeting. My research supervisor does make jokes on the size of my laptop, but at least it's not running smoking hot like his mac.

 

Oh, he's just jealous that you're not one of the clone that drive a compact. Just brag that you've got a usable back seat. That'll show him.

 

The only time I have seen the understated presence hurt Dell is when the M6600 spent a year on the Big Bang Theory as Leonard's computer. I may have been the only one to notice it. Then again, maybe I am the only one who remembers that Johnny Galecki was also the kid in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation many years before he played Leonard.

Yep, M6600. With tape over the Dell. http://www.seat42f.com/wp-content/u...isode_2_The_Infestation_Hypothesis_5-3685.jpg

See how the Alienware machines jump out and scream ALIENWARE!!!! - http://www.spoilertv.co.uk/images/c...-800-600-80_595_SpoilerTV Watermark Large.jpg

 

Haha, so they have to hide the Dell logo, but not the alien head?

Stargate was at least pretty honest in it's shameless promotion of Dell XPS laptops.

EDIT: You know you've been on NBR for a while when you can tell the brand of most laptops you see in tv shows...

 

I've done some inspection on the build quality of my system which I've received on Friday, the issues I've found may only be minor, but anyway these are my findings:

• The computer runs flawlessly up to now.
• Screws are provided for the secondary HDD bay:
  
• I believe the screw that locks the Primary-HDD-bay's ejector, could be used to secure the mSATA SSD card, if you're planning to upgrade your system with one of those. That could solve the issue of not having the screw for the mSATA card.

Negative points:

• The headphone and microphone 3.5mm sockets were extremely tight, I almost needed pliers to pull my headset out. Carefully pushing the headset in and out two dozen times in both the mic and headphones solved that issue quite much, it seems to have a normal tightness now.
• Base-cover Rubber foot is chipped:
  
• Base-cover has quite a few scratch marks on the inside too:
  
• The CPU-fan heatsink has got a dent:
  
• Bubbles are visible in the coating near Docking port:
  
• One of the few scratches inside the notebook caused by screws during the manufacturing process:
  

 

Is that from outlet or new? I don' think those scratches/dented heatsink are acceptable on a new machine...

 

New from the factory.
I'll just say again, those scratches are on the inside of the base-cover (though it's still weird to find all those scratches there).
Replacing the base cover would solve the issue with the scratches, and the rubber foot that's chipped.
The heatsink is another issue, I'd rather not have a technician take apart my computer to replace that.
How much does that dent affect the cooling performance or airflow?


The M6700 a swap, which is replacing my M4600 which I received with damage on arrival too. (After I received the M4600 with flaws, they approved to replace the whole system, but the IPS screen wasn't available anymore for the M4600/M4700, where only the M6700 currently still has it, which explains why I had to jump to the bigger M6700)

The M4600 wasn't put together properly, once you pop out the battery, it can't go back in due to a piece of plastic sticking out (that piece of plastic was somehow sandwiched between the motherboard, which is causing it to pop out with tension).
The screen's wasn't put together properly either, the bezel was sticking out of it's frame, with a clip bent out due to the force put on the bezel during the manufacturing process.
Also a cosmetic flaw on the cover, where you can see certain marks in the bottom right corner when light shines in from a certain angle, looks like a stain (probably sanded down in that corner before painted/coated, but giving it the different reflection).
That M4600 will be going back to Dell on wednesday.

 

The slightly bent heatisnk shouldn't have any effect on cooling, it's just annoying. For the bottom cover, it looks like the guy handling it did a poor job of it.