Dell Precision M6700 Owner's Review

I would suggest configuring the machine with the cheapest RAM and HDD options. You could probably get 16GB of ram and two 512GB SSD drives for what Dell will charge you for their 8GB and 256GB counterparts.

This is the port replicator that you want.

 

Hi,

First of all, thanks again for the many instructive posts to this thread. I have ordered an M6700 on 12/5/2012, and have some questions:

1. My estimated delivery date is Tuesday, 12/18/2012, although my order still shows "In Production" status as of Thursday evening (12/13/2012). The automated phone system indicates that it has "Shipped today", while the Dell Support Representative indicates that while it's shipped, it's not been picked up by the courier yet. I chose the "3 to 5 days" shipping option. I don't know exactly how Dell's shipping works (I am returning to them after a four year gap), and am wondering if I will receive the laptop by next Tuesday. Anyone care to comment or share their own experiences?

2. Is it possible to install 32 GB of DDR3-1866MHz? The configuration option for RAM seems to allows 32GB for the 1600MHz RAM, but only 16GB for the 1866 MHz. I wonder if that's because of the lack of low cost 8GB DDR3 204-pin modules at this time, or due to an electrical/physical problem with the motherboard/chipset.

Again, thank you all for taking the time to share (and for your patience with many newbie type questions such as these).

 

I just wrote it in the "Owners Thread": 32GB of 1866MHz CL10 RAM here: throughput about 24.2GB/s.
I did test this RAM in my M6500 and it used indeed only 1333MHz mode.

EDIT: I heard memory speed depends on your CPU (because it contains the memory controller). I've got an i7 XM-CPU...

Cheers,
Alex

 

If it has shipped then you should get it by 12/18, I think. Depending on where you live it might be a day late. Anyway, they will shortly update your order with a tracking number and you can use it to get a real estimated delivery date from the courier. This date is usually spot-on.

Mine only took 2 days in transit even though I used 3-5 day shipping. (Shipped from Tennessee IIRC, delivered in Michigan.)

 

Yea TN is their hub, some once it's there you figure your shipping time from that location. IN my case it was 2 days and I got it a day early.

-Robert

 

Thank you for pointing out the port replicator it looks like I had the wrong one in there. As for the CPU that is one thing that is hard to change down the road and I do need the CPU horsepower so that one stays. The GPU will not be utilized much I just need that card for the 4GB of video memory. Is there a big difference between the K5000 and the K4000? I will have to look into the possiblity of adding the parts after the fact. Are there mounting kits needed for the second SSD drives? I know in my current Dell M90 I can put two drives in it and I was going to but I did not have a cage to mount the drive in.

 

The second drive's caddy comes with the M6700 as well as the screws, the screw for the mSATA however is not provided and those can be a tad hard to find (I had spares thankfully, but not everyone might have one).

 

I think the screw that locks the HDD ejector is the same size.

 

Thank you! Crucial has an 8GB stick of DDR3/204-pin RAM on their site -- will look more closely at that!

Thanks. I live in Austin, TX. At this time, all I have to go by is the message o the automated order-status line... I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Again, thank you for sharing your own experience.

 

Possible, I would have to check, I didn't bother since i had spare screws for mPCI-E cards thankfully, same for the screws for the HDD, I didn't use the ones provided in the M6700 because I had spares. Parting out dead laptops before sending them to be recycled to keep the screws does have it's advantages.