Dell Precision M6700 Owners Thread

The Covet, by default, includes the finger print reader and smart card reader - it is not a selectable option. Unfortunately there is nothing included that I have seen so far that shows FIPS compliance (versus the non FIPS version, which I believe is actually the identical hardware but may be wrong). If anyone knows how to tell the difference I would be glad to check.

 

Couple of minor observations:

1. My M6700 shipped with the SATA controller set to RAID mode in the BIOS, even though I chose "no raid" for my order. I changed the mode to AHCI, and the preloaded OS booted fine. It asked me to restart after rejiggering some drivers.

2. My M6700 shipped with a backlit keyboard, but the backlight was disabled in the BIOS.

3. As expected, both VT-x and VT-d are supported. I did not include the "vPro management features" in my order.

4. If you choose "no fingerprint reader" for your order, the palm rest will not have a cutout for one. Thankfully, there's no ugly, nonfunctional hole with a cover over it.

5. I have a successful Windows 7 + UEFI + GPT install. Following this guide, I installed from a USB thumb drive. Both the installer and the installed OS booted via UEFI, after I enabled it in the BIOS. The target drive (a Vertex 3) is partitioned using GPT.

Not gonna have time to run benchmarks this weekend. Had to reinstall both my M6700 and Mac.

 

Is the UEFI boot faster than the legacy?

 

Still unverified so take it with a grain of salt:

Intel Core i7 3940XM Notebook Processor - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Agree with #1, 2 & 3 posted by SecretAsianMan on my Covet. I went through and added my extra components and here are a couple more comments:

1) Primary RAM is listed in manual as the bottom 2 slots with secondary being under the keyboard. I ordered mine with 8GB in 2 chips and they were installed in the secondary location. Not a big deal as I had to access both locations to install my 32GB. Actually if you are just adding a couple chips it is a nice way to do it since the bottom is easier to get to.

2) The front edge of the keyboard is supposed to be help down with 5 screws. Apparently someone missed one of mine as there is an obvious empty screw hole that I noticed when I went to upgrade secondary RAM.

3) While the secondary hard drive has 4 screws provided (screwed in to the block next to the drive) the other slots like WWAN, mSATA, etc. do NOT come with the additional screw needed. In order to install my 256GB mSATA drive I had to steal the screw from the primary hard drive release slider. Would it really have been so hard to stick a screw in each empty screw hole? I mean...this is a $5K+ laptop...

4) Stuck my mSATA in, used Acronis True Image Home 2011 booting from USB to image the 320GB drive to the mSATA drive, swapped the 320 for the 512GB SSD, added second 512GB SSD, added RAM, booted up, created 1TB RAID 0 array across two SSD's and set as boot, re-launched Acronis and restored image to array - all about an hour total and worked perfectly.

5) A bit irritating to have the Bing bar installed.

6) A bit irritating to need to activate the security software before being able to even configure it and the encryption module.

7) The glossy screen is not THAT bad from a gloss point of view. I have seen one that you could use as a rescue mirror from the moon - this one is not as glaring but I would have preferred matte finish.

8) By default, AC powered option for brightness is 100% - WAY too bright. Screen looks much better at more like 50%.

9) My retina display on my MacBook Pro has spoiled me. This is an excellent screen compared to non rMBP's but the sharpness of the Apple is just night and day different.

 

I have seen Dell do this for awhile. I did some checking and found this on Intel's site, it may be the reason Dell sets them up this way:

If you are using a SATA hard drive, set your BIOS to RAID mode. RAID mode provides the greatest overall flexibility and upgradeability because it allows your system to be RAID ready and enable AHCI.
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) — Configure the BIOS for RAID or AHCI on an Intel® Desktop Board

 

Officially announced by intel yesterday.

Intel adds pricing for new mobile processors

Intel Releases More Desktop and Mobile Processors | techPowerUp

 

Yes finally, thank you DHewes.........................................................................

Can't wait for the video!

Is the covet as glossy screen as the MacBook Pro Retina?

 

Yes, those are annoyances but minor to say the least. It looks as if the Precision could eat the MBP for lunch.

Now that we're aware you also have a MBP. Should we expert to see a side-by-side comparison soon?

 

Fixed..........