Is the UltraSharp QHD+ (3200x1800) of the Precision M4800 worth the extra $700?

I have been shopping around non stop for 4 days for a workstation level laptop. As an interior designer, one of the primary concerns is color accuracy, and the secondary concern is CAD certification, since we are currently using Chief Architect Home Designer 2014 (runs better on gaming cards and doesn't utilization production card capabilities).

I read a review that said the M4800 was going to have a display on par with Apple's Retina display and checked it out. At $1211 starting, it sounded amazing, but after looking around their maze of a site for several days, I discovered that only the $1929 and $2404 model have the QHD+ screen.

So I contacted a sales rep to see about customization. First two people I talked to had no idea what I was saying and sounded like they were reading from a script. Third guy knew what he was talking about and I'm still e-mailing with him. He explained that there wasn't any way to currently customize them because they are so new, so I'm stuck with getting one of the four offered premade selections. That means I would be stuck shelling out an extra $700 for the monitor when I'm perfectly fine with everything on the base $1211 except the screen.

So I guess I have two questions:

1. Is the QHD+ worth $700?
2. Will the M4800 become more customizable in the near future?

PS. "You specified a tag that was too short. A tag must be at least 3 characters." How else am I supposed to tag "4K" haha

Update
I just talked with another Dell sales rep and they said that a fully customizable package will be ready by October. Am I missing something, or is the month of Halloween some sort of busy computer business release month? (Surface 2, Yoga 2, M4800 customization, probably New Mac Pro)

Anyway, we are going to wait for the customizable package.

 

November is the busy month for Lenovo.

I'm looking forward to their releasing the M4800 and M3800. I don't necessarily need or want the quad, or the dedicated video, but I'm really wanting a 3200x1800 screen, and better battery life than my EliteBook had. (Really, a something along the lines of a 13" MBPr that had an Ethernet jack, support for 2.5" and mSATA, and ran Windows would be my ideal laptop)


Dell's customization options have been terrible lately. I was ready to preorder an M4800 until I saw they had no options whatsoever.

 

I was also ready to preorder one, until i saw that the base model has a 1366 x 768 display.

 

You subject line is VERY misleading. The QHD+ panel is not a $700 option. You are getting several upgrades.

The extra $700 gets you -
15.6" HD(1366x768) Anti-Glare LED-backlit -> 15.6" UltraSharp QHD+ (3200x1800) Wide View Anti-Glare LED-backlit with Premium Panel Guarantee
Intel® Core™ i5-4200M processor (Dual Core 2.50GHz, x.xGHz Turbo, 3MB 37W, w/HD Graphics 4600) -> Intel® Core™ i7-4800MQ processor (Quad Core 2.70GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo, 6MB 47W, w/HD Graphics 4600)
AMD FirePro M4100 w/2GB GDDR5 -> Nvidia Quadro K2100M w/2GB GDDR5

I have seen and had a chance to measure the QHD+ screen. Delta avg was 1.0. Fully covered sRGB, covered 80% of AdobeRGB. I really liked the screen.

Ordering a Precision with a dual core processor is such a waste. The upgrade to the i7-4800MQ should be at the top of your list.

Firepro to Quadro K2100M should be an upgrade, but I am not sure of how fast the Firepro will be.

 

@Bokeh, sorry for noob question, but its hard for me to understand quality of display
how it compared to dell m6700 ips screen or compared to dell 2209wa
(old monitor that i have, and i realy like his colors

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/monitors/en/monitor-dell-2209wa-spec-sheet.pdf

thank you

 

The M6700 ips screen has a wider color range of colors (gamut) because it uses RGB back lighting. The M6700 with an IPS panel fully covers the NTSC color gamut if you have it set to "Full" mode. The NTSC gamut is even wider than AdobeRGB. Some people will see the M6700's colors as being over-saturated since they are used to seeing screens that only cover 45-72% of the NTSC gamut.

The 2209wa and M4800 both cover the sRGB color gamut. sRGB covers about 72% of NTSC. Colors on both should be about the same.

The QHD+ panel on the M4800 has a max brightness of 402 cd/l2. The M6700 IPS was around 300. The 2209wa is around 225. Contrast on the QHD+ and M6700 IPS are about the same. The 2209 will be slightly lower in contrast.

Uncalibrated, the 2209wa will be slightly warmer (more red) than neutral. The M4800 is slightly cooler (more blue) than neutral before calibration. Both are within 100K of 6500K, so we are talking small differences.

The standard 1920x1080 15.6" screen on the M4800 only covers about 60% of NTSC and has lower contrast. The colors will not be as vivid and the picture will be more washed out compared to any of the above machines. The 1366x768 screen takes contrast down another notch. Can't believe 1366x768 is still an option.

 

thank you for explanation!

do you mind if i add 2 more displays to comparison (witn qhd): apple retina (its something around of 72% ntsc too) and AUO with was installed in m 6600?

 

Better than the AUO. I have seen plenty of those and they are good panels. The QHD+ panel is more neutral before calibration with a wider color gamut and probably more contrast.

Have not seen any of the second year retinas, but the first generation did not quite cover sRGB. The contrast in the apple retina was awesome with wonderful deep blacks and a good pop on the color, but that could have also been the polarizing glass helping out on the glossy screen.

I have a request in with our rep to try out the M4800 again. Also asking to try the M3800 whenever it is released for sale.

 

"I have a request in with our rep to try out the M4800 again. Also asking to try the M3800 whenever it is released for sale. "
@Bokeh hope it will be relised realy soon=)
also need to wait for hasswell mbr but more then sure i will go for one of this QHD+ babes=)

probably last q: bezel of 4800 has same style as m6600 or its like m6800 touch (on youtube)?

 

The QHD+ screen is a $170 option on our Premier site. I think that puts it into "no brainer" territory. I would definitely order it with the QHD+ panel.