Latitude 15 3000 - Gaming system for $780? Too good to be true?

So it looks like there really is no mSata slot like some of the folks mentioned earlier in the thread. I found a picture of the motherboard our laptops use and this confirms my suspicions. I am going to get a HDD caddy for this laptop in the future to drop in an SSD and a spinning mechanical hard drive for added storage. This laptop does wonders and for the price I am genuinely surprised at the performance I am getting out of this spinning hard drive.

 

OK guys! Unboxing video of this refurb laptop is out! Have a look in the link below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO7juIzHDWQ&

 

Sweet! Hope you like your new lappy.

You're right bout the thin-ness and the weight. It feels heavier than what it should feel like. Otherwise, I love this lappy. It has a lot of great features working for it.

By the way, I've been trying to encode some videos from some dvd's using this model and it the tiny i5-4200u processor seems up to snuff. The Intel Quick Sync tech really works... quickly, as advertised.

 

Nice! Also your name is !

BTW does this laptop have a USB always on feature?

I have pneumonia so there is not going to be a review video for a bit though.

 

I've just received mine today and so far so good. Just one little unrelated snafu, i've purchased a Corsair 1.35v DDR3L-1600 4GB PC12800 and it wasn't recognized by the laptop. I've tried the module alone and the computer failed to boot, i'm assuming a bum module. Ram returns/exchanges are such a pain...................

Came across a minor issue as well, can you guys try gaming on it? There's the main fan noise on the left but i can pick up a second somewhat rattling fan noise coming from the center of the laptop. I have to point out mine is refurbished so i just want to check if it's just 'noisy' to begin with or should i be worried and consider a return or warranty service.

 

I am not sure why it would not see it, I ordered RAM below and do not have any issues.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Laptop Memory Model F3-1866C11S-4GRSL

I am going to order another one after a while to run at the higher speeds.

Yes I have this issue too where the gpu fan rattles. I am waiting on my warranty to be transferred over to me before I call Dell onsite support.

 

Rattling GPU fan? That's odd. I know that the lappy I'm using doesn't have that issue. Generally when gaming the fan does ramp up, but it's still smooth and gentle.

I reckon that the lappy I bought probably came from the very first batch made - and new too. You'd think that this lappy would have such a problem and not yours. I don't know what else to tell you guys bout your lappies. I hope it's an easy fix for the both of you.

 

well at least we know it's not the norm for it to 'rattle' now. you generally wouldn't pick up the rattling unless you mute the sound off and listen for it...

 

Yeah, I am not worried about it this is something that the 1 year onsite warranty will take care of. On a side note does anyone know where I can buy a bottom panel to this laptop? The laptop seems to get sorta hot and I am wondering if I can mod a bottom panel by cutting a hole in it for air flow.

Just an update but I should have a 128 GB SSD on the way and an HDD Caddy soon. Below are the respective links for both:

SanDisk Ultra Plus Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD that I am getting this from a warranty replacement otherwise I would have gotten a bigger one.
2nd Hard Drive HDD SSD Caddy For Dell Latitude 3540 - This caddy is going to be for the spinning hard drive and the SSD is going to go into the DVD Drive Bay.

What other upgrades are you guys doing to your laptops? The Wifi card seems good and sadly there is no 9-cell battery otherwise I would get that.

Has anyone had any luck with the docking station for these? The USB 3.0 one that Dell advertises?

 

I've read up on a lot of reviews on the docking stations. The main issues with all of them are the re-connection/init. needed after sleep mode and they just don't play well with dual graphics mode, if you're strictly going to use the intelHD gfx then fine, but when u game there's a driver issue that prevents dx games to launch. The only solution so far is to uninstall/reinstall the displaydock drivers everytime. So yeah it's not ideal, as for the dell dock, i swear the build is exactly the same as the targus and another brand(i can't remember what it's called); mostly a rebranding across all 3 brands. Some reports of the docks failing within a year.. so yeah! not exactly ideal.