M4700 Owners Thread

I've heard similar complaints about the M4700 display a couple of times, though most people seem to like it well enough. I don't think we have any hard information about which different display models are in use.

I wonder if you can just swap the displays between the two systems? They should be compatible if neither one is IPS.
(Don't know what you're planning on doing with the old M4600...)

 

I'm looking at getting an M4700, and have a few questions:
There are 3 configurations available on the website, but only the lower 2 can be customized, and the lowest one seems to have more options so that's what I'm focused on.

On the graphics card, there are several options but I think I'd choose between the Firepro M4000 and the Nvidia K1000M (the latter is a $102 upcharge). Rendering in Adobe Premiere would probably be my most graphics-intensive application. Any recommendation on one over the other? Some posts I've read seem to imply the less expensive Firepro is actually a more powerful graphics card(?)

On hard drives, I already have an Intel 520 series SSD, 128GB, so I was thinking of getting the system configured with a 500GB 7200RPM drive then moving (cloning) it to the SSD. First question is whether a 128GB SSD is large enough for Win 7 and Premiere and a couple other apps? Second question is how would I go about cloning the 500G HDD to the SSD? I wouldn't have a place to plug the SSD into the system to use something like Acronis True Image to make a bootable clone, so I'd need some eSATA adaptor or something(?)

Thanks

 

GPU: K1000M will give you switchable graphics and in turn better battery life, but the M4000 offers better performance. nVidia has always been rather expensive when it comes to quadros and AMD much cheaper for the same performance. Overall, nVidia tends to have better drivers though.

128GB is enough to hold Windows 7 as well as a couple of programs. For cloning, you'll need an eSATA or USB to SATA adapter (or drive enclosure). You could however get a mSATA SSD instead and still keep two drives in the laptop. Intel has a data migration tool you can download that will work with your 520.

 

Swapped my display this morning (man was the bezel a pain to get off) with a Samsung 184HT panel - FHD 1920x1080 and now all is well again. I can say with confidence the Optronics B156HW02 panel is not of good quality.

 

Thanks for the info tijo. You mention: "K1000M will give you switchable graphics and in turn better battery life,"

Could you point me to info on that? This review: Review Dell Precision M4700 Mobile Workstation - Notebookcheck.net Reviews claims the graphics switching is not enabled, and there is no mention in the M4700 specs ( Precision M4700 Mobile Workstation Details | Dell ) that the Optimus technology for graphics card switching has been integrated by Dell.

It would be great if the graphics switching is integrated and enabled, but I wasn't able to find info on it. Better drivers would be a plus as well.

 

Notebookcheck's review unit with the nVidia GPU the IPS display if i recall correctly since it was still available at the time. The IPS displays is 10-bit and the Intel IGP doesn't support 10-bit displays so Optimus was disabled. The non IPS 1080p display on the other hand isn't 10-bit so it is supported by both the nVidia GPU and the Intel IGP so you get switchable graphics. That's how it works on the M6700 too, switchable is only available with nVidia and non-IPS displays.

 

Ah, OK, thanks for clarifying. So the optimus capability (switching hardware and drivers) are "automatic" partd of the factory build and you don't have to request it when ordering? Just seems odd it's not mentioned on the configuration screen.

When I configure a M4700 online, if you want an mSATA drive it apparently has to be the primary/boot drive. Does that mean, if I use the 2.5" internal bay for my boot drive, I cannot later add an mSATA drive unless I make it the boot drive?

Are mSATA drives (and/or the mSATA interface in the M4700) lower performance than regular size SSD drives in the 2.5" internal bay? (in other words, any performance downside to having the mSATA as the boot drive)? I think I recall it being lower performance on the Lenovo W530 but that might have been due to the interface not the drive itself.

 

Optimus is available if you get an NVIDIA card without the IPS screen. You do not have to do anything special with your order to get it.

The boot drive limitation is just within the ordering system. Once you have the machine you can use whatever drive you want as the boot drive.

The mSATA port is SATA-2 and the primary drive bay port is SATA-3 so you could get better performance out of a standard 2.5" SSD. (The mSATA drive will still run circles around any hard drive with random I/O performance, though.)

 

Yup, any SSD will run circles around a HDD. I personally would use the mSATA as boot only if you have needs for large capacity storage. Otherwise, I'd get a 256GB 2.5" SSD or a 512GB Crucial M4 and install it in the standard drive bay.

 

Thanks guys.

This would be my first laptop for personal use, so this is probably a dumb question but better safe than sorry...

I want to be able to set the laptop next to my HDTV, connect it to the TV and to my broadband router via wired Ethernet cable, and control it all via wireless keyboard from across the room.

First question: after getting the laptop all hooked up to the HDTV and router, can I simply get a wireless keyboard like a Logitech K400 (Amazon.com: Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 with Built-In Multi-Touch Touchpad (920-003070): Electronics ) and that's all there is to it? I assume the receiver dongle for the keyboard plugs into a USB port.

Now for the connection questions:

A docking station parked next to the HDTV would make this easier/cleaner so there seems to be 2 options, and they are both cheaper if you order with a system rather than later, by itself.
The E-Port replicator (Dell part #331-7950) seems to have the connections I'd need, but its power supply is only 130 Watts which seems a bit skimpy if the system is taxed.

The E-Port replicator Plus (Dell part # 331-7947) is more costly but has a more comfortable 240 Watt power supply. It supports 2 monitors but I'm not sure I'll use that. However, it doesn't list that it has a wired Ethernet jack. Can anyone confirm that it does?

Neither dock has an HDMI port so I guess I'd need a DisplayPort to HDMI adaptor. Do these adaptors simply change the connector form factor and wiring (i.e. no internal electronics) or are there some electrical conversions that take place to get from DisplayPort to HDMI and there are low quality ones so it's best to avoid the cheapo ones?

Also, does anyone have the part number for the drive caddy that goes in the optical drive slot? Searching Dell's website for optical drive caddy doesn't give the answer.

thanks.