M4700 Owners Thread

have configured this a few times, the online system is really messy. Even the price and savings change every time.
This is the best I could configure it for myself online (in red what I really want but was given no option online:

PROCESSOR 3rd gen Intel® Core™ i7-3740QM Processor (2.70GHz Turbo, 6MB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Windows 7 Professional (64Bit) EnglishWin Pro 8 english
BASE Standard Base
GRAPHICS CARD NVIDIA Quadro K2000M with 2GB GDDR3
SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT No Out-of-Band Systems Management
LCD 39.6cm (15.6") UltraSharp™ FHD(1920x1080) Wide View Anti-Glare LED-backlit Premium Panel Guarantee
MEMORY 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3
INTERNAL HARD DRIVE No RAID, Precision M4700/M6700
HARD DRIVE 500GB 2.5inch Serial ATA (7.200 Rpm) Hybrid Hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X DVD+/-RW Drive Slot Load
POWER DVD OPTICAL SOFTWARE No PowerDVD Software
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS EMEA Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 (802.11 a/b/g/n) Half Mini Card
CAMERA Integrated 1.0 Mega Pixel Camera with Microphone
FINGERPRINT AND CONTACTLESS SMARTCARD READER No Fingerprint Reader and No Smart Card Reader (Contact and Contactless) Palmrest
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell 65W/HR
AC ADAPTER 180W AC Adapter with UK/Irish Power Cord
BASE OPTIONS No Smartcard Reader Base
Services & Software
SUPPORT SERVICES 3 Year Warranty - NBD
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE PROTECTION Declined Accidental Damage offer
DATA PROTECTION - KEEP YOUR HARD DRIVE Keep Your Hard Drive Service - Not Selected
ANTITHEFT & ASSET TAGGING No Asset Label Required
SYSTEM MEDIA Mobile Precision M4700 Recovery DVD
SECURITY SOFTWARE No Anti-Virus Software required
OPERATING SYSTEM RECOVERY OPTIONS MUI Windows 7 Professional (64Bit OS) Resource DVD win 8 pro
IMAGE RESTORE Operating System Recovery Dell Backup and Recovery Manager for Windows 7 win 8
ENERGY STAR No Energy Star
MILLENNIATA M-DISC™ No M-Disc required
Accessories
CARRYING CASES No Carry Case
Also included with your system
KEYBOARD Internal UK/Irish QWERTY Backlit Keyboard
Setup and Features Guides English Setup and Features Guide
Labels Intel® Core™ Label I7
Application Software Dell Applications
Dell Services: Installations No Installation
POWER CORD / SHIP MOD OPTIONS English Shipping Docs
Gedis Bundle Reference W11M4711
Order Information Precision Order - United Kingdom
WINDOWS LIVE Windows Live For window 7 win 8
DELL SERVICES: HARDWARE SUPPORT 3Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day

I am planning to order the 500GB 2.5inch Serial ATA (7.200 Rpm) Hybrid Hard Drive as configured above but in the future add a Crucial Solid State Drive Full Mini Card (and configure that as the boot/OS drive). From what I have read mostly on this thread, I understand that is possible?

Price: £1,663.00 , with Get £ 366 off selected Precision model:£1,297.00
with free shipping and VAT:£1,556.41
Any way the price can be reduced? No voucher codes for Precision mobile workstations?

 

Call Dell and negotiate the price, other than that, order with minimum RAM and buy some extra to install yourself.

 

So can a m4700 with an I5 processor be upgraded to an I7 or is a new MB required ?

 

You can upgrade i5 -> i7. If you get an "XM" 39X0 CPU, you will need a new heatsink.

 

Unlike memory and hard drives, Dell's markup on processors doesn't seem as high. If you got a miminal i5-3320M and then bought an i7-3740QM (and assuming you could sell the i5 for say 80% of low retail) you might save 30 bucks, not counting heat sink and related stuff (which might wipe out the savings). It's also possible it might void service warranty if they connect to your system during a support call and see it has a different processor.

 

You will not void the warranty on a Precision (or most other Dell machines) by replacing hardware. However, they may request that you restore it to the factory configuration before offering service... Depending on the issue and on the tech you get.

 

I have finally received my own m4700 and I am almost super happy with it.

I need to underline, that I had mistakenly understood the information about the optical hard drive caddy. I was asking if it is a 9mm caddy for a drive of height 9mm. Unfortunately the drive itself needs to be a slim 7mm, so keep that in mind, future buyers. Maybe it is possible to put the 9mm drive but some modifications to the caddy will be needed (removing internal rubber filled case?).

Beside that, the HDD was replaced with the SSD drive which prolonged battery life. The best aspect for me, as a programmer and an engineer, is that fans are almost always off during idle and small load. Love the volume buttons too but the LEDs could be a little less bright as they are freaking too white for my eyes.

As for the warranty, do I need to register somewhere online in the Dell's site / system to be eligible for support in case of future issues?

 

You don't need to register, all you need is your service tag which can be found at the bottom of the laptop.

 

Could you post the part number for the caddy when you have a chance? Does the DVD drive that you can order come preinstalled in a caddy?
Also, is this a SATA-II interface rather than III?

What LEDs are you referring to? I don't see any in the stock photos of the 4700.

 

You have LEDs for the status lights (HDD, network, etc), for the power and volume buttons as well as for the keybaord. The backlight of the keyboard can be adjusted, the other lights can't.