M4700 Owners Thread

Debating with myself going with a RAID0 combo of using the Intel 520 240gig SSD with an Intel 525 MSATA 240gig SSD...

 

Is it possible to disable the amd graphics card somehow in BIOS and use the integrated intel gpu?

 

No, but you can physically remove the AMD GPU and it will boot up using the Intel GPU.
(HDMI and DisplayPort will probably not work.)

 

Anyone still have and using RGB panel?

 

I just upgraded the memory to 32gigs, pulling the keyboard trim is a lazy way to design a system. My HP Elitebook 8770W has 3 screws and the keyboard pops out, no worry of breaking trim. The Dell had one section that refused to come off and it took some convincing before it finally did, not impressed. The bottom cover is much nicer on the HP as well.

Over all I'm not sure which machine I like more, both are excellent to use, HP's driver website blows Dell away, Dell should cruise the HP driver page and learn something.

Still deciding on if I should spend the money on an Intel 525 MSATA or not...

 

My next purchase will be HP

 

You mention the negatives of the M4700, yet still say that you're not sure which machine you like more. Meaning there is something that still compels you towards the Dell, despite it's quirks that you mention.
I agree, there are some slight negatives about Dell's driver site and all... but the M4700 seems to be a more sleek machine(just closing the notebook, it feels more "compact") compared to the elitebook series.

Would you like to expand why it is that you are not sure which one you like more, after mentioning the Dell's shortcomings?

 

Is it that bad? I was wondering because I was about to get one with the M4000 since it's cheaper and the results are pretty competent, even without optimus I figured I'd live with onboard intel GPU when going mobile for the most part. I've heard of people taking it apart and applying better thermal paste, but that's your risk.

Anyone else able to chime in? Is the M4000's heat that bad? Those who have one, do you wish you had an Nvidia K1000/K2000m instead?

 

I bought 4 HP Elitebook 8770W's and all of them have squeaky space bars, other than that they are excellent machines and working on them internally is very easy.

 

Well, the Dell belongs to me so I may be tougher on it than I need to be, the Elitebook belongs to my client. Also, I bought a Dell refurb, the most shortcomings are the way Dell treats refurbs, you can't register and use the My Downloads page to get software. Compared to HP which makes it easy peasy to upgrade drivers and firmware Dell's site stinks, HP is much easier to deal with and their support is far better (my 2 cents). Not being able to register a machine simply because it's a refurb is idiotic.

This isn't Precision M4700 shortcomings so much as it's Dell as a company short comings. My experience level with Dell the past few years has been a negative one, I only bought the Dell Precision because my budget didn't allow for the competing Elitebook however the reviews of the Precision were such that I felt ok buying one with a 3 year warranty.

My XPS 13 had to be repaired 6 times in 2 months when I first bought it, you couldn't give me one now and I refuse to sell the one I have because I can't pass on garbage. The machine works now but its used sparingly. Anyway, the shortcomings on the M4700 as hardware are few. I finished upgrading to 32gigs of memory and installed an Intel 520 240gig SSD and then Windows 8.1, I'm very satisfied with the performance so far, time will tell on the rest.

Comparing it directly to the 8770W they both have a quality feel about them, the keyboard feel on the HP is better, there is more travel on the Dell which people may like more so it's a preference thing, not a quality difference at all. They are both very well built quality machines.

None of our Elitebook's have had to be serviced yet, we'll see how this Dell holds up over the next 3 years since I plan on using it as my primary machine until then.