M4800 configuration question

As for driving monitors… I’ve done a bit of research and I believe there should be no difference between K2100M and K1100M in the actual ability to drive displays. Both have four display pipelines, as do all other Kepler chips but the entry-level ones (the three-digit models only have two).
There could be a slight difference stemming from the clock at which the chip is run, but other than that, the display-driving circuitry should be identical. This is a different part of the chip than the shader blocks.

Obviously, some applications would need more GPU power to manipulate finer models for finer displays. This, I do not mean to contradict.

 

Yes that is what I was thinking that even with my couple of VMs, I do not push the unit as hard as he seems to be doing. And that is why I was evaluating whether I should budget to pay for extended/pro support. Has pros and cons like anything else and it all depends on one's situation

 

Yes, I think this is a good time to purchase a workstation, no doubt about that.

My guess is anytime after Sep 21 since there are some Dell coupons (for Latitude and Precision) out there that are valid till Sep 21 and maybe after that we might hear something.

 

Yes the machine would be critical but I could make regular backups of the VMs then i might be ok. The price for my configuration is coming as follows:

--start Dell ----
Basic Service



3 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis [Included in Price]


4 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis [add $151.20]


5 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis [add $314.30]
ProSupport



3 Year ProSupport with Next Business Day Onsite Service [add $111.30]


4 Year ProSupport with Next Business Day Onsite Service [add $249.20]


5 Year ProSupport with Next Business Day Onsite Service [add $396.20]
ProSupport Plus



3 Year ProSupport Plus with Next Business Day Onsite Service [add $233.10]
Dell Recommended


4 Year ProSupport Plus with Next Business Day Onsite Service [add $392.70]


5 Year ProSupport Plus with Next Business Day Onsite Service [add $562.10]
---end Dell----

With the big difference in 3 yr Pro support and 4 yr Pro support I might be inclined to get the 3 yr pro support knowing fully well that some components will fail in the 4th year.

 

That is interesting. Do you mean to say that sales reps can give better prices than online + coupons?

I was looking at HP and their machines look SO MUCH BETTER than Dell machines. But the ones at HP that have both Smartcard and fingerprint reader have 5th gen cpu only and not the 4th gen.

So, if I end of looking at 6th gen then perhaps HP it is and not Dell. Do not know what happened to Dell. i've had their XPS M1530 and none of their current 15" models come close to the design of that unit (Yes XPS-13 is still one of the best but I need 15" display).

 

I went with three years of Pro Support - shipping the computer took SOO long after ordering, I was able to get them to extend it to four years for no additional cost (after complaining).


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Just to chime in on M4800 reliability...6 months (Jul/Aug 2014) in to ownership I had the following replaced:

• Motherboard + battery (laptop kept shutting down when I moved it and put it back down!)
• Display cover (rattling hinge - when the tech replaced it, a part of the hinge appeared to be sheared off). New replacement hinge creaks from time to time as well.

Other than that, it's been a nice machine.

 

Keep in mind that to compare equivalent machines you need to stick to like groups, in the case of the M4800 it's direct competitors are the Thinkpad W540/1 and the HP Zbook 15, the latter isn't showing up as especially advantageous price wise on my end, but with all these localised prices, heh, who the hell knows.

But yeah talk to reps either on the phone or via their sales chat and you should coax a lower price. My personal best is knocking off around 1500$ off of a M4800 from it's website pricing because of a price match, but I usually get at least 10% in the form of pro support or some other gimmick thrown in.

 

By the way, isn’t it so that you can always buy additional years of support/warranty before the current period expires? I have three years, and SupportAssist (formerly My Dell) kept nudging me to buy an extension.

 

As for pricing, I believe the good rule of thumb with Dell is that one should never need pay more than about 70% of the list price (without deals and coupons). Though some might manage to get even below that.