M4800 Owner's Thread

The difference between the A06 and A07 is mainly the dramatically increased throttling when you use a 90W or 130W power supply (with A06 they work just fine with minimal throttling).
The 90 and 130W power supplies are PORTABLE, quite in difference to the HUGE bricks that you get with the 180W and 240W power supplies, which are clearly intended to by used stationary only and not to thrown and carried around in a backpack all day long.

Also the detection of the DW5570 (aka MC8805) card has been added to the BIOS A7. But that is only cosmetics. It is not supported under Linux anyway at the moment (despite what is on the Dell spec sheet for the M4800).
I replaced it with a MC7710 which has better specs and worked out of the box.

 

Hi,

I could really do with some help ...

My M6600 has broken and I am looking to get a new laptop.

I have the choice of an M6800 or an M4800 ...

I was going to go for an M6800 but was tempted to go for a M4800 so that I could get something a bit lighter and maybe enjoy more real-estate with the QHD+ screen.

I use the computer for long periods, in fact I spend all day in front of the laptop, and I have only used a 17" screen for the last 6 years or so.

I am frustrated by the limits of 1900x1080, so the higher res screen would probably allow me more text editing in Visual Studio, but the 15" probably will make everything really small ...

It is worth going to a 15" 3200x1800 or am I better off staying with 17" 1920x1080 ... like everyone I would like a 17" QHD+ but that's not an option ...

Also, the lack of Optimus is a shame, does that mean that a M6800 will actually have better battery life than an M4800 QHD+?

Which WiFi card would you go for on the M4800 ...

Dell Wireless 1601 2x2 802.11n+BT+60GHz (WiGig)
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11ac/a/b/g/n 2x2 + Bluetooth 4.0 LE Half Mini Card

I don't think I am interested in WiGig, but I wouldn't know ... the Dell is more expensive, so it must be better ... right?
I have been quoted the 1601, but I can't help thinking ac will be more useful.

It really comes down to whether the extra resolution will actually be useful, or whether I am better sticking to 1920x1080 on a 17" screen.

... it will be a disappointing shock if the res isn't helpful and the screen is too small to work in VS about 1920x1080.

A lighter computer would be nice, I am getting tired of lugging the M6600 ... but lack of Optimus and screen uncertainty is making it impossible to choose between an M6800 and M4800 as my M6600 replacement.

Any help would be much appreciated.

I am considering

Dell Precision M4800
Intel Core i7-4930MX Processor (Quad Core, 8M Cache, 3.0 GHz, w/HD Graphics 4600)
39.6cm (15.6") UltraSharp QHD+ (3200x1800) Wide View Anti-Glare LED backlit Premium Panel Guarantee
NVIDIA Quadro K2100M w/2GB GDDR5 1 SR
16GB (4x4GB) 1866MHz DDR3L
512GB Solid State Drive Full Mini Card
750GB 2.5inch SATA (7,200 Rpm) Hard Drive (will replace with own 1GB Crucial SSD)
2X Blu-Ray Writer Tray Load
Dell Wireless 1601 2x2 802.11n+Bluetooth+60GHz (WiGig)
FIPS Fingerprint Reader and Smart Card Reader (Contact and Contactless)
Waves Maxx Audio
Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Backlit dual Pointing Keyboard
9-cell (97Wh) Lithium Ion battery with ExpressCharge
Windows 8.1 Pro (64Bit) English

OR

Intel Core i7-4930MX Processor (Quad Core, 8M Cache, 3.0 GHz, w/HD Graphics 4600)
44cm (17.3") UltraSharp FHD (1920x1080) Wide View Anti-Glare LED-backlit Multi-Touch with Premium Panel Guarantee
NVIDIA Quadro K4100M w/4GB GDDR5
16GB (4x4GB) 1866MHz DDR3L
500GB 5400 rpm SATA Hybrid Hard Drive with 8GB Cache (will replace with own 1GB Crucial SSD)
750GB 2.5inch SATA (7,200 Rpm) Hard Drive
2X Blu-Ray Writer Tray Load
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11ac/a/b/g/n 2x2 + Bluetooth 4.0 LE Half Mini Card
Waves Maxx Audio
Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Backlit dual Pointing Keyboard
9-cell (97Wh) Lithium Ion battery with ExpressCharge
Windows 8.1 Pro (64Bit) English

Many thanks in advance.

 

If you don't need gpu power from k4100m, I would go for m4800 for portability. Those specs are hardcore :thumbsup:

My m4800 has fhd so optimus work and am getting around 8hrs+ of websurfing.

 

Done, hoping this could help sorting some M4800 issues!

 

I forget who asked, but I got my K2100M, got it installed.... And it's an HP card, despite what the listing said. Tested for black screen issue, can't reproduce. Flashed the Dell K2100M firmware on, still can't reproduce. Kicked the stock clocks on the K2100M up a bit (memory is specced much higher than it's set for, probably for marketing purposes), and still no black screen bug.

 

Anyone able to point me in the direction of a notebook sleeve and/or messenger bag for my new M4800? Everything on the market seems to be sized for a 15 inch MBP, which, while convenient in telling me "no, it won't fit" is also infuriating in that _it won't fit_.

 

I don't know about notebook sleeves (I think they are too slim to get a really protection for the notebook), but I think that Swissgear Bagpacks are the best choice to store safely your M4800. Among them, I bought the Swissgear Carbon bagpack. I tried severals bagpacks in these years and I think that this is the best bagpack I've ever had. It seems to be designed by an engineer: weight is perfect balanced, there is a shock absorbing system and every details is made with an outstanding quality. The laptop compartment fits perfect my M4800 and it protects very well from shocks (for excess of safeness I added at the base of the compartment a piece of polyurethane in order to protect better from shocks when I put the bag on the floor without being gentle). Here is the link for a detailed and well done review of this bagpack: http://www.vector64.com/swissgearcarbon.html .

 

"Your Dell Precision Workstation has an aluminum and magnesium alloy chassis that has been subjected to MIL-STD 810G testing to ensure durability."

No need sleeve.

 

So zerosource likes to bang his M4800 against the floor. Noted.

I use a Targus 17" backpack (model escapes me) when I need to carry a lot of accessories and parts, and a Targus topload when I'm travelling lighter.

I'm on the hunt for something newer, a sort of hybrid. I've been looking at Thinkgeek's Bag of Holding, though I'd likely need to add some padding.

 

They can cite MIL-STD-810G all they like, I'm still gonna baby the thing, since I just dropped 2K on it, AND I know the military uses Panasonic Toughbooks.