M6600 bricked (fans very loud briefly, now only warm spot on bottom of chassis)

hmm that is a pretty strong warranty service, thanks for the tip.
After I get another spare refurb, the thing that will scare me most is if my SSD dies. (No warranty will revive lost files....)
Of course I just need to be diligent about backing up.
Ideally I'd figure a way to backup to the other laptop's drives, so each laptop would be a clone of the other.
That'd allow the least downtime fastest hotswap possible!

Also, I might be able to use 2 computers at once, where the spare is doing photo rendering offline.
Yes, I'm trying to conjure up reasons to buy more laptops, it's fun shopping for deals!

 

I deal with a broken Dell computer every other day. Its not because the design or company is crappy, its because of the sheer volume of machines that my company deals with that really increases the probability of broken machines to go through my door. Having said that, I am a Dell fanboy. Even with the consumer lines such as the Inspirons, build quality is better than most other laptop brands I have opened up and the warranty service, while can be a maze for the uninitiated, is fantastic. I mean, where else can you get a hard drive replacement with a just a error screen shot after a 30 minute chat session?

Basically if reliability is your goal and you are in North America, I think you will be better off with one machine with full warranty service. That basically guarantees that it will work for the next 3 years (more if you get the extended warranty). Computer parts really do fail from time to time, its just the luck of the draw. The only way to really defend yourself is to make sure that you have the right support and that you have adequate backups of your data.

 

Oh, since your co. goes thru many computers, maybe you could help comment on reliability of desktops vs. laptops? I'm pretty sure desktops would be more bulletproof, but in particular when buying off-lease refurbs, when I get a cosmetically "A grade" refurb, that almost implies nobody was using it. As in, maybe the company kept laptops in a cabinet, for when there was some kind of site visits required, which might be infrequent.
i.e. I could see desktops being on almost 24/7, but for a laptop to be scratch free after commercial use, it could not have been "out & about" very often without gaining significant cosmetic wear(?)
Or, do big companies that lease laptops, also use them like desktops, constantly docked & churning away, but never taken outside, (and thereby bumped and scraped)...

 

I personally don't have any experience with the refurbished line of Dell computers but you might want to take a look at this stickied post on the "What notebook I should buy" forum. It explains nicely the benefits of buying a refurb and explains where they come from:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...or-outlet-shopping-hp-dell-and-lenovo.779551/

Refurbished notebooks are often recommended by experienced forum members here and seldom are issues encountered. Often times "Grade A" refurbs are machines that are returns and are considered very close to brand new machines. Yes, there are inherit risks to buying refurbished laptops but that's what the warranty is for and the Dell warranty will protect your refurbished laptop the same way it will cover a fresh out of the factory new one.

 

And just to add a little bit more, I think Precision/Latitude Laptops are the most hardened laptops that can you get without actually going to those computers that are designed to get wet or to be dropped from a helicopter.

 

Thanks for the link, I took a browse at the DellOutlet. My refurb is much older than these, as mine is an actual "off-lease" unit, with processor circa Q2 2012.
But comparing the CPU benchmarks, and even wattage consumed, there doesn't seem to be much progress to the more current i7's.
The downfall of my chassis style is probably bulk and weight, which I'm fine with. I hope it proves more tough and durable than my M6600 was, going forward...

One problem with my 2012 refurb is that the ISV certification (for very-latest Solidworks) will tend to go out of date within 1-3 more years. Mind you, a friend of mine was mainly using a lightweight Thinkpad T440 with integrated Intel Graphics for a whole year with minimal issues. That computer doesn't even show up on the Solidworks recommendations site, and the onboard GPU ain't no dedicated Quadro XXXX.
i.e. when the M6700 becomes obsolete off the Solidworks compatibility charts, it might still be quite usable, hopefully...

 

I guess that is one more reason to go for a more recent machine, especially for one that you depend your livelihood on. Most CAD design programs will work fine most of the time with unsupported hardware but they do have the nasty habit of crashing when you are on a deadline.

Sounds like you are in a market for a Precision 7510/7710. Lots of info here.

7510 Owner's thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/precision-7510-owners-thread.783108/
7710 Owner's thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/precision-7710-owners-thread.790025/

And here is a detailed breakdown of the 7710:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-precision-7710-owners-review.792630/

Look at how much the parts are changeable and though it does not have the same amount of metal as the older gen Precisions, I see no reason to doubt the durability.

 

Thanks for the links, I'm digging into the 7710 one now... but right off the bat, I can't figure out why the newer gen i7's aren't any better? Comparing "my" 3840QM with the first 7710 guy's 6820HQ
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2659&cmp[]=1481
almost identical, particularly since Solidworks is primarily single core.

I guess one day I will get a 7710, but probably as a refurb! I can't resist a good deal. It's true my job does depend on the computer, but, I don't use it every day, maybe not even every Year, since the freelance workflow is not so steady, and I might use a client's hardware on some gigs.

Re: ISV certification, I read a bit more on Solidworks forums and SW stops testing the CPU/GPU combos once the hardware suppliers stops supporting their older systems. Since they were simply never tested (i.e. they were not tested and then found to NOT work), then there is a fair chance they'd still work fine, and hopefully I could figure that out in advance, by reading experiences in user-forums.

My refurb M6700 is "in transit" via Purolator today! I was able to discover the service tag number and it turns out it was originally assembled with a "SSDR, 256G, S3, 7MM, SAMSUNG, PM830". Instead of the advertised "250GB HDD" on the refurb site.
If the SSD is true, I won't just chuck it like I'd planned.
Therefore I could populate the M6700 with three SSD's, 512GB, 512GB, and 256GB. That should open up some RAID possibilities, if I knew how to implement that...
RAID1 the 512's together, use them for everything (boot plus data). But then what's the 256 SSD gonna be used for....work-sandbox...?

 

It's true that Intel is having difficulty squeezing out big CPU performance gains with newer generations. We have hit the thermal GHz cap some time ago so any performance gains have to come from process/architecture improvements (essentially, looking for ways to do more with each clock cycle or do things like better dynamic branch prediction in the CPU)... so for the past several years each new CPU generation is only incrementally faster than the previous at best.

Though it should be noted that while raw speed is mostly flat, there have been notable improvements in other areas. Power management in the 6000-series is much better than in the 3000-series. (My 7510 can last over 5 hours on battery and my M6700 and also my old M4800 could never hope for that, under realistic usage scenarios.) Also, there have been huge improvements to the performance of the integrated GPU with each new generation, which could be helpful if you spend any time with graphics switching turned on.

 

Hmm, since I mostly used my M6600 as a desktop, I had disabled Optimus. Also since I read that Optimus could cause glitches or errors. Probably they've improved that.
If I ever did go mobile with batteries, I should re-enable the integrated GPU since the Quadro's were probably never as finely tuned for efficiency as Intel's stuff.
But, I'm not sure I'd want the CPU+onboardGPU cluster to get any hotter either. I'm sorta paranoid of the CPU melting down, particularly since Solidworks concentrates it's heat on just 1 of the 4 cores.
Rather not have that single core becoming a hot-spot that's getting hammered! But since it is, it'd probably be healthier if the attached IntelGPU stayed dormant & cool as possible, to help dissipate the attached CPU's heat load...?
Speaking of displays, the M6700 is being shipped with a 1600x900 17.3". I was going to swap the 1920x1080 from my M6600, but, I wonder of the lower resolution screen is more frugal on battery? The GPU should also be working less for the lower res screen.

Meanwhile, I'm also considering purchasing a largish 4K TV as a single-monitor for desktop use. Apparently the Quadro K3000M can drive that, and it'd be a nice tangible upgrade from my M6600/3000M, which I don't think could handle 4K.
i.e. the precision 7710 can have an onboard 17" 4K display, but I might prefer lower resolution for portable battery use, while favouring 4K on a ~50" TV for desktop use.
So far I've never needed to use my laptop for more than 10mins on battery. The portability is mostly so I could work at a client's office, or at my home office on weekends. Having a spare AC brick from my M6600 will allow me not to have to drag that thing with me.
P.S. the 7710 doesn't have a VGA port?? Hehe, I guess I do just belong in obsolete-land.